Editing Montgomery Clift (section)

===Early theater career: 1934–1946===
[[File:MontgomeryClift.jpg|thumb|Studio publicity photograph, c. 1948]]
Clift had shown an interest in acting and theatrics as a child living in Switzerland and France but did not take the initiative to go out for a part in a local production until age 13, when his family was forced to downsize and relocate from Chicago to [[Sarasota, Florida]]. He had a small non-paying role.<ref>LaGuardia, pp. 11–12</ref> 

Close to a year later the family moved again, settling in New York City. Clift debuted on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] at age 14 as Harmer Masters in the comedy ''Fly Away Home,'' which ran from January to July 1935 at the [[48th Street Theatre]]. The ''[[New York World-Telegram]]'' noticed Clift’s "amazing poise and dexterity" while producer Theo Bamberger commended him for what he called a "natural histrionic instinct."<ref>Capua, p. 11</ref> 

Clift spent a short time at the [[Dalton School]] in Manhattan but struggled with traditional schooling.<ref>LaGuardia, p. 18</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last= Roman|first= Robert|date= |title= Montgomery Clift pp. 541–554|magazine= Films in Review Vol. XVII No. 9 November 1966 |location= New York, NY |editor= Henry Hart |publisher= [[National Board of Review|National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, Inc.]]}}</ref> He continued to flourish onstage and appeared in works by [[Moss Hart]] and [[Cole Porter]], [[Robert E. Sherwood|Robert Sherwood]], [[Lillian Hellman]], [[Tennessee Williams]], and [[Thornton Wilder]], creating the part of Henry in the original production of ''[[The Skin of Our Teeth]]''.<ref>Lawrence, Amy (2010). ''The Passion of Montgomery Clift'', p. 13</ref> 

Clift proved to be a successful young stage actor working with, among others, [[Dame May Whitty]], [[Alla Nazimova]], [[Mary Boland]], [[Cornelia Otis Skinner]], [[Fredric March]], [[Tallulah Bankhead]], [[Alfred Lunt]], and [[Lynn Fontanne]]. In 1939, as a member of the cast of the 1939 Broadway production of [[Noël Coward]]'s ''[[Hay Fever (play)|Hay Fever]]'', Clift participated in one of the first [[television]] broadcasts in the United States. The ''Hay Fever'' performance was broadcast by NBC's New York television station W2XBS (the forerunner of [[WNBC]]) and was aired during the [[1939 New York World's Fair]].<ref>Lawrence 2010, p. 261</ref> At age 20, he appeared in the Broadway production of ''[[There Shall Be No Night]]'', a work that won the 1941 [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]].

Clift also participated in [[Old-time radio|radio]] broadcasts early in his career, though, according to one critic, he hated the medium.<ref name="Kass">{{cite book|last1=Kass|first1=Judith M.|title=The Films of Montgomery Clift|date=1975|publisher=Citadel Press|isbn=0806507179|page=34|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1250102.The_Films_of_Montgomery_Clift|access-date= July 20, 2016}}</ref> On May 24, 1944, he was part of the cast of [[Eugene O'Neill]]'s ''[[Ah, Wilderness!]]'' for ''The [[Theatre Guild]] on the Air''.<ref>[http://www.eoneill.com/artifacts/flash/awr0.5/awr0.5.htm Edoneill.com]</ref> 

In 1949, as part of the promotional campaign for the film ''[[The Heiress]]'', he played Heathcliff in the one-hour version of ''[[Wuthering Heights]]'' for ''[[Ford Theatre]]''.<ref>[https://archive.org/download/FordTheater/FT_49-04-01_ep65-Wuthering_Heights.mp3 Archive.org]</ref> In January 1951, he participated in the episode "The Metal in the Moon" for the series ''[[Cavalcade of America]]'', sponsored by the chemical company [[DuPont Company]]. Also in 1951, Clift was cast for the first time as Tom in the radio world premiere of Tennessee Williams' ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'', with [[Helen Hayes]] (Amanda) and [[Karl Malden]] (the Gentleman Caller), for ''The Theatre Guild on the Air''.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/TheaterGuildontheAir Archive.org]</ref>

Clift did not serve during [[World War II]], having been given [[Selective Service System classification|4-F status]] after suffering [[dysentery]] in 1942. Immediately following the end of the war in September 1945 (in what would be Clift's penultimate Broadway performance,) he starred in the stage adaptation of [[D.H. Lawrence]]'s short story ''You Touched Me.'' He and actor [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]] later wrote a screenplay for a film adaptation that was never made.<ref>LaGuardia, p. 92</ref> 

By this time, Clift had developed what would come to be regarded as his signature acting style and biggest impact on the future of modern film acting, as told by biographer Robert LaGuardia:

{{blockquote|He managed to convince the audience that he was unmitigated male sexuality without making a vulgar display of himself, as most other actors of his age and type would have. How? He used ''inner'' silence, unusual pauses in his speeches, awkward body movements. He spoke so quietly that at times he was practically inaudible. He shifted his moods erratically, from a brooding pose to a bursting smile. These were extremely unorthodox, risky procedures, and had the effect of involving the audience with ''him'', an exceedingly selfish aim if one thinks only in terms of the play, but a daring and stupendously courageous maneuver when one thinks of the ground he was breaking.<ref>LaGuardia, p. 54</ref>}}