Montgomery Clift was one of Hollywood’s most gifted and troubled leading men, a actor whose career spanned two decades and whose personal struggles became as famous as his performances. Born Edward Montgomery Clift on October 17, 1920, int Omaha, Nebraska, he was known as “Monty” to his family and friends. His father, William Brooks Clift, served as president of the Omaha National Trust Company, but the Great Depression wiped out the family’s fortunes, forcing them to relocate to a more modest life in Sarasota, Florida. Clift struggled in school and never attended college, but he discovered acting at age 13 with a local theater company.
His mother, Ethel, was impressed by his commitment and encouraged him to pursue the craft. After the family moved to Massachusetts, he auditioned and won a role inthe Broadway play “Flyaway Home. ” The family later settled in New York City, where over the next decade Clift appeared in several Broadway productions, including “There Shall Be No Night,””The Skin of Our Teeth,” and”Our Town. ”
Alongside Marlon Brando and James Dean, Clift was considered one of the original method actors in Hollywood, having studied at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg.
He did not serve during World War II, having received a 4F classification after suffering dental issues in 1942. At age 25, Clift moved to Hollywood, where his first film role came opposite John Wayne inthe western “Red River”(1948). The film was a major hit and earned two Academy Award nominations. His second film,”The Search,”premiered the same year and earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Clift signed on for”The Heiress,”but he was unhappy with the script and did not get along with most of the cast. The studio marketed him as a sex symbol prior to the film’s release in 1949. His performance in”A Place inthe Sun”(1951) is widely regarded as one of his signature method acting roles. He worked extensively on his character and earned another Best Actor nomination.
For his character’s jail scenes, he prepared by spending a night in a real prison. Clift was emblematic of an entirely new kind of leading man—sensitive, vulnerable, and interior—and the studio celebrated his heartthrob status. Gossip columnists constantly linked him romantically with Elizabeth Taylor, though she was actually one of his closest friends. According to Clift’s brother, it was likely that Monty was either bisexual or gay.
In 1953, he appeared in three films: Alfred Hitchcock’s”I Confess,””Terminal Station,”and”From Here to Eternity,”which earned him his third Oscar nomination. On the evening of May 12, 1956, while filming”Raintree County,”Clift was involved in a serious car crash. He apparently fell asleep while driving and smashed his car into a telephone pole after leaving a dinner party at the Beverly Hills home of Elizabeth Taylor and her husband, Michael Wilding. Friend Kevin McCarthy, who saw the collision, alerted Taylor, who raced to Clift’s side.
A tooth had become lodged in his tongue, and she pulled it out as he began to choke on it. He suffered a broken jaw and nose, a fractured sinus, and several facial lacerations requiring plastic surgery. After eight weeks of recovery, Clift returned tothe set to finish the film. Although the results of his plastic surgeries were remarkable for the time, they were noticeable—he really did look different after the accident.
The left side of his face was almost completely immobile. The pain led him to rely heavily on alcohol and pills for relief, and he never fully physically or emotionally recovered from the crash. He continued working over the next decade, appearing in”Lonelyhearts”and”The Young Lions”(1958),”Suddenly, Last Summer”(1959),and”Wild River”(released 1960). He then co-starred in”The Misfits”(1961), which was the final film of both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable.
Clift’s last Oscar nomination came for Best Supporting Actor for his role in”Judgment at Nuremberg”(1961). By the time he was making”Freud: The Secret Passion”(1962), his self-destructive lifestyle was severely affecting his health, and film studios no longer offered him parts. In1966, thanks to Elizabeth Taylor’s efforts on his behalf, he was signed to star opposite her in”Reflections in a Golden Eye,”but it was not to be. On July 23,1966, Montgomery Clift was found dead lying in his bed, his eyeglasses still on and both fists clenched by his side.
He was just45 years old. The autopsy reported the cause of death as a heart attack brought on by occlusive coronary artery disease, with no evidence of foul play or suicide. His funeral was attended by 150 guests, including Lauren Bacall and Frank Sinatra. He was buried inthe Friends Quaker Cemetery in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
Elizabeth Taylor, who was in Rome at the time, sent flowers and later called Monty her closest friend and confidant.
