{"id":35504,"date":"2011-03-23T10:30:57","date_gmt":"2011-03-23T14:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=35504"},"modified":"2011-03-23T14:29:48","modified_gmt":"2011-03-23T18:29:48","slug":"montgomery-clift-on-elizabeth-taylor-you-know-how-it-is-when-you-love-somebody-terribly-but-you-can%e2%80%99t-describe-why-that%e2%80%99s-how-i-love-bessie-mae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=35504","title":{"rendered":"Montgomery Clift on Elizabeth Taylor: \u201cYou know how it is when you love somebody terribly but you can\u2019t describe why? That\u2019s how I love Bessie Mae.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nExcerpt from Patricia Bosworth\u2019s Montgomery Clift: A Biography<\/a>\"\"<\/em>. Kevin McCarthy describes the tragic car accident that almost killed Montgomery Clift and ruined his face. McCarthy and Clift had been hanging out at Elizabeth Taylor’s home (which she shared with then husband Mike Wilding), and then, McCarthy and Clift got in their cars to drive down the long winding hill.<\/p>\n

McCarthy gives a visceral glimpse of what went down that night, and an unforgettable image of Elizabeth Taylor. <\/p>\n

Those who snicker at her weight gain and her tracheotomy and choking on chicken wings and her marriages will never understand. It’s too bad. They are limited in their capacity for understanding and flexibility. Not to mention compassion. They are unimaginative. They see life in two dimensions, not three, but that is their own limitation, not the limitations of those at whom they sneer. And I’m not even talking now about Elizabeth Taylor’s acting, and what passion and truth she brought to role after role. I’m talking about her character<\/i>. Her character<\/i> has been assaulted for decades. She handled it with grace and dignity. <\/p>\n

Elizabeth Taylor inspired fierce loyalty from her friends. And here, in the anecdote below, you can see why. <\/p>\n

Kevin McCarthy:<\/p>\n

Suddenly I looked in my rearview mirror and I saw that Monty\u2019s car was coming much too close to my car. I got the idea he was going to play one of his practical jokes \u2013 he was going to give my car a little nudge. He never did bump my car, but I had the feeling he might, so I put my foot on the gas and went a little faster. Monty\u2019s car seemed to be almost on top of me. I wondered if he was having a blackout. I got frightened and spurted ahead so he wouldn\u2019t bump me. We both made the first turn but the next one was treacherous. We were careening now, swerving, and screeching through the darkness. Behind me I saw Monty\u2019s carlights weave from one side of the road to the other and then I heard a terrible crash.<\/p>\n

A cloud of dust appeared in my rearview mirror. I stopped and ran back. Monty\u2019s car was crumpled like an accordion against a telephone pole. The motor was running like hell. I could smell gas. I managed to reach in the window and turn off the ignition, but it was so dark I couldn\u2019t see inside the car. I didn\u2019t know where Monty was. He seemed to have disappeared.<\/p>\n

I ran and drove my car back and shone the headlights into Monty\u2019s car. Then I saw him curled under the dahsboard. He\u2019d been pushed there by the force of the crash. His face was torn away \u2013 a bloody pulp. I thought he was dead.<\/p>\n

I drove back to Elizabeth\u2019s shaking like a leaf and pounded on the door. \u201cThere\u2019s been a terrible accident!\u201d I yelled, \u201cI don\u2019t know whether Monty\u2019s dead or alive \u2013 get an ambulance quick!\u201d Mike Wilding and I both tried to keep Elizabeth from coming down to the car with us but she fought us off like a tiger. \u201cNo! No! I\u2019m going to Monty!\u201d she screamed, and she raced down the hill.<\/p>\n

She was like Mother Courage. Monty\u2019s car was so crushed you couldn\u2019t open the front door, so Liz got through the back door and crawled over the seat. Then she crouched down and cradled Monty\u2019s head in her lap. He gave a little moan. Then he started to choke. He pantomimed weakly to his neck. Some of his teeth had been knocked out and his two front teeth were lodged in his throat. I\u2019ll never forget what Liz did. She stuck her fingers down his throat and she pulled those teeth. Otherwise he would have choked to death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\nWe all should be so lucky to have such a friend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Excerpt from Patricia Bosworth\u2019s Montgomery Clift: A Biography. Kevin McCarthy describes the tragic car accident that almost killed Montgomery Clift and ruined his face. McCarthy and Clift had been hanging out at Elizabeth Taylor’s home (which she shared with then … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,23],"tags":[2075,132],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35504"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35570,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35504\/revisions\/35570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}