Montgomery Clift and Libby Holman

Libby Holman Born May 23, 1904 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Died June 18, 1971 in Stamford, Connecticut, USA (suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning) Birth Name Elizabeth Lloyd Holzman Nicknames The Statue of Libby Libby Holman's life was one of early poverty, extraordinary talent, scandal, fabulous wealth and tragedy. She's the stuff books and movies are ripe for. Born into a once-prosperous Jewish family in Ohio, her family's stock brokerage business collapsed in 1904 when her uncle disappeared after embezzling nearly $1 million, leaving her innocent father scandalized and bankrupt. Her mother raised her three daughters in anger over their loss of wealth and position, undoubtedly affecting Libby's ambitious nature. Primarily known today as a Broadway actress and torch singer of the 1920s-30s, Libby got her start in the theater by touring in "The Fool." The author of the play, Channing Pollock, recognized her talent and advised her to drop out of college and pursue a theatrical career. Joining the Theatre Guild, in 1925 she appeared in the chorus of "The Garrick Gaieties" before gaining notice in "The Greenwich Village Follies" the following year. She continued to appear in "Merry-Go-Round" (1927), "Rainbow," (1928) and "Ned Wayburn's Gambols" (1929). Libby appeared with Clifton Webb in "The Little Show" (a big 1929 hit; Libby singing "Moanin' Low", becoming one of her earliest trademark songs) and "Three's A Crowd" (1930; Libby introducing the standard, "Body and Soul"), which made them both top-ranked musical stars. Her early breakthrough successes would result from her associations with Howard Dietz, one of her greatest benefactors, and Clifton Webb, who complimented her on stage. She and Webb remained longtime friends but ultimately had a falling out of sorts after 1938. Libby was exceedingly complex. Bisexual, she preferred the company of gay men, but two of the three most significant intimate relationships of her life were with avowed lesbians, the equally fascinating unconventional DuPont heiress Louisa d'Andelot Carpenter Jenny (from 1929) and later, with writer Jane Auer Bowles (from the mid-1940s). However, she periodically sought out men (often sexually conflicted, as with her third most important relationship, actor Montgomery Clift) invariably far younger than herself, only to summarily cast them aside on the basis of some seemingly insignificant slight. She was a fascinating confluence of allure, talent and vanity, masked with a droll sarcastic wit capable of rivaling that of society columnist Lucius Beebe, Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker or Noël Coward, all of whom were in her social circle. Although she wasn't conventionally beautiful, audiences were drawn to her by her voice and stunning figure (she reputedly invented the strapless evening gown, it becoming one of her trademarks). She could have easily succeeded in Hollywood after the advent of talkies, but was decidedly "East Coast", sharing her clique's snobbish disdain for film (although many of them would eventually relent and go on to gain immortality in Hollywood) and harboring some inner insecurity over her looks. To a large degree, however, Libby thrived on the immediate rewards of a live audience, which she could wrap around her little finger with any one of her sexually charged smoky torch songs. One smitten fan was tobacco heir Zachary "Smith" Reynolds, who caught her act on a lark and spent a fortune following her around the world. As the youngest son of tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds, the 20-year-old playboy was the real-life "Roaring '20s" manifestation of a character, drawn straight from an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. He had complete disinterest in the family business, an inexhaustible allowance and a volatile temper. Smith, whose one real accomplishment was learning how to fly, also owned a plane, and he literally stalked Libby with it. He wore the 27-year-old singer down and, encouraged by Louisa (herself briefly married) who saw him as a convenient veil of wealth and propriety, Libby married him in 1931. Their marriage was a clash of wills, however; Smith wanted her to leave Broadway and she had no intention of doing so. They agreed on a one-year sabbatical at the family's vast North Carolina estate, "Reynolda." Libby, who was born into poverty had always aspired to be wealthy, quickly grew tired of the kind of idle life expected of her. She invited a stream of her flamboyant theatrical friends to the estate and they clashed headlong with the conservative Reynolds family. There were accusations of lesbianism and hedonism that her in-laws could barely stomach. In 1932, over the family's annual alcohol-fueled July 4th holiday party held at the estate, she told her husband she was pregnant and there was reportedly a tense confrontation - stories differ, but there was a gunshot and Libby and Ab Walker (whispered to be her lover), a close friend of Smith's, were indicted for murder. Fearing scandal over their son's activities, the intensely secretive Reynolds family persuaded local authorities to drop the charges; the death was ruled a suicide. The scandal stuck to Libby and her career suffered. Her son Christopher (or "Topper", as she called him) received a large inheritance and Libby received a sizable maintenance agreement that left her independently wealthy for the rest of her life. After the Reynolds debacle was legally settled, Libby and her son went to live with Louisa (who herself had adopted a daughter) and the couple lived openly throughout the remainder of the 1930s in what was then called a "Boston Marriage" in local gossip. Their relationship eventually changed, but Louisa would remain a lifelong friend and confidant. Libby also continued to pursue a Broadway career, with ever-diminishing returns. Despite her undeniable talent, she was keenly aware that producers hired her in hopes that her scandalized personal life would increase the box office. One of her most ardent supporters during this period was the unabashedly gay Herald-Tribune columnist Lucius Beebe, who never missed an opportunity to document her moves within New York's café society, always portraying her in the best possible light. His support of her came as a welcome relief during this first dark period of her career, although she certainly didn't need the money. From the early to mid-'30s she gained dramatic experience in 'Jasper Deeter''s Hedgerow Theatre and returned to Broadway in "Revenge With Music," (1934; singing "You and the Night and Music") along with performing in nightclubs in New York and London. Despite her excellent performances, the Reynolds scandal dogged her and she was often hissed and booed. She received star billing (singing the title song as Mme. Baltin/Jeanne Montaigne) in the 1938 Cole Porter musical flop, "You Never Know" with Clifton Webb, Lupe Velez (whom she despised) and Toby Wing. Not content to live the life of the typical millionaire grand dame, she became a yoga enthusiast and financed experimental theater (1942's "Mexican Mural" starring one of her obsessions, Montgomery Clift, who would become a lifelong friend and infrequent lover), continued to sing and record smoky torch songs. She traveled extensively and was unhappily married two more times (her second husband, sometime-actor Ralph Holmes or "Rafe" to his friends, committed suicide shortly after returning from duty in WW II; her third husband survived her) and adopted two sons. In the mid-40s she met writer Jane Auer Bowles and their attraction was immediate. The unconventionally married writer, married openly homosexual author Paul Bowles ("The Sheltering Sky"), shared Libby's disdain for their common Jewish heritage -- another one of Libby's psychological quirks -- and, as in the case of Louisa, lived together openly. Enamored by the blues, she caused a stir in the 1940s nightclub scene by touring with famed black guitarist Josh White (ironic, given her sexual ambivalence toward men in general). Together they appeared in her sole IMDB film credit, the experimental and aptly-yet-coincidentally named, Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947) in 1947. Tragically, one son died with a friend climbing California's Mt. Whitney in 1950. She channeled her grief into a foundation dedicated to promoting racial understanding and equality. She continued to record and perform in a one-woman show, "Blues, Ballads and Sin Songs" with pianist Gerald Cook into the 1950s. Although she could still belt out a tune, her later renditions of her standards were seldom recorded and are not generally well known today, having been banned on the radio for decades due to their sexual overtones. She fell into a deep depression in 1957 and broke out of it by taking courses in Zen Buddhism at the New School, and through a mutual friend met an art teacher and sculptor, Louis Schanker. It was an unhappy marriage, but one that would take. Increasingly emotionally isolated from her friends and depressed, Libby sank into alcoholism after 1968. Sadly, she herself committed suicide in June, 1971, found slumped over in her Rolls-Royce at her Connecticut mansion. Coretta Scott King attended her funeral. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Jack Backstreet

Edward Montgomery "Monty" Clift was an American actor. His New York Times obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men". Born: October 17, 1920, Omaha, NE Died: July 23, 1966, Manhattan, New York City, NY Montgomery Clift Born October 17, 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA Died July 23, 1966 in New York City, New York, USA (coronary occlusion) Birth Name Edward Montgomery Clift Nickname Monty Height 5' 10" (1.78 m) At age 13, Monty appeared on Broadway ("Fly Away Home"), and chose to remain in the New York theater for over ten years before finally succumbing to Hollywood. He gained excellent theatrical notices and soon piqued the interests of numerous lovelorn actresses; their advances met with awkward conflict. While working in New York in the early 1940s, he met wealthy former Broadway star Libby Holman. She developed an intense decade-plus obsession over the young actor, even financing an experimental play, "Mexican Mural" for him. It was ironic his relationship with the bisexual middle-aged Holman would be the principal (and likely the last) heterosexual relationship of his life and only cause him further anguish over his sexuality. She would wield considerable influence over the early part of his film career, advising him in decisions to decline lead roles in Sunset Boulevard (1950), (originally written specifically for him; the story perhaps hitting a little too close to home) and High Noon (1952). His long apprenticeship on stage made him a thoroughly accomplished actor, notable for the intensity with which he researched and approached his roles. By the early 1950's he was exclusively homosexual, though he continued to hide his homosexuality and maintained a number of close friendships with theater women (heavily promoted by studio publicists). His film debut was Red River (1948) with John Wayne quickly followed by his early personal success The Search (1948) (Oscar nominations for this, A Place in the Sun (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)). By 1950, he was troubled with allergies and colitis (the U.S. Army had rejected him for military service in World War II for chronic diarrhea) and, along with pill problems, he was alcoholic. He spent a great deal of time and money on psychiatry. In 1956, during filming of Raintree County (1957), he ran his Chevrolet into a tree after leaving a party at Elizabeth Taylor's; it was she who saved him from choking by pulling out two teeth lodged in his throat. His smashed face was rebuilt, he reconciled with his estranged father, but he continued bedeviled by dependency on drugs and his unrelenting guilt over his homosexuality. With his Hollywood career in an irreversible slide despite giving an occasional riveting performance, such as in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Monty returned to New York and tried to slowly develop a somewhat more sensible lifestyle in his brownstone row house on East 61st Street in Manhattan. He was set to play in Taylor's Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), when he died in the early morning hours of July 23, 1966, at his home at age 45. His body was found by his live-in personal secretary/companion Lorenzo James, who found Clift lying nude on top of his bed, dead from what the autopsy called "occlusive coronary artery disease." Hollywood folklore has it that his ghost haunts the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The actor had stayed there while filming From Here to Eternity (1953), even though all filming locations for "From Here to Eternity" were in Hawaii. At his near-fatal car accident in 1956, Rock Hudson, Michael Wilding and Kevin McCarthy formed a protective shield to prevent Clift's photo from being taken by photographers as he was carried from the wreck to the ambulance. A sometime guest of Broadway legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne at their rural retreat Ten Chimneys in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin. Marilyn Monroe described him as "the only person I know who is in worse shape than I am". Turned down Dean Martin's role in Rio Bravo (1959), which would have reunited him with his Red River (1948) co-star John Wayne. Became good friends with Dean Martin while filming The Young Lions (1958), and Clift helped the singer, who was best known at that time as a light comedian, with rehearsing his heavy dramatic scenes. In later years, as Clift was ostracized by the Hollywood social set for his substance abuses and mental instability, Martin stuck by the troubled actor and often brought him along as his guest to parties. Son of William Brooks Clift and wife Ethel Anderson Fogg. Ethel is believed by some biographers to have been an illegitimate daughter of Woodbury Blair by Maria Latham Anderson. Woodbury Blair was the son of Montgomery Blair, after whom his great-grandson received his middle name, and wife Mary Elizabeth Woodbury, daughter of Levi Woodbury (1789-1851), United States Supreme Court, and wife Elizabeth Wendell Clapp. Montgomery's ancestry was English, as well as more distant Scottish, Dutch, German and French. Voted for Republican Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 presidential election, but later actively campaigned for Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 presidential election - much to the annoyance of his father. He was close friends with Elizabeth Taylor, although he greatly disliked her husband Richard Burton, and the feeling was mutual. Clift once said, "Richard Burton doesn't act, he just recites.". In Italy, most of his early films were dubbed by Giulio Panicali, then by Giuseppe Rinaldi. He was occasionally dubbed by Gianfranco Bellini (in The Search (1948) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)), Nando Gazzolo (in The Young Lions (1958)) and once by Pino Locchi in Raintree County (1957). On the advice of his close friend Libby Holman, he turned down William Holden's role in Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Gary Cooper's role in High Noon (1952). In the James Kirkwood novel "Hit Me with a Rainbow", early on the lead character is told that he resembles Montgomery Clift. He reflects that this has been happening often and surmises is it due to Clift's recent death. In his biography "Monty" (1988), Robert LaGuardia claimed that director John Huston, who had paternalistic feelings towards Clift after directing the alcoholic and emotionally troubled actor in The Misfits (1961) (1961), became sadistic towards him during the troubled Freud (1962) (1962) shoot. Basing his charges on interviews with co-star Susannah York, LaGuardia claimed that Huston kept asking Clift about the Freudian concept of "represssion", obviously alluding to Clift's repressed homosexuality. Apparently, Huston himself could not broach the idea that Monty was gay in his own mind, but subconsciously, he reacted to Monty's homosexuality quite negatively. (Marilyn Monroe had admonished Monty not to work with Huston again, finding him a sadist on the "Misfits" set. Her ex-husband Arthur Miller, on the other hand, did not fault Huston in his autobiography "Timebends", but instead, marveled about how he kept his cool during the "Misfits" shoot, which was also troubled due to Marilyn Monroe's mental illness and frequent absences from the set.) Monty's biographer thought that Huston still had paternalistic feelings towards the actor, but was subconsciously appalled at his surrogate son's homosexuality; thus, he began to torture him on the set by insisting on unnecessary retakes and that he perform his own stunts, such as climbing up a rope. Despite Monty's many problems, he always proved a trouper, and gave as much as he could, including diving into a river in his last film, The Defector (1966). Had appeared in two movies that are set partly at Hickam Field in Honolulu: The Big Lift (1950) and From Here to Eternity (1953). Had appeared with Elizabeth Taylor in three movies: A Place in the Sun (1951), Raintree County (1957) and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6104 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960. Montgomery Cliff passed away on July 23, 1966, three months away from what would have been his 46th birthday on October 17. Following his untimely death, he was interred at Friends Quaker Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York City. Spoke French, German and Italian fluently.