Montgomery Clift

Personal Info

Known For:
Acting

Birthday:
October 17, 1920

Place of Birth:
Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Social Media

Montgomery Clift

Biography

Edward Montgomery “Monty” Clift (October 17, 1920 - July 23, 1966) was an American actor of the Golden Age, known for often playing sensitive or conflicted outcast characters with realistic emotional depth and anxieties.

Clift, Marlon Brando and James Dean are the trio typically associated with the new wave of film acting, with Clift being the oldest and first to make his stage and screen debuts. Starting at age 14, he was a breakout talent on Broadway throughout 1935-1945. He finally accepted one of many Hollywood offers: starring in the Western “Red River” which was filmed in 1946 but delayed release for 2 years. Fred Zinnemann’s “The Search” preceded “Red River” as his first film in 1948 and first Academy Award nomination. Clift’s next major films were “The Heiress” (1949) and “A Place in the Sun” (1951), cementing his romantic lead status. At the time, audiences had rarely seen a type of masculinity softened with Clift’s vulnerability. Hollywood had also never seen a young actor control his career and instant stardom the way Clift did in the late 1940’s: notoriously selective, refusing the standard seven-year studio contracts and rewriting scripts to preserve his artistic freedom. In 1953, Zinnemann again directed Clift to an Academy Award nomination in war drama “From Here to Eternity.”

After suffering a near-fatal car accident during “Raintree County” (1957) he starred in acclaimed 1960’s films "Wild River,” "The Misfits” and “Judgment at Nuremberg” for which he earned a fourth and final Academy Award nomination for his 12-minute scene. Despite a 4-year hiatus and mounting health problems, Clift was eager to make a comeback in "Reflections in a Golden Eye,” secured by the insurance and insistence of co-star Elizabeth Taylor, but he tragically died of a heart attack at the age of 45 just weeks before shooting began.

Known For

Filmography

Year Movie Role
2022 Rat Pack Self (archive footage)
2018 Making Montgomery Clift Self (archive footage)
2015 Listen to Me Marlon Self (archive footage)
2014 Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire Self - Actor (archive footage)
2012 Starring Sigmund Freud (archive footage)
2004 Hitchcock's Confession: A Look at I Confess Self (archive footage)
2002 Edith Head: The Paramount Years (archive footage)
2002 Making 'The Misfits' Self (archive footage)
2001 George Stevens and His Place In The Sun Self (archive footage)
2000 Sir John Mills' Moving Memories Self (archive footage)
1997 The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender Self (archive footage)
1994 Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage Dr. Cukrowicz (archive footage)
1990 Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths (archive footage)
1987 Montgomery Clift: The Hidden Star Self (archive footage)
1985 George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey Self (archive footage)
1983 Montgomery Clift Self (archive footage)
1973 The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks Self (archive footage)
1966 The Defector Professor James Bower
1962 Freud: The Secret Passion Sigmund Freud
1961 Judgment at Nuremberg Rudolph Petersen
1961 The Misfits Perce Howland
1960 Wild River Chuck Glover
1959 Suddenly, Last Summer Dr. Cukrowicz
1959 Lonelyhearts Adam White
1958 The Young Lions Noah Ackerman
1957 Raintree County John Wickliff Shawnessy
1957 Operation Raintree Self
1953 I Confess Fr. Michael William Logan
1953 From Here to Eternity Pvt. Robert E. Lee 'Prew' Prewitt
1953 Indiscretion of an American Wife Giovanni Doria
1951 A Place in the Sun George Eastman
1950 The Big Lift Sgt. 1st Class Danny MacCullough
1949 The Heiress Morris Townsend
1948 Red River Matthew Garth
1948 The Search Ralph Stevenson
Year TV Show Role
1959 The David Susskind Show Self
1950 What's My Line? Self - Mystery Guest
1948 The Ed Sullivan Show Self
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