Actor, Kevin McCarthy, when speaking of his friend Montgomery Clift, once said that “he was a man who had everything and it was all for naught.” Blessed with good looks, Edward Montgomery Clift entered the world on October 17, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was born shortly after a twin sister, Roberta, and he had an older brother named Brooks. The father, William Clift, had been very successful in the banking industry, but lost most of his fortune during the Depression of 1929. The mother, Ethel, was born out of wedlock but raised her children as aristocrats, spending the family funds to locate her supposedly illustrious lineage.
Montgomery Clift was practically a child star, making his first appearance on Broadway in “Fly Away Home” in 1933 at the age of thirteen. He remained in New York for ten years, honing his craft and biding his time until he left for the tinsel and fame of Hollywood. He was an accomplished actor, known for the intensity of his performances. Although he had many relationships with women, he was a homosexual who feared coming out of the closet. (He had reason. In his day, he couldn’t have done so and maintained his star image.)
His film debut was “Red River” in 1948 with John Wayne. He was nominated for several Oscars for “A Place In The Sun (1951), “From Here To Eternity” (1953) and “Judgment At Nuremberg” (1961). By 1950 he had his share of medical problems and in fact had been rejected by the armed forces in World War II for chronic diarrhea. He became a pill-dependant alcoholic, a fatal combination. He kept looking for answers and spent much money and time on psychiatry.
In 1956 while filming “Raintree County”, he ran his car into a tree after leaving his friend Elizabeth Taylor’s house. It was she who saved him from choking to death by pulling out two teeth that had been lodged in his throat. His smashed face was rebuilt and he managed to come to terms with his estranged father, but pills, drugs, alcohol and guilt over homosexuality continued to control and ruin his life.
When he was asked in an interview shortly before his death how he felt about his life, his reply was “I’ve been knifed.” He died in New York on July 23, 1966, at the age of forty-six. He left a significant film legacy behind and Montgomery Clift will always live on for his many adoring fans.
What is YOUR favorite Montgomery Clift movie? Please share.