Editing Montgomery Clift (section)

==Personal life==
Clift is said to have valued privacy and ambiguity in his personal life, though he was known to be friendly and affectionate, blurring the emotions of [[platonic love]] and sexual attraction, particularly with close friend Elizabeth Taylor. Paramount Pictures arranged for her to attend the Los Angeles premiere of ''The Heiress'' as Clift's date to generate publicity.<ref>Casillo, pp. 62–3</ref> Paramount executive [[Luigi Luraschi]] remembered that Taylor, like many American teenagers, seemed "unmistakably in love" with Clift around the time of filming ''A Place in the Sun'',<ref>Casillo, pp. 66–7</ref> which commenced soon after that premiere outing.

Throughout the 1950s, Clift and Taylor starred together as romantic leads in three films: ''A Place in the Sun'', ''[[Raintree County (film)|Raintree County]]'', and ''Suddenly, Last Summer.'' Their romantic scenes in ''A Place in the Sun'' received considerable acclaim for their naturalness and authentic appearance. Taylor remained a loyal friend to Clift until his death.

In 2000, at the [[GLAAD Media Awards]], where Taylor was honored for her work for the [[LGBT]] community, she made the first public declaration by anyone that Clift was [[gay]] and called him her closest friend and confidant.<ref name="Kane">{{cite web|last1=Kane|first1=Matt |url=http://www.glaad.org/2011/03/25/video-elizabeth-taylor-at-the-11th-annual-glaad-media-awards|title= Elizabeth Taylor at the 11th Annual GLAAD Media Awards|publisher =[[GLAAD]]|date=March 25, 2011|access-date=February 1, 2017}}</ref> Clift's brother claimed he was [[bisexual]].<ref name="Petersen">{{cite web |last1=Petersen |first1=Anne Helen |date=September 23, 2014 |title=Scandals of Classic Hollywood: The Long Suicide of Montgomery Clift |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/09/scandals-of-classic-hollywood-montgomery-clift |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124145015/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/09/scandals-of-classic-hollywood-montgomery-clift |archive-date=January 24, 2024 |access-date=February 1, 2017 |work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref> When Clift began therapy in late 1950, he told his psychiatrist, "he thought he was [[homosexual]] and he wanted to know how to deal with it."<ref>Bosworth, p. 204</ref> After his death, in a taped telephone conversation with his brother, Clift's mother stated that she had known early on that Clift was homosexual.<ref>Capua, p. 22</ref>

Many of Clift's biographers cite his relationships with men and a few women based on friends' accounts and interviews. He was linked to actresses [[Libby Holman]]<ref>Casillo, pp. 29, 87–8</ref><ref>LaGuardia, p. 57</ref> and [[Phyllis Thaxter]].<ref>Capua, p. 25</ref><ref>Casillo, pp. 23–4</ref><ref>LaGuardia, pp. 35–6</ref> However, Clift's longest relationships were with men. He was involved with the ''[[Adventures of Superman (TV series)|Adventures of Superman]]'' actor [[Jack Larson]] and theater actor [[William LeMassena]],<ref>Casillo, pp. 22, 105–6</ref><ref>Capua, p. 24</ref> with whom he had a three-year relationship. LeMassena remained a close friend to Clift until his death. He described their relationship with fondness and kept taped film reels of Clift and the company of ''There Shall Be No Night'' enjoying leisure time together.<ref>LaGuardia, pp. 36–7</ref>

Clift was deeply and intensely involved with Broadway choreographer [[Jerome Robbins]];<ref>Lawrence, Greg (2001)''. Dance with Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins'', pp. 120–23</ref> "few associates were aware of how intimate and emotionally charged the relationship between Clift and Robbins was."<ref>Jowitt, Deborah (2004). ''Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance,''  p. 135</ref> They camouflaged their relationship by dating women.<ref>Lawrence 2001, p. 127</ref><ref>Jowitt, pp. 108, 135</ref><ref>"Jerome Robbins: Something to Dance About" ''American Masters'', Season 23, Episode 1</ref> In 1948, when Clift left Robbins to pursue a movie career in Hollywood, the announcement devastated Robbins.<ref>Vaill, Amanda (2006). ''Somewhere The Life of Jerome Robbins'', p. 240</ref><ref>Jowitt, pp. 146–7</ref> He told Clift, "I could make you love me," at the end of their two-year affair.<ref>Vaill, p. 240</ref>
 
Robbins is said to have conceived the basic plot of ''[[West Side Story]]'' after Clift shared the idea with him, according to actor [[Russ Tamblyn]]. In 2021, Tamblyn recalled that Robbins "told us on the set one day that the idea really came from Montgomery Clift, who was Jerry's boyfriend at the time... He said that he was with Monty at a party on Fire Island … [and Clift said] 'I've got an idea for a musical. Why not have a musical about [[Romeo and Juliet]], but make it with gangs in New York?' And Jerry said that he just couldn't get it out of his head."<ref>{{cite web |last=Ring |first=Trudy |date=May 6, 2021 |title=TCM Fest: West Side Story's Queer Origins and Other LGBTQ+ Highlights |url=https://www.advocate.com/film/2021/5/06/tcm-fest-west-side-storys-queer-origins-and-other-lgbtq-highlights |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524160416/https://www.advocate.com/film/2021/5/06/tcm-fest-west-side-storys-queer-origins-and-other-lgbtq-highlights |archive-date=May 24, 2024 |access-date=March 5, 2022 |work=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]]}}</ref> Robbins called Clift a "theatrical genius" early on in their affair.<ref>Bosworth, p. 156</ref>

In the early 1950s, [[Barney Balaban]] (president of Paramount Pictures) invited Clift on one of the Balaban family vacations to [[Nassau, Bahamas]]. [[Judy Balaban]], his daughter, claimed that she had an immediate connection with Clift and the two were "joined at the hip", dating for many months following.<ref name="ReferenceC">Clift, Event occurs at 00:31:57</ref> She attended the New York premiere of ''A Place in the Sun'' in August 1951 as his date.

Prior to his involvement with Balaban, Clift had received a barrage of [[blackmail]] phone calls at his residence, threatening to [[Outing|out]] him as homosexual, which resulted in Clift having to repeatedly change his number.<ref>Bosworth, p. 207</ref>

While the press assumed that Balaban and Clift were an item, Clift secretly dated British actor [[Roddy McDowall]]. According to Balaban, she was naïve about Clift's homosexuality and his romantic involvement with McDowall, who would occasionally accompany them on public outings.<ref>Bosworth, p. 211</ref><ref>Hoskyns, Barney (1992). ''Montgomery Clift: Beautiful Loser'', p. 96</ref> McDowall was introduced to Clift by his ''[[Lassie Come Home]]'' co-star Elizabeth Taylor.<ref>Langella, Frank (2012). ''Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them'', p. 336</ref> During the two and a half years that Clift stayed away from films, McDowall's career was nonexistent.<ref>LaGuardia, pp.138–39</ref><ref>Bosworth, p. 281</ref> He devoted himself entirely to Clift and moved from Los Angeles to New York City to be closer to his idol.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 17, 2021 |title=#BornThisDay: Actor, Roddy McDowall |url=https://worldofwonder.net/bornthisday-actor-roddy-mcdowall-4/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927184710/https://worldofwonder.net/bornthisday-actor-roddy-mcdowall-4/ |archive-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref> Reportedly, McDowall attempted suicide after their breakup.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-10-17 |title=#BornThisDay: Actor, Montgomery Clift - The WOW Report |url=https://worldofwonder.net/bornthisday-actor-montgomery-clift-4/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208035534/https://worldofwonder.net/bornthisday-actor-montgomery-clift-4/ |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=worldofwonder.net |language=en-US}}</ref> Nevertheless, he showed no bitterness and also remained one of Clift's loyal friends.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Douglas |first=Illeana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8nGcCgAAQBAJ&dq=tap+dancer+from+old+movies++dennis&pg=PA56 |title=I Blame Dennis Hopper: And Other Stories from a Life Lived In and Out of the Movies |date=2015-11-03 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-250-05291-9 |pages=179 |language=en |quote=Roddy was a private man who kept his private life separate, but I could tell by the way he spoke about him [Clift] that Roddy felt a deep love for the man he could not save.}}</ref> McDowall starred with Clift in his final picture, ''The Defector''. Clift later stated that he could never have finished the film without McDowall's moral support.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 4, 1998 |title=Obituary: Roddy McDowall |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-roddy-mcdowall-1176240.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409025313/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-roddy-mcdowall-1176240.html |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |website=[[Independent.co.uk]]}}</ref>

While filming for Vittorio De Sica in Italy, Clift had a romance with [[Truman Capote]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Capote |first=Truman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZtVQmML8xkC&q=clift |title=Too Brief a Treat: The Letters of Truman Capote |date= May 15, 2012 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-345-80309-2 |page=199 |language=en}}</ref><ref>Clarke, Gerald (1989). ''Capote: A Biography'', p. 235</ref> Author James Jones and Clift became very close during the filming of ''From Here to Eternity.'' Jones publicly stated, "I would have had an affair with him, but he never asked me."<ref>Bosworth, p. 255</ref> One of Clift's first intimate relationships was with composer [[Lehman Engel]].<ref>Hoskyns, p. 34</ref><ref>Bosworth, pp. 70–73</ref> He was also involved with [[Donald Windham]] and his partner [[Sandy Campbell (actor)|Sandy Campbell]].<ref>Windham, Donald (1987). ''Lost Friendships: A Memoir of Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, and Others'', p. 64</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 16, 2010 |title=Donald Windham |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/7895371/Donald-Windham.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815153339/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/7895371/Donald-Windham.html |archive-date=August 15, 2023 |access-date=September 16, 2022 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> In his memoir, [[Arthur Laurents]] suggests that Clift had a fling with [[Farley Granger]].<ref>Laurents, Arthur (2000). ''Original Story By: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood'', pp. 5, 114</ref>

Clift was also friends with Marlon Brando, who dropped by his home offering to accompany him to [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] meetings.<ref>Casillo, pp. 169–70</ref>

Clift supported [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]] in the [[1952 United States presidential election]].<ref>Bosworth, p. 242</ref>