Montgomery Clift

Born: 17 October 1920 Birthplace: Omaha, Nebraska Death: 26 July 1966 (coronary disease) Best Known As: Pvt. Prewitt in the film From Here to Eternity Clift started acting on Broadway as a teenager; by age 18 he was playing leading roles and was an early member of the prestigious Actor's Studio. He eventually moved on to Hollywood, where his brooding, reluctant-hero presence was a new thing and made him a popular leading man of the post-war era. His most famous role may have been the troubled Private Prewitt in From Here to Eternity (1953, with Frank Sinatra and Burt Lancaster). Clift was nominated for an Academy Award for that film, and also for the films The Search (1948), A Place In the Sun (1951), and The Misfits (1961, Marilyn Monroe's last film). Clift is also known for the turmoil in his private life. His sex life has been much-discussed -- he apparently was gay, though at times he dated women -- and he sometimes drank heavily, especially after a 1957 car crash broke his jaw and nose and damaged his face badly. Clift and Elizabeth Taylor had a famous friendship. The song "Monty Got a Raw Deal" by the rock group R.E.M. is about Clift.