View source for Montgomery Clift

'''Montgomery Clift''', actor (1920-1966)

This page writen and copyright 2008 by Will Johnson, Professional Genealogist.  This page is locked, if you'd like to comment on it, you may email me at [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com].

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==Edward Montgomery Clift==
===Early life===
Montgomery Clift was born 17 Oct 1920, several hours after his twin sister Ethel "Sister", in Omaha, Douglas County, [[Nebraska]] &mdash; the son of [[#William Brooks Clift|William Brooks "Bill" Clift]] and his wife [[#Ethel Blair|Ethel "Sunny" Blair]].  Montgomery's father was at that time the vice-president of Omaha National Bank.  William and Ethel also had one other child, an older son Brooks Clift born 18 months earlier.

A note about names.  Montgomery's mother, always called "Sunny" was adopted at birth.  Her father was a Blair, her mother an Anderson, her adoptive family were Foggs.  The curious circumstances of her birth (explained under her own entry below) explain the confusion in various sources regarding what to call her.  As for Montgomery's sister, Montgomery always called his twin "Sister".  She is called Ethel in her father's obituary.  Most mentions of her in biographies, probably following the lead of Patricia Bosworth call her Roberta.  But Bosworth only uses this name at her birth, later calling her Ethel as she was apparently always later known.  Ethel married lawyer Robert Campbell McGinnis (1918-95) and had several children in Austin, Texas.  Their brother was named William Brooks Montgomery, Jr but he is most often simply called Brooks.

Montgomery and his two siblings were educated at home by his mother and private tutors.  Sunny, reportedly convinced that she had aristocratic bloodlines, decided to raise and educate her children in a peculiar fashion.  So they spent quite a lot of time in Europe as Sunny believed this was the way "throughbred" children were raised.  She tried to instill the idea in her children that they were of-a-higher-class and must not mix with the common people.  Several people having met Montgomery during this period, came away with the impression that he was quite a snob.

===Career===
Montgomery's first professional stage appearance was at the age of 13 in a local theater show in Florida.  But within a few years, he began appearing regularly on Broadway in New York City.  After several favorable reviews, Hollywood wanted him, but he rejected many offers looking for just the right vehicle.  This would be a constant part of Clift's psyche, that he refused to perform in trashy productions, only seeking the very best that he thought could show his talent without typecasting him.

Montgomery, while growing, was very close to his twin Ethel, but she married and moved to Texas, while he continued to live mostly in New York City, even while appearing for times in Hollywood movies.

===Family===
An interesting sidenote is that Montgomery's niece Suzanne Clift, daughter of his brother Brooks, when she was 21, pled guilty to manslaughter in the 1 Oct 1962, murder of her boyfriend, Piero Brentani, a Swiss-Italian electronics engineer.  She shot him in the head and castrated him, according to the recent report in ''The Boston Globe'' in 2000.

===Death===
Montgomery Clift died of a heart attack in his New York City townhouse 23 Jul 1966.

===Primary sources for 1===
*[http://content.ancestry.com/browse/view.aspx?dbid=7235&iid=NEWS-MD-FR_PO.1966_07_27_0016&rc=4643,979,4742,1016;4171,1021,4270,1058&pid=506719248&ssrc=&fn=Ethel&ln=Clift&st=g ''The Frederick Post'' (Frederick, Maryland), 27 Jul 1966], "Montgomery Clift, Actor, Dead at 45" : "New York (AP) &mdash; A funeral service was held Tuesday for actor Montgomery Clift.  Clift, 45, was stricken Saturday with a coronary caused by hardening of the arteries.  He died in his Manhattan apartment.  Born in Omaha, Neb., Clift started his acting career at age 13 in an amateur production in Sarasota, Fla.  A year later he was on Broadway in 'Fly Away Home' starring Thomas Mitchell.  In all, Clift appeared in 13 Broadway plays.  Clift shunned the glamor of Hollywood, staying there only long enough to make pictures.  Among the 10 movies in which he starred he was nominated for an Academy Award in 'The Search', 'From Here to Eternity' and 'A Place in the Sun.'  However he never won an award.  Clift, who never married, is survived by his mother, Ethel Clift of New York City; a brother, Brooks of Atlanta, Ga., and a sister Ethel McGinnis of Austin, Tex."
 
===Secondary sources for 1===
*[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/121539/Montgomery-Clift "Montgomery Clift"], Encyclopedia Britannica
*''Montgomery Clift'', by Patricia Bosworth (1978)

===See Also===
*[http://www.nypl.org/research/manuscripts/the/theboswo.xml Guide to the Patricia Bosworth papers]

==William Brooks Clift==
William Brooks Clift was born 18 Dec 1886 in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, [[Tennessee]], the son of [[#Moses Haney Clift|Moses Haney Clift]] by his wife [[#Florence Virginia Parrot|Florence Virginia Parrot]].  Bill was the youngest child of six siblings.  He went to Cornell University in 1908 and served four years in the infantry, possibly while going to college.  He married [[#Ethel Blair|Ethel Blair]] by 1917, when he was a bond salesman for National City Company of Chicago.  He had blue eyes, and dark brown hair.

They had a son William Brooks Clift Jr about 1918 and then William was nominated for the vice-presidency of the Omaha National Bank and the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska where their twins Montgomery and Ethel were born in 1920.

He was variously a banker, a bond salesman, an insurance salesman, a stock broker, and an investment advisor.  He was a bit long-suffering, while Ethel and the children spent months in Europe and also in Florida, Bill continued to live and work in New York City.  Ethel worked as well, but it's quite likely that it was Bill who footed most of the bills.  Ethel has been described as wearing the pants in the family, and Bill often deferred to her, especially in regard to their children.

He died 24 Feb 1964 of a heart attack, at New York Hospital, New York City, [[New York]].  At the time of his death, he and his wife were living in New York City, while Brooks may have already been living in Atlanta, Georgia (where he was in 1966) and Ethel, the wife of lawyer Robert Campbell McGinnis (1918-95) was then living in Austin, Texas.

===Primary Sources for 2===
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1900usfedcen%2c&rank=0&=%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c&gsfn=Moses&gsln=Clift&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=3&recid=65299067&recoff=1+3 1900 Census of Chattanooga Ward 6, Hamilton County, Tennessee]
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=William&gsln=Clift&sx=&f7=&f9=&f10=&f18__n=&f20=&rg_81004011__date=&rs_81004011__date=0&f23=&f17=&f16=&rg_f19__date=&rs_f19__date=0&_8000C002=&f21=&_80008002=&f22=&_80018002=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1910uscenindex&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=69&recid=78972088&recoff=14+16&fsk=CIAAHswDwiio&bsk=&pgoff= 1910 Census of Chattanooga Ward 6, Hamilton County, Tennessee]
*[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=50000&iid=106940916&fn=Ethel&ln=Clift&st=d&ssrc=&pid=993833 ''New York Times'', 26 Feb 1964], Obituary, "William B Clift, 78, Investment Broker" : "William B Clift, a Wall Street investment broker and the father of Montgomery Clift, the actor, died of a heart attack Monday in New York Hospital at the age of 78.  He lived at 460 East 79th Street.  At his death Mr Clift was a registered representative of Jesup & Lamont, 26 Broadway, members of the New York Stock Exchange.  He was born in Chattanooga and was a graduate of Cornell University.  In New York he was a partner in the New York Stock Exchange firm of Ames, Emmerich & Co., was associated with the exchange firm of Tucker, Anthony & R.L. Day and, from 1956 to 1962, was a partner in the exchange firm of Theodore Tsolainos & Co.  Surviving besides his son Montgomery, are his widow, Mrs. Ethel Fogg Clift; another son, William Jr.; a daughter, Mrs. Robert C. McGinnis; a brother, Rhotan; a sister, Mrs. Florence Horton, and nine grandchildren."

==Ethel Blair==
A remarkable story is related by Patricia Bosworth in her biography of Montgomery Clift about his mother's birth.  According to her report, she was told that Ethel "Sunny" had been born from the union of Woodbury "Woody" Blair and Maria "Bobbie" Anderson.  Maria had formed an attachment to Woodbury, but Maria's mother Elizabeth disapproved of the relationship.  Maria and Woodbury continued meeting without her mother's approval and eventually married secretly.  When her mother learned about the marriage, she either had it annuled, or forced Maria to do so.  She then kept Maria a virtual prisoner, sometimes guarded by her sister Sophie.

Maria however had already became pregnant.  When it came time for the child's birth, they moved in the Summer of 1888 to Philadelphia, [[Pennsylvania]] where she gave birth on 29 Sep 1888.  The birth certificate, according to Patricia Bosworth, records her parents as "Sophie and Frank Adams".  Her mother forced Maria to agree to give the child up for adoption.  Sophia Anderson, Maria's sister is reported to have told Sunny decades later, that Woodbury Blair was never told of his wife's pregnancy or the birth of their child.  The doctor who delivered the child, Edward E Montgomery, kept her for a year, and finally she was adopted by the Charles Fogg family of Germantown.  

When Sunny was 18, she went to Cornell on a scholarship.  It was then that Dr. Montgomery told her this story of her birth.  The Blair family never accepted this story, at least they had not by the time of Patrica's book in 1978, calling it "hogwash" according to her report.  The Anderson family did accept the story, at least some of them.

Sunny never met her mother, although she apparently wrote letters that were never answered. Recent research indicates that her mother Maria lived until 1925, her father until 1933, while Sunny's grandmother Elizabeth had died in 1905.  This leaves on the table, the odd question of why her mother and father, who outlived the supposed "evil grandmother" by 20 years, did not contact Sunny.  Something about the story passed down, doesn't quite ring true.  If Maria was being "held prisoner" this certainly ended by 1905.

Another rather interesting note, is that after I'd rapidly skimmed the list of contents of the "Patricia Bosworth papers" I saw no references to any member of the Blair or the Anderson family.  I find that a bit too odd.  If you, as an author, had heard such a bizarre story, wouldn't you follow it up to try to learn it's veracity?  If you, as a mother were "determined" to be acknowledged by your relatives, wouldn't you actually simply go to Washington DC and pester them directly in person, instead of writing dozens of letters that go unanswered?  Knowing that your father and mother are yet living?  I'm fairly skeptical of something here... I'm just not quite sure what yet.

Ethel married by 1917 and the family apparently traveled to various places as Bill was a sort-of traveling bond salesman.  They reportedly had several hard years before he was nominated as vice-president of Omaha National Bank.

When Montgomery Clift died in 1966, his mother Ethel was then living in New York City, while her daughter Rebecca, then married to Robert C McGinnis was living in Austin, Texas.  Ethel died in 1988 in Austin, Travis County, [[Texas]], probably living with or near her daughter.

===Primary sources for 3===
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&db=1900usfedcen%2c&=%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c&gsfn=Charles&gsln=Fogg&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=93&recid=60816542&recoff=1+2&fsk=CIAAHbIBe-43-9e&bsk=&pgoff= 1900 Census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania]
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1910USCenIndex%2c&rank=0&=%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c&gsfn=Ethel&gsln=Fogg&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=20&recid=73507095&recoff=1+2 1910 Census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania]
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=ssdi%2c&rank=0&=%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c&gsfn=ethel&gsln=clift&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=34&fh=0&recid=13267915&recoff=1+2 ''Social Security Death Index''] : "Ethel Clift, born 29 Sep 1892 [as found], SSN issued by New York (1964-65), died 27 Jun 1988 Austin, Travis County, Texas"

===Secondary sources for 3===
*''Montgomery Clift'', by Patricia Bosworth (1978)
*[http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/pedigree.aspx?pid=24837836&st=1 "Ethel Fogg"] on OneWorldTree

===See Also===
*[http://www.nypl.org/research/manuscripts/the/theboswo.xml Guide to the Patricia Bosworth papers]

==Moses Haney Clift==
Col. Moses Haney Clift was born 25 Aug 1836 in [[Tennessee]].  He served as a Confederate soldier in the U.S. Civil War.  Shortly afterward moving from Nashvill to Chattanooga.  Moses married firstly to Charlotte Attaline "Attie" Cook on 16 Sep 1866 in Monroe County, Tennessee.  They had four children.  He married secondly to Florence Virginia Parrot (a native of Catersville, Georgia) on 28 Jun 1883 in Hamilton County, Tennessee.  They had four children as well.

Moses became a lawyer and eventually president of the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

===Primary sources for 4===
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1870usfedcen%2c&rank=0&=%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c&gsfn=Moses&gsln=Clift&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=1&recid=35489330&recoff=1+3 1870 Census of Chattanooga Ward 4, Hamilton County, Tennessee]

===Secondary sources for 4===
*[http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/pedigree.aspx?pid=16380264&st=1 "Moses Haney Clift"] on OneWorldTree

==Florence Virginia Parrot==

==Woodbury Blair==
Woodbury Blair was born 1 Sep 1852 at St Louis, [[Missouri]], but six months after his birth, his parents relocated back in [[Maryland]].  He became a lawyer.  The story related by Patricia Bosworth in her biography of Montgomery Clift, states that Woodbury's first wife, albeit by an elopement, and shortly thereafter annuled, was Maria "Bobbie" Anderson.  By this union, they had one child Ethel who was given up at birth and adopted by the Fogg family, although Woodbury never knew this child existed.  His wife, or ex-wife, was kept in confinement by her own mother until the child's birth.  The Blair family, according to Patricia's report never accepted this story as true.

On 6 Jul 1907, Woodbury, then aged 54 married to Emily Wallach, aged 38.  Woodbury Blair died 14 Oct 1933 at Emergency Hospital, [[Washington DC]].  They had some connection as well to Newport, [[Rhode Island]] as his obit instructs newspapers of that place to copy.

===Primary sources for 6===
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1870usfedcen%2c&rank=0&=%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c&gsfn=Woodbury&gsln=Blair&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=0&recid=13906959&recoff=1+2 1870 Census of Sandy Spring PO, District 5, Montgomery County, Maryland] showing Woodbury at age 18 living with his parents.
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1880usfedcen%2c&rank=0&=%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c&gsfn=Woodbury&gsln=Blair&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=0&recid=45351496&recoff=1+2 1880 Census of Washington, Washington County, District of Columbia] showing Woodbury at age 28 living with his parents
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1900usfedcen%2c&rank=0&=%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c&gsfn=Woodbury&gsln=Blair&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=0&recid=6535557&recoff=1+2 1900 Census of Washington, Washington County, District of Columbia] showing Woodbury at age 49 living with his sister, brother-in-law, and brother and servants
*[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=50000&iid=280377682&fn=Emily&ln=Blair&st=d&ssrc=&pid=348933 ''Washington Post'', 7 Jul 1907], "Licensed to Marry" : "...Woodbury Blair 54, and Emily N Wallach, 38. Rev Charles E Buck"
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=Emily&gsln=Blair&sx=y&f8=&f9=&f10=&f20=&rg_fa5__date=&rs_fa5__date=0&f16__n=&rg_f19__date=&rs_f19__date=0&f18=&fa20=&f21=&fa18=&f22=&fa14=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1920usfedcen&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=14&recid=10671462&recoff=1+2 1920 Census of Washington, Washington County, District of Columbia] showing "Woodfurdy" at age 65 with his wife Emily age 60 and several servants
*[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=50000&iid=237130712&fn=Emily&ln=Blair&st=d&ssrc=&pid=1179216 ''Washington Post''], "Died" : "Blair &mdash; On Saturday Oct 14, 1933 at 8 pm at Emergency Hospital, Woodbury, beloved husband of Emily Wallace Blair.  Notice of funeral hereafter (Newport, R.I. papers, please copy.)

===Secondary sources for 6===
*[http://content.ancestry.com/Browse/BookView.aspx?dbid=26294&iid=dvm_LocHist010948-01220-0&sid=&gskw=Woodbury+Blair&cr=1 ''Washington past and present: A history''], Vol IV, page 632 : "Woodbury Blair, eldest of the three sons of Montgomery and Mary Elizabeth (Woodbury) Blair, was born at St Louis, Missouri 1 Sep 1852....On 6 Jul 1907, Woodbury Blair was married to Emily N. Wallach, daughter of Richard Wallach, a former Mayor of Washington.  They have no chidren."
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=bgmi&so=2&rank=0&=%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c%2c&gsfn=Woodbury&gsln=Blair&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&db=&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-b the BGMI] cites:
**Encyclopedia of American Biography. New Series. Volume 3. New York: American Historical Society, . Use the Index to locate biographies. (EncAB-A 3) Biography contains portrait.
**The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Volume 25. New York: James T. White & Co., 1936. Use the Index to locate biographies. (NatCAB 25)

==Maria Latham Anderson==
==William Clift==
Col. William Clift owned 45,000 acres in Soddy County, [[Tennessee]].  The land, rich in iron ore and timber made him a millionaire by the time he was thirty, according to the biography of Montgomery Clift by Patricia Bosworth.  William served on the Union side in the U.S. Civil War.

[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Nebraska]]
[[Category:New York]]
[[Category:Tennessee]]
[[Category:Movies and Television]]