HBO Films is backing a
made-for-television movie on the life of Hollywood actor Edward
Montgomery (Monty) Clift.
According to Deadline Hollywood, Matt
Bomer (The Normal Heart, White Collar) will portray Clift in
the film, titled Monty Clift.
Clift, who died in 1966 at the age of
45 from a heart attack, was an iconic Hollywood star. His The New
York Times obituary noted his portrayal of “moody sensitive
young men” in such films as From Here to Eternity and A
Place in the Sun. He received four nominations for Academy
Awards.
According to the biographer Patricia
Bosworth, Clift was bisexual.
“Monty carried on affairs with men
and women,” she wrote in her 1978 book Montgomery Clift: A
Biography.
Clift's career was cut short when he
smashed his car into a telephone pole in 1956, leaving his face
partially paralyzed. Though he continued to work, the accident led
to substance abuse issues that plagued him until his death.
(Related: Matt
Bomer thanks husband in accepting People's Choice Award.)