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The Untouchable Twin: 5 Surprising Facts About Montgomery Clift's Sister, Roberta Ethel McGinnis

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Few Hollywood legends are as defined by their raw talent and tragic fragility as Edward Montgomery Clift. The iconic actor, a cornerstone of the Golden Age of Hollywood and a pioneer of method acting, lived a life marked by intense emotional turmoil, professional brilliance, and a devastating car accident that forever altered his profile and his trajectory. Yet, the story of his life is incomplete without acknowledging the woman who entered the world mere minutes before him: his fraternal twin sister, Roberta Ethel Clift.

Today, in December 2025, a deeper look into the Clift family history reveals a stark and fascinating contrast between the two twins. While Montgomery Clift's life was a brilliant, self-destructive supernova that ended too soon in 1966, his twin sister, Roberta, forged a path of remarkable stability, quiet purpose, and longevity, surviving her famous brother by nearly half a century. Her story is a testament to the different paths two people, born on the same day, can take.

Roberta Ethel Clift: A Full Biography Profile

The life of Montgomery Clift's twin sister offers a compelling counter-narrative to the Clift family's dramatic history. Unlike her brother, who sought the spotlight and struggled with its demands, Roberta Ethel Clift built a life focused on community and family in relative obscurity.

  • Full Name: Roberta Ethel Clift (later McGinnis)
  • Born: October 17, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
  • Twin Status: Fraternal twin sister of Edward Montgomery Clift. She was born first, making her the older twin.
  • Nickname: Known to the family as Roberta or "Ethel," after her mother, Ethel Fogg Anderson Clift ("Sunny").
  • Parents: William Brooks Clift Sr. and Ethel Fogg Anderson Clift.
  • Sibling: William Brooks Clift Jr. (Brooks Clift), an older brother and actor.
  • Spouse: Robert Campbell McGinnis (married May 1945 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin).
  • Children: 5 children, including a daughter named Mary and a son named Campbell.
  • Career/Adult Life: Social activist, volunteer, and organizer. She lived a stable life in Austin, Texas, where her husband practiced law.
  • Died: December 7, 2014, in Austin, Texas, at the age of 94.
  • Longevity: She survived her twin brother, Montgomery Clift, by 48 years.

The Two Paths: Hollywood Tragedy vs. Quiet Stability

The Clift twins shared an unusual and peripatetic childhood. Their mother, "Sunny" Clift, obsessed with social status and pedigree, moved the children frequently across Europe and the United States, giving them a privileged but often rootless upbringing.

Despite this shared start, their adult lives diverged dramatically. Montgomery Clift, after achieving meteoric fame in films like *Red River*, *A Place in the Sun*, and *From Here to Eternity*, battled severe anxiety, addiction, and the physical and psychological fallout of a near-fatal 1956 car crash. His life was a constant, public struggle, immortalized as a figure of tragic beauty.

Roberta, or Ethel as she was commonly called, chose a fundamentally different path. She married Robert Campbell McGinnis in 1945 and settled down in Austin, Texas, where she dedicated her life to raising a large family and engaging in community work.

Biographer Patricia Bosworth, who wrote one of the definitive accounts of the actor's life, noted that Ethel was the "more stable" of the twins, a key insight that highlights the emotional resilience and grounded nature of the sister who avoided the pressures of Hollywood.

The Lasting Legacy of Ethel Clift McGinnis

The fact that Roberta Ethel Clift lived to the age of 94 is a profound detail in the Clift family narrative. She outlived both her famous twin brother (who died at 45) and her older brother, William Brooks Clift Jr. (who died in 1986).

Her longevity and stability provided an anchor for the family. While Montgomery Clift's life was a subject of endless media scrutiny and sensationalism, Roberta lived a life of quiet contribution as a volunteer, organizer, and social activist in Austin.

Her role as a primary source for biographers and historians has been invaluable. After Montgomery's death, Ethel McGinnis, along with her brother Brooks, helped to supplement the recollections that formed the basis of many books about the actor. Her firsthand memories offered a crucial, intimate perspective on the private man behind the Hollywood myth.

The Shocking Contrast: 48 Years of Separation

The 48-year gap between the death of Montgomery Clift in 1966 and the death of Roberta Ethel Clift McGinnis in 2014 presents one of the most poignant contrasts in celebrity family history. This difference underscores the intense pressure and emotional toll that fame took on the actor, compared to the fulfilling, long life his sister achieved outside of the spotlight.

The life of Ethel McGinnis is a powerful example of the road not taken. While Montgomery Clift's struggles were often linked to his sexuality, his intense method acting, and the trauma of the accident, Ethel's existence in Austin, surrounded by her husband, Robert Campbell McGinnis, and five children, was one of domestic tranquility and civic engagement.

This contrast serves as a compelling reminder that for every star who burns out, there is often a sibling or relative who chooses—or is chosen by—a life of normalcy and enduring stability. Roberta Ethel Clift McGinnis was the anchor of the Clift family, a quiet force who survived the drama and ensured that the private history of one of Hollywood's most enigmatic figures would be preserved with dignity.

montgomery clift twin sister
montgomery clift twin sister

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