EDWARD MONTGOMERY CLIFT was born on October 17, 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska. He began acting at the age of twelve in amateur productions and was a successful Broadway talent by the age of fourteen, performing in several noteworthy productions in the 1940's including "There Shall Be No Night," "The Skin of Our Teeth" with Tallulah Bankhead, the 1944 revival of "Our Town" and Tennessee Williams' "You Touched Me" (1945).

Beckoned by Hollywood because of his good looks, he made his first movie RED RIVER (a Howard Hawks' western starring John Wayne) in 1946. Due to the delayed release of this film however, his debut film was THE SEARCH (1948) and he was nominated for Best Actor. Clift's impressive career of 17 films and four Academy Award nominations included several notable films, three of which were George Stevens' A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951) with Elizabeth Taylor, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) with Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra for both of which he was again nominated for Best Actor, and JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961) starring Judy Garland and Spencer Tracy for which he recieved a nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category.

During the filming of RAINTREE COUNTY (1957), Clift was involved in a near-fatal car accident which disfigured his face, leaving it half-paralyzed. Though set to play in REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE, opposite Elizabeth Taylor, Clift died of a heart attack on July 23, 1966 in New York before the film began shooting.

Biographical information from Cinemania '95.

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