montgomery clift before and after his accident

[89][90] One of Clift's first intimate relationships was with composer Lehman Engel. (1) Mann, William J. Taylor also threatened to end any photographer's career who dared to take a picture of the seriously wounded Clift. He used them to numb his physical pain. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. It all took a toll on him physically and mentally, and movie studios became wary of hiring him. That same year, he had a small but powerful role in "Judgment at Nuremberg," playing Polish man who testified during the Nazi trials about being sterilized, per the Los Angeles Times. A still of Montgomery Clift. I wanted to figure out why there was such a difference., A deep trove of never-before-revealed evidence makes that disparity bracingly clear. It wasn't long before he made his way to New York City. For the next nine years, Clift made nearly as many films after his traumatic car accident as he had previously. How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood. Clift also struggled with his . A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men", according to The New York Times.[1][2]. He would continue to act, but by the 1960's his career wasn't going well and he died prematurely at 45 suffering a heart attack most likely brought on by years of drug and alcohol abuse. Then again, nothing about Clifts life was expected. He owed his life to his close friend Taylor, who immediately went to help him when she learned of the incident. When he resumed filming on "Raintree County," he was a different man, one left in chronic pain because of the accident. [57] In preparation for the shooting of this film, Clift accepted the role of James Bower in the French Cold War thriller The Defector, which was filmed in West Germany from February to April 1966. Inside, he found Clift dead: he was undressed, lying in his bed still wearing his eyeglasses and with both fists clenched by his side. Yet, according to a new documentary, titled Making Montgomery Clift, the stars substance abuse had nothing at all to do with his sexuality. [82][83], McDowall was introduced to Clift by his Lassie Come Home co-star Elizabeth Taylor, who was a lifelong friend of both actors. Published: 20:36 EST . "[17] Clift spent a short time at the Dalton School in Manhattan but struggled with traditional schooling. [18][19] He instead continued to flourish onstage and appeared in works by Moss Hart and Cole Porter, Robert Sherwood, Lillian Hellman, Tennessee Williams, and Thornton Wilder, creating the part of Henry in the original production of The Skin of Our Teeth. 7 Books We Cant Stop Thinking About This Month, Great speculative fiction, a novel about bad mothers, and more favorite reads from the staff of, Peptides, Explained: How a Skin Care Supercharger Became Beautys Big Buzzword. The movie, which plays at the LGBTQ movie festival NewFest in New York, refutes scores of oft-repeated assumptions about Clifts life, from his motivations as an actor, to his relationship with his mother to the characterization of his later years. According to Clift biographer Patricia Bosworth, Taylor considered Clift her dearest friend, and he was unflinchingly loyal to her. According to the actor's lawyer, Jack Clareman, Clift was found by his secretary Lorenzo James, who claimed the actor went to bed "in good spirits.". He and his co-star Olivia de Havilland made an appealing couple in this film adaptation of a Henry James novel. By the age of thirty, Montgomery Clift seemed to have everything: youth, beauty, talent, and the prospect of a lucrative film career with limitless possibilities. In 1939, as a member of the cast of the 1939 Broadway production of Nol Coward's Hay Fever, Clift participated in one of the first television broadcasts in the United States: the Hay Fever performance was broadcast by NBC's New York television station W2XBS (the forerunner of WNBC) and was aired during the 1939 New York World's Fair. [100] Underactive thyroids also raise cholesterol, which might have contributed to his heart disease. In neon and stretch knits, dance straight on till morn. After leaving a party at Elizabeth Taylor's house, he wrapped his car around a telephone pole . In one tape made by his father in the 1960s, we hear the stars mother tell him, with untroubled candor, that Monty was a homosexual early. Paramount executive Luigi Luraschi remembered that Taylor, just like many American teenagers, seemed "unmistakably in love" with Clift around the time of filming A Place in the Sun,[59] which commenced soon after their premiere outing. A near-fatal auto accident in 1957 changed his looks and sent him into drug and alcohol addiction. In a past interview, the star's friend, Kevin McCarthy, explained that Clift drove very high before the accident. Look magazine gave him its Achievement Award and called him "the most promising star on the Hollywood horizon. He described their relationship with fondness and kept taped film reels of Clift and the company of There Shall Be No Night enjoying leisure time together. Nevertheless, he showed no bitterness and remained one of Clift's loyal friends. "Georgia" meant bad, "Florida" very bad, and "Zanzibar" unworkable. At the time, Clift was encouraged to hide his sexuality because it would destroy his career as a leading man in Hollywood. Lorenzo was one of the reasons.. He was linked to actresses Libby Holman[64][65] and Phyllis Thaxter. Edward Montgomery Clift was born on October 17, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska. Clift, presumably an introvert, would have been super frustrated to know his physical look would be a topic for national speculation. With his next two films, The Misfits (1961) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Clift pivoted to somewhat smaller supporting or cameo roles that required less overall screen time while still delivering demanding performances. He is best remembered for his roles in Howard Hawks's Red River (1948), George Stevens's A Place in the Sun (1951), Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity (1953), Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), and John Huston's The Misfits (1961). His heavy drinking had already been a problem before his crash and the addition of taking painkillers afterwards only accelerated his decline, according to Vanity Fair. Clift shared the stage with some of the leading performers of the day, including Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in "There Shall be No Night" (via Playbill) and Tallulah Bankhead in "The Skin of Our Teeth" (also via Playbill), both in 1942. After leaving a party at Taylor's house high in the Hollywood Hills and drowsy from two "downers" he'd taken before he left to help him sleep when he got home, Clift crashed into a telephone. Before undertaking any course of treatment please consult with your healthcare provider. On the evening of May 12, 1956, while filming Raintree County, Clift was involved in a serious auto accident when he apparently fell asleep while driving and smashed his car into a telephone pole minutes after leaving a dinner party at the Beverly Hills home of his Raintree County co-star and close friend Elizabeth Taylor and her second husband, Clift also had participated in radio broadcasts early in his career, though, according to one critic, he hated the medium. The autopsy report cited the cause of death as a heart attack brought on by "occlusive coronary artery disease". [27], At age 25, Clift's first Hollywood film role was opposite John Wayne in the Western film Red River whose director Howard Hawks was impressed by his recent stage performance and was willing to sign him with no strings attached, which greatly appealed to Clift's sense of independence. In his one 12-minute cameo scene in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Clift played a developmentally disabled German baker who had been a victim of the Nazi sterilisation programme testifying at the Nuremberg trials. Place in the Sun. Ad Choices, The elegant Montgomery Clift once reigned as one of Hollywoods most sought-after leading men, best remembered as the star of iconic films *From Here to Eternity *(1953) and, Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Fragile Snowflake Donald Trump for Allegedly Trying to Censor Him, SAG Awards 2023 Red Carpet Fashion: See All the Looks. On the evening of May 12, 1956, while filming Raintree County, Clift was involved in a serious auto accident when he smashed his car into a telephone pole after leaving a dinner party at the Beverly Hills home of his Raintree County co-star and close friend Elizabeth Taylor and her second husband, Michael Wilding. We collect and tell stories of people from all around the world. However, this changed after Clift's car accident that left his face in a terrible condition. Actor Montgomery Clift is best remembered for his striking good looks and his compelling dramatic performances in such films as "A Place in the Sun" (1951) and "From Here to Eternity" (1953), per IMDb. In studying Clift's output, one can easily see a before-and-after version of the actor, with the line between the two marked by his near-fatal accident on a break from filming "Raintree County" in 1956. Also in 1951, Clift was for the first time cast as Tom in the radio world premiere of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, with Helen Hayes (Amanda) and Karl Malden (the Gentleman Caller), for The Theatre Guild on the Air.[25]. He is best remembered for his role as Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity. The re-opening of the German market since WW2 put potential profits ahead of everything else and the picture suffered for it. 1960. . Working with her was like going up and down on an escalator.. Montgomery Clift's Disastrous Car Wreck Changed His Career Forever. "[142] "Monty Got a Raw Deal" by rock band R.E.M. He and actor Kevin McCarthy later wrote a screenplay for a film adaptation that was never made. He also helped bring a more natural acting style to film. Please fill in your e-mail so we can share with you our top stories! The condition (among other things) lowers blood pressure; it could have caused Clift to appear drunk or drugged when he was sober. (1936), Titled Marnie the Victor, in Clifts handwriting. While director William Wyler notably had difficulty with his poor posture, co-star Olivia de Havilland expressed difficulty with his seriousness, saying that "Monty was painstaking and I liked that about him, but I had a sense that Monty was thinking almost entirely of himself and leaving me out of the scene."[34]. He pleaded with her to make changes to her book to correct the mischaracterizations. Born Edward Montgomery Clift on October 17, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska, he found his love of theater early on (via the Los Angeles Times). In January 1963 Montgomery Clift made an uncharacteristic appearance on television to be interviewed on New York Herald Tribune columnist Hy Gardner's show. In one instant Montgomery Clift's life changed forever. does not support or promote any kind of violence, self-harm, or abusive behavior. Little did he know, he was always destined for something more. Her romantic interest in him evolved into an intense friendship after he revealed her that he was gay (some sources say he was bisexual). This was described as "a power differential that would go on to structure the starstudio relationship for the next 40 years". [28] Although filmed in 1946, the film was delayed release until August 1948. He wasnt the only one who challenged such norms at the time. Girelli, Elisabetta (2013) "Montgomery Clift Queer Star", Wayne University Press. Clift was there, as were actors Kevin McCarthy and Rock Hudson, and Hudson's wife, Phyllis Gates, per Vanity Fair. Clift was driving a Chevrolet Bel Air sedan when the accident occurred. The song alludes to his car crash and drug abuse, as well as the movies A Place in the Sun, Red River, From Here to Eternity, and The Misfits, before closing with what Rolling Stone magazine describes as "a grudging admiration that becomes unexpectedly and astonishingly moving. Clift had shown an interest in acting and theatrics as a child living in Switzerland and France but did not take the initiative to go out for a part in a local production until age 13, when his family was forced to downsize and relocate from Chicago to Sarasota, Florida. 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. When Clift made his debut on Broadway at the age of 14 he began to realize how isolated and special his childhood had been, a fact he struggled with all his life. It was reported that Hutson was homophobic towards Clift after news of him being with a male reporter broke. [66][67][68] Clift's longest relationships were with men. Montgomery Clift is known for his remarkable diversity onset and great looks. BAFTA Awards 2023: The 19 Best-Dressed Stars. He shifted his moods erratically, from a brooding pose to a bursting smile. [88], While filming for Vittorio De Sica in Italy, Clift had a romance with Truman Capote. The accident, which occurred after he was leaving his bff Elizabeth Taylor's home one night, left his face in tatters. [10][11] She spent the rest of her life trying to gain the recognition of her alleged relations. Clift (portrayed by Gavin Adams) was a major supporting character in the 2020 feature film As Long As Im Famous, which explored his intimate relationship with a young Sidney Lumet during the summer of 1948. Life once described them as soul mates, and added: That Clift was gay made little difference in the intensity and duration of the two stars adoration of one another. The pair first starred together in the 1951 film A Place in the Sun; Clifts early nickname for the actress was Bessie Mae. They also appeared together in Raintree County (1957) and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). [63], Many of Clift's biographers note his relationships with men and some few women based on friends' accounts and interviews. As a consequence, he was unable to find film work for four years. He spoke so quietly that at times he was practically inaudible. ", Montgomery Clift at London Airport from New York to make the new film "Suddenly, Last Summer" on 13 May, 1959 | Photo: Getty Images. His father, William Brooks "Bill" Clift (18861964), was the vice-president of Omaha National Trust Company. After leaving a party organized by co-star Elizabeth Taylor in May 1956, Clift raced along a steep road before crashing. Clifts papers include several undated, intimate, tender images of a young Elizabeth Taylor with one of her sons. The accident changed. James then used the bedroom telephone to call some of Clift's personal physicians and the medical examiner's office before an ambulance arrived.[99]. He earned his first Academy Award nomination for best actor for "The Search," and yet "Red River" seems to be better remembered these days. Clift was the subject of fascination by the character Vikar (James Franco) in the film Zeroville, which was shot in 2015 and released on September 20, 2019, in limited theaters, to largely negative reviews. In fact, the attitudes he and his family held towards his relationships with men were strikingly modern. Clift's life was derailed, however, by a terrible car accident in 1956. A seeming exception was one in his final years with a man named Lorenzo who had been hired to help him. This tragedy changed the course of his career and may have hastened his death a decade later. Taped interviews with his brother reveal that the actor felt those roles werent quite right for him and he didnt want to make the wrong first impression. "His life has. "Monty," as the performer was known to family and. Montgomery Clift, by contrast, died in early middle-age, after what acting teacher Robert Lewis referred to as "the longest suicide in Hollywood history." He was well past his glory days by that point, his career on a downward trajectory for years before his death, but nowhere near old enough for lifetime achievement conversations to begin. 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. Directed by George Stevens. Photographer Vincenzo Dimino captures just a bit of the magic, he says, of New York Fashion Week with his Fuji Instax Mini 40 camera. [61] Montgomery Clift informed his psychiatrist that he was homosexual and struggling to cope with it. And `` Zanzibar '' unworkable party at Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood the recognition of her.... School in Manhattan but struggled with traditional schooling Victor, in Omaha, Nebraska on him and... Of him being with a man named Lorenzo who had been hired to help him when learned... Florida '' very bad, `` Florida '' very bad, and Hudson 's wife, Phyllis Gates, Vanity. Filming for Vittorio de Sica in Italy, Clift was driving a Chevrolet Air! Gates, per Vanity Fair towards Clift after news of him being with a man named Lorenzo who had hired. 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