Montgomery Clift was an intense matinee idol who had an intense style of acting and an unclear sexuality. His quirky character traits and brooding presence often became fodder for magazine article writers and gossip columnists.
After beginning his acting career on Broadway, he relocated to Hollywood and began film acting. An outstanding performer with an extremely selective nature, he only ever signed on for one film per year during his film career.
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Early Life and Education
Monty Clift was born in Omaha, Nebraska on October 17th 1920 to Ethel Clift and Wallbroker Arthur Clift. They traveled extensively for his father’s job while Ethel served as parent figure and tutored the family while visiting Europe and Bermuda where the Clifts had second homes.
At 12, Monty auditioned for and was cast as the lead actor in Sarasota Youth Theater’s production of Fly Away Home, garnering immediate notice for his talent onstage from both himself and his mother. Soon thereafter, acting became Monty’s future career path.
By 1948 Monty had made his film debut in Howard Hawks’ Red River and begun garnering recognition for his performances. Yet despite this early success he struggled with substance abuse and depression; additionally he kept his sexuality a secret so as not to harm his career.
Professional Career
Monty Clift’s professional acting career began in 1934 with an appearance in a summer stock production of Fly Away Home. Later he went on to Broadway where he performed several plays by Noel Coward such as Hay Fever and There Shall Be No Night.
Starting his Hollywood career in 1946, he would appear in over 17 films with notable stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Tallulah Bankhead.
Monty kept his sexuality private during an era where being gay could lead to career-ending sin, but was nevertheless an accomplished actor, portraying a range of dramatic and comic characters before succumbing to heart disease caused by excessive alcohol and painkiller use at 45. Monty died as the result of this heart attack caused by excessive drinking.
Achievement and Honors
Montgomery Clift is widely considered one of the greatest actors ever. Nominated for four Oscars but never winning, Clift was recognized for his roles in films like The Searchers, A Place in the Sun, From Here to Eternity and Judgment at Nuremberg.
His performances were known for their intensity and naturalism. However, he was very selective with the film projects he chose, spending late nights rewriting scripts so as to fully inhabit his characters onscreen – often to the disapproval of directors; yet this helped create more convincing performances on-screen.
As an actor living during an era when being gay was considered career-ending shame, he struggled with his homosexuality and relationships with women were hollow and unfulfilling for him. Elizabeth Taylor came to his aid, offering him the role in Reflections in a Golden Eye as compensation.
Personal Life
Clift was an independent-minded figure who strongly objected to being classified as a nonconformist. Due to his unconventional choices in wardrobe and refusal to sign long-term contracts, his insistence that an actor owed nothing to their audience earned him the moniker “miserable loser”.
Montgomery Clift was 14 when the 1929 Wall Street Crash claimed his father and left his mother and older brother struggling financially. Monty took part in a summer stock production of Fly Away Home at this point and discovered his calling as an actor on stage.
In 1946, he made his film debut in Howard Hawks’ Red River. This classic depicted him vs John Wayne’s iconic rancher character on an exhausting cattle drive journey and proved an enormously popular success.
Net Worth
Montgomery Clift made his mark as an actor after appearing in Red River and The Search; yet his personal life quickly degenerated to where it ultimately led him a recluse who mostly spent his time abusing alcohol and drugs before succumbing to heart attack at age 45 in 1966.
Monty was also well-known for his sexual prowess. According to an old voice recording in Making Montgomery Clift, his own mother reported that Monty was gay from an early age and never tried to hide his orientation from her.
He earned four Oscar nominations and appeared in seven films before his death, such as THE MISFITS where Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe made their last film appearances together, as well as playing his final role of Sigmund Freud in FREUD.