But the producer, Sam Spiegel, decided to go forward, no matter the risk. Of course, Clift didnt walk away unscathed either. Of course, when it came to his appearance, this gorgeous star really didnt give a hoot. But Clifts rebuttal was firm, emphasizing that they were neither in love nor engagedtheyd known each other for 10 years, she helped him with his work, and those romantic rumors are embarrassing to both of us. He was also close with stage actress Libby Holman, 16 years his senior, who had become a notorious feature in the gossip columns following the suspicious death of her wealthy husband, rumors of lesbianism, and her general practice of dating younger men. We want our readers to trust us. A wild exclusive excerpt from the new book, Oscars 2023: Yes, Some Awards Movies Flopped, but Art Matters, How in the F--k Does Anyone Live Here?: Bret Easton Ellis on Life, Art, and What the Hell Happened to Manhattan, Todd Field on 2 Decades of Oscar Campaigns, From, I didnt realize the deadly minefield of a campaign season, the Oscar nominee says in a career-spanning interview. Little did he know, he was always destined for something more. Yet, according to a new documentary, titled Making Montgomery Clift, the stars substance abuse had nothing at all to do with his sexuality. Biographies of Clift posit that he drank because he couldnt be his true self, because homosexuality was the shame he had to shelter within. Clift had a fraternal twin sister, Roberta, and a brother, William Brooks Clift Jr, who had an illegitimate son with actress Kim Stanley. Montgomery Clift girlfriend, wife list. Welcome to Who Is Montgomery Clift?, a page dedicated to showcasing actors & movie makers of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Soon, Montgomery Clift became almost impossible to work with. The most beautiful young man Ive ever seen. You see, Clift wasnt just a pretty face, he also had a bunch of quirks that made him incredibly singular in comparison to other leading men. Jack Larson, famous for playing Jimmy Olsen in the hit 1950s TV series Adventures of Superman, recalled how Clift gave him a full mouth kiss the first time they casually met. Were always looking for your input! Like them, Clift was comfortable with the full contours, and consequences, of his beauty, playing the object in a way previously preserved for female stars. Observers also point out that Clift had sexual relationships with women. Montgomery Clift was an undeniably attractive man, and before long, he'd cultivated a rather passionate female fan base. "Monty," as the performer was known to family and . And so he remains frozen in the popular imagination, circa From Here to Eternitythose high cheekbones, that set jaw, the firm stare: a magnificent, proud, tragically broken thing to behold. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk. But that wasnt all. Montgomery Clift spent a miserly 10 dollars a month on what his friends referred to as a beat up apartment. Hollywood began to see him as hostile and messy and frugal, and Clift wasnt having it. He had a holistic view.. Montgomery Clift, Nando Bruno. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Montgomery Clift 39 30. An inside look at the actors secretive love life. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. However, Clift soon realized that you cant always have your cake and eat it too. Please let us know if a fact weve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect its inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. However, he became more comfortable with her and eventually found it easy to open up about his sexuality. What does he inspire anyone to do drink, die young? Lancaster's . His mother was born out of wedlock and spent much of her life and the family fortune finding her illustrious southern lineage and raising her children as aristocrats.At age 13, Monty appeared on Broadway ("Fly Away Home"), and chose to remain in the New York theater for over ten years before finally succumbing to Hollywood. It was ironic his relationship with the bisexual middle-aged Holman would be the principal (and likely the last) heterosexual relationship of his life and only cause him further anguish over his sexuality. He naturally gravitated to the theater. Born in 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, Clift was raised like an aristocrat, with a private tutor and frequent trips to Europe. Many of the myths surrounding Clift sprang from two biographies: a salacious one by Robert Laguardia and another flawed work by Patricia Bosworth, titled A Life. Montgomery Clift had passed due to a heart attack, but many assumed that his addictions and various health problems contributed to his early death. When it came to the lengthier scenes, the actor just couldnt deliver; they had to be divided into smaller cuts just so he could see them through. Clift and Taylor would star again in another 1950s film, the Civil War-era drama, Raintree Countythe movie they were making when Clift almost died in the car wreck outside Taylors homeand would remain deeply attached to one another until Clifts death, at the too-young age of 45, in New York City in 1966. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. However, even with all the negative hubbub surrounding this shoot, it was nothing compared to the darkness of one of Clifts next projects. Apparently, Burt Lancaster's From Here to Eternity co-star Montgomery Clift intimidated himso much so that in their first scene together you can see Lancaster shaking. I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. Okay, if were being totally honest, Montgomery Clifts reserved lifestyle didnt exactly excite the press; it actually kind of stumped them. His leading lady, Olivia de Havilland, disappointed him in every wayand his criticisms were downright brutal. Nothing could have prepared him for what he discovered. Allegedly, the director brought Clift on board, thinking hed be a soothing effect for Monroe. Login to add information, pictures and relationships, join in discussions and get credit for your contributions. He pleaded with her to make changes to her book to correct the mischaracterizations. Taylor opened his mouth, put her hand down his throat, and pulled out the teeth. Lorenzo came into the picture when Monty was at his lowest. During the peak period of his career, the actor and some Hollywood friends were returning from a party held at Taylor's home. He also didnt want to sign a contract with a studio, then the only viable way into the business. And then there was the physical toll. . About Montgomery Clift is a member of the following lists: American film actors, Actors Studio alumni and Bisexual actors. The Searchturned out to be a huge hit for Clift. But the drama didnt end there. Yet Clift would come to hate the image that constrained him, just as he hated the suggestion that he was a slob, unfriendly, or loathed in Hollywood: after the story of his bare closet came out in the Saturday Evening Post, he worked arduously to set the record straight, underlining the ways in which publicity takes a kernel of the truth and expands it into legend. Indeed, it was his apparent lack of romantic attachments that confounded the gossip press the most. There were no wild outings for this reserved homebody. Well, in 1955, he had a chance to reunite with his old friend and co-star, Elizabeth Taylor, in Raintree County. The pieces of the puzzle dont quite fit. Years before, Clift had battled dysentery, which introduced him to the sinister side effects of pain management. Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun. yo tambien hubiera tenido algo con el claro que si, Monty, I love you. About a month afterThe Misfitswrapped, Gable suffered a heart attack and passed. Clift cared nothing for appearances: the Los Angeles Times called him the Rumpled Movie Idol; he infamously owned only one suit. It was also a dark, melancholy film: as a review in Variety pointed out, the complex mass of introspective conflicts, symbolic parallels, and motivational contradictions was so nuanced as to seriously confound general audiences, who were likely unable to cope with the philosophical undercurrents of the Arthur Miller script. Fellow actor Kevin McCarthy was driving ahead of Clift when the horror show went down. (The Clash famously referenced that awful scene, which changed the course of Clifts career and set him on a winding path of booze-and-painkiller-fueled decay, in the song The Right Profile from London Calling: I see a car smashed at night. ': What Happened to the Stars of the Iconic Series through the Years, Debbie Reynolds Called Elizabeth Taylor's Phone Yet Her Own Husband Eddie Fisher Picked Up, Rock Hudson & Jim Nabors Never Spoke Again after They Were Reportedly Seen Getting Married, Elizabeth Taylor Proposed to an Actor 20 Years Her Senior & Replaced Him with 25-Year Older Man. It was reported that Taylor even tried to help him find a partner. According to this version of the story, when photographers arrived, Taylor announced that she knew each and every one of them personally-- and if they took pictures of Clift, who was still very much alive, shed make sure they never worked in Hollywood again. Randy Chrisley Is Todd Chrisley's Brother Who Was Diagnosed with Cancer in 2014, Johnny Depp's Weight Gain & Changes in Appearance over the Years, 'Whos the Boss? Clift's last 10 years prior to his death from his 1956 car accident were called the "longest suicide in history" by famed acting teacher Robert Lewis. The unhinged character he played in the film hit too close to home and psychologically drained him. The unspoken truth was that Clift was gay. Montgomery Clift was in relationships with Sal Mineo, Paul Newman, Henry Willson, Jack Larson, William LeMassena, Libby Holman, Maurice Leonard and Arnold Saint Subber. For over 30 years, scripts have floated around Hollywood promising to tell the story of Montgomery Clift, one of the most innovative and handsome actors in history. With Clift on board, Suddenly, Last Summer morphed into a verifiable mess. A year and a half away from her own tragic end, Marilyn Monroe described Clift as the only person I know who is in even worse shape than I am. Together, this cast truly reflected a band of withering misfits. . Lorenzo was one of the reasons.. She noted that they needed to live a life of equality while being able to get married and adopt kids. Now were at a historical point in mainstream queer discourse where that story seems less viable., Though the film aims to update, and to fairly contextualize, the actors story, the directors stress that they dont want to simply swap one image of Montgomery Clift for another. While he never excelled at school, his extraordinary abilities as an actor. His own mother, in a voice recording played in Making Montgomery Clift, said, "Monty was a . In his first film, Red River, Clift had the chance to play opposite the western superstar John Wayne. A way into the 70s, there was more clarification to his sexuality. The documentary was released at the Los Angeles Film Festival and . He was, at least in the press, something approaching asexualthe title of a Motion Picture article, authored by Clift, declared simply, I Like It Lonely!. The director, John Huston, supposedly brought in Clift because he thought hed have a soothing effect on Monroe, who was deeply embroiled in her own addictions, with her own personal demons.