Montgomery Clift

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].

His article at the Encyclopedia Britannica Online states : "American motion-picture actor noted for the emotional depth and sense of vulnerability he brought to his roles. Along with Marlon Brando and James Dean, he helped delineate a new paradigm for American cinematic heroes."

The doctors did their best to reconstruct his features as they were.  It took several weeks for him to recover, but he insisted on finishing the movie.  Watching the film today, you can notice the odd changes in his appearance in certain scenes that were spliced together.  The left-side of his face was virtually paralyzed by the accident, his face appears puffy, and his upper lip and nose have changed.  He continued to work, but his appeal had now changed. With no longer the same type of sex appeal he once had, his drinking and drug use became, if possible, more pronounced.

He appeared opposite Marlon Brando in 1958's ''The Young Lions'', as Jewish-American soldier Noah Ackerman, training to fight in WWII. (Buy it [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6301797930/102-9279843-7223326?ie=UTF8&tag=countyh-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=6301797930 VHS], or [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00096S4DA/102-9279843-7223326?ie=UTF8&tag=countyh-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00096S4DA DVD].) Monty also that year starred as journalist-turned-advice-columnist Adam White in 1958's ''Lonelyhearts''. (Buy it [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6301973224/102-9279843-7223326?ie=UTF8&tag=countyh-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=6301973224 VHS].)  He next starred as Dr. Cukrowicz in 1959's ''Suddenly Last Summer'' opposite [[Elizabeth Taylor]] and [[Katherine Hepburn]].  Katherine Hepburn wants her niece Elizabeth Taylor, who has gone insane, lobotimized by the doctor, to prevent her from spilling the secret of how Katherine's son actually died.  Watch it here on YouTube [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTsJdG0JdoM&feature=related Part 1], or buy it [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004RXES/102-9279843-7223326?ie=UTF8&tag=countyh-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00004RXES VHS], or [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004TWZH/102-9279843-7223326?ie=UTF8&tag=countyh-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00004TWZH DVD].)  In all three of his films with Elizabeth Taylor, he played her love interest.  In 1960 he starred in the forgotten film ''Wild River'' as Chuck Glover, a field administrator for the TVA who is overseeing the building of a dam on the Tennessee River.

He starred in 1961's ''The Misfits'' with Clark Gable and [[Marilyn Monroe]] (which was her and Clark's last movie). This film tells the story of the chance meeting of a recent divorcee, a horse rustler and a drifter.  Watch seven minutes of this film [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT7ZO3dQJEI here on YouTube] or buy it [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6304056877/102-9279843-7223326?ie=UTF8&tag=countyh-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=6304056877 VHS], or [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005AUKC/102-9279843-7223326?ie=UTF8&tag=countyh-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00005AUKC DVD].)  Also that same year he appeared in ''Judgement at Nuremberg'', the story of the 1948 trial of four Nazi-era judges, several years after the war has ended, for their part in sterilization and cleansing policies.  Monty played the part of Rudolph Petersen, a mentally-handicapped man for which again he received an Academy Award nomination in the category "Best Actor in a Supporting Role".  (Buy it [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/630396155X/102-9279843-7223326?ie=UTF8&tag=countyh-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=630396155X VHS], or [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002CR04A/102-9279843-7223326?ie=UTF8&tag=countyh-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B0002CR04A DVD].)  Despite four nominations, Montgomery Clift never received an Academy Award.

His last film was the 1966 ''The Defector'' in which he played James Bower, an American physicist recruited by the CIA.  Although he was set to star opposite Elizabeth Taylor in ''Reflections in a Golden Eye'', shooting had not commenced at his death, and his part was subsequently played by Marlon Brando.

*[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]

Ethel married in Oct 1914 to [[#William Brooks Clift|William Brooks Clift]] who she had met while both were at Cornell University in New Jersey.  The family apparently traveled to various places as Bill was firstly an engineer "working on a dam" in Mississippi, and then a traveling bond salesman, possibly based in Chattanooga where he states he is living Jun 1917.  They reportedly had several hard years before Bill was nominated as vice-president of Omaha National Bank.

Ethel pregnant by the Summer of 1918 was told that at the end of pregnancy, she had to lie still to avoid problems.  She was a rather small woman, which might explain this unusual advice.  For the last six weeks of her pregnancy she lay in the hospital and the head of nursing Emma Wilka was so amazed that she decided to become the Clift's family nurse.  In Omaha, Ethel gave birth to the couple's eldest child William Brooks Clift Jr in February 1919.  A few newspaper articles, decades later, refer to Bill as Monty's "younger" brother.  But this is not true.

*[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=7602&iid=TNT623_1575-0051&fn=Moses+H&ln=Clift&st=r&ssrc=&pid=60473616 1900 Census of Chattanooga Ward 6, Hamilton County, Tennessee]

*[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=7602&iid=TNT623_1575-0051&fn=Moses+H&ln=Clift&st=r&ssrc=&pid=60473616 1900 Census of Chattanooga Ward 6, Hamilton County, Tennessee]