Montgomery Clift
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===Accident=== | ===Accident=== | ||
| − | In 1956, Monty was working opposite [[Elizabeth Taylor]] and [[Eva Marie Saint]], the three stars of the film ''Raintree County'', released the next year 1957. In this film he plays John Wickliff Shawnessy, a man who drifts away from his high school sweetheart Nell Gaither, played by Eva Marie Saint and enters into a passionate, but loveless, marriage with Susanna Drake (Elizabeth Taylor) a wealthy New Orleans belle. He later discovers that Susanna's mother died in a lunatic asylum and that she has inherited the family curse. He leaves home to fight in the Civil War. | + | In 1956, Monty was working opposite [[Elizabeth Taylor]] and [[Eva Marie Saint]], the three stars of the film ''Raintree County'', which would be released late the next year on 20 Dec 1957. In this film he plays John Wickliff Shawnessy, a man who drifts away from his high school sweetheart Nell Gaither, played by Eva Marie Saint and enters into a passionate, but loveless, marriage with Susanna Drake (Elizabeth Taylor) a wealthy New Orleans belle. He later discovers that Susanna's mother died in a lunatic asylum and that she has inherited the family curse. He leaves home to fight in the Civil War, and reflects on his life. |
| − | On 12 May 1956 during the filming Montgomery had a serious car accident which permanently damaged his looks. He had been at a party thrown by Elizabeth Taylor and her second husband Michael Wilding, at their home in Beverly Hills. Also at the party was [[Rock Hudson]] and his wife [[Phyllis Gates]] (who had been married the past November), Monty's close friend, fellow-actor Kevin McCarthy | + | On 12 May 1956 during the filming Montgomery had a serious car accident which permanently damaged his looks. He had been at a party thrown by Elizabeth Taylor and her second husband Michael Wilding, at their home in the hills of Coldwater Canyon in Beverly Hills. Also at the party was [[Rock Hudson]] and his wife [[Phyllis Gates]] (who had been married the past November), and Monty's close friend, fellow-actor Kevin McCarthy. Upon leaving, Monty in his car, ask Kevin McCarthy to drive in front of him down the hill as Monty was unsure of his ability to negotiate the twisting curves without guidance. His parting words to the group were: "Kevin has to help me down that mountain or I'll drive around in circles all night." |
| − | McCarthy went back up to Elizabeth's and they called a doctor and an ambulance. Elizabeth is reported to have run down the hill, climbed over the back seat (as the front doors wouldn't open) and cradled his head in her hands until he was taken to the hospital. She rode in the back of the ambulance, and Phyllis Gates in the front. 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. | + | For some reason, on the way down, Monty lost control of his car, rolled it down a hill and smashed it into a telephone pole. Kevin McCarthy, noticing Monty's headlights no longer behind him, went back and found the car down the hill. He went down to it and at first couldn't see where Monty was because he was down on the floor, and it was very dark. His face was left "a pulpy mess", evidently from being crushed by the steering wheel. Kevin raced back up to Elizabeth and Michael's house: "Monty's been in an accident! I think he's dead!" |
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| + | McCarthy went back up to Elizabeth's and they called a doctor and an ambulance. Elizabeth is reported to have run down the hill, climbed over the back seat (as the front doors wouldn't open) and cradled his head in her hands until he was taken to the hospital. She rode in the back of the ambulance, and Phyllis Gates in the front. "His nose was broken, his jaw shattered, his cheeks severely lacerated, and his upper lip split completely in half." (Bosworth, p 2) | ||
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| + | 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. | ||
===Final Films=== | ===Final Films=== | ||
