About the Book:

From the moment he leapt to stardom with the films Red River and A Place in the Sun, Montgomery Clift was acclaimed by critics and loved by fans. Along with Marlon Brando and James Dean, Clift is regarded at the epitome of the moody Method approach to acting that took film by storm in the late 1940s early 1950s. With dark hair and dark eyes, he possessed a hesitant delivery and fragile handsomeness. He was respected for bringing an intensity and vulnerability to his portrayals.

In this affecting biography, Patricia Bosworth explores the complex inner life and desires of the four-time Oscar-nominated actor. She traces a poignant trajectory: Clift's childhood was dominated by a controlling, class-obsessed mother who never left him alone. He developed passionate friendships with Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor in spite of his closeted sexuality. Then his career as an unorthodox romantic leading man ended with a traumatic car crash outside Taylor's house which disfigured his good looks. Surgery left him with a stranger, character-actor's face. He went on to appear with some success in supporting roles, but the loss of his beauty and subsequent addictions finally brought the curtain down on his career.

Stunning and heartrending, Montgomery Clift: A Biography is a remarkable tribute to one of Hollywood's most gifted – and tormented – actors.

What people say:

"...Because of Bosworth's artistry, her ability to choose the right details, and her own immersion in the subject...this book is an amazing excursion into a life." — New York Times Book Review

"It stands as the definitive work on the gifted, haunted actor." — Los Angeles Times

"The best film star biography in years." — Newsweek

"Here it is – the real thing – inside Montgomery Clift. I've known other actors as well, but none with such a harrowing tale. I kept wondering, could Patricia Bosworth have been there? Everywhere? The book is that vivid and intimate." — Elia Kazan

About the Author:

Patricia Bosworth (1933-2020) was an American actress, biographer, and journalist. A student of the Actors Studio in New York, she studied under Lee Strasberg alongside Paul Newman, Marilyn Monroe, and Steve McQueen. She went on to focus on journalism, as a Vanity Fair contributor and her biographies of Montgomery Clift and fellow Actors Studio alumni Marlon Brando and Jane Fonda were best-sellers and, certainly with the Clift book, have proven to be definitive. She was a faculty member of Columbia University's school of journalism as well as Barnard College, and was a winner of the Front Page Award for her journalistic achievement in writing about the Hollywood Blacklist. A longtime board member of the Actors Studio, she ran the Playwrights/Directors Unit there.