Marlon Brando
Date of Birth
3 April 1924, Omaha, Nebraska, USADate of Death
1 July 2004, Los Angeles, California, USA (pulmonary fibrosis)Birth Name
Marlon Brando Jr.Nickname
Bud (his childhood family nickname)Mr Mumbles (given to him by Frank Sinatra)
Height
5' 9" (1.75 m)
Biography:
Marlon Brando is widely considered the greatest movie actor of all time, rivaled only by the more theatrically oriented Laurence Olivier in terms of esteem. Unlike Olivier, who preferred the stage to the screen, Brando concentrated his talents on movies after bidding the Broadway stage adieu in 1949, a decision for which he was severely criticized when his star began to dim in the 1960s and he was excoriated for squandering his talents. No actor ever exerted such a profound influence on succeeding generations of actors as did Brando. More than 50 years after he first scorched the screen as Stanley Kowalski in the movie version of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and a quarter-century after his last great performance as Col. Kurtz in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), all American actors are still being measured by the yardstick that was Brando. It was if the shadow of John Barrymore, the great American actor closest to Brando in terms of talent and stardom, dominated the acting field up until the 1970s. He did not, nor did any other actor so dominate the public's consciousness of what WAS an actor before or since Brando's 1951 on-screen portrayal of Stanley made him a cultural icon. Brando eclipsed the reputation of other great actors circa 1950, such as Paul Muni and Fredric March. Only the luster of Spencer Tracy's reputation hasn't dimmed when seen in the starlight thrown off by Brando. However, neither Tracy nor Olivier created an entire school of acting just by the force of his personality. Brando did.
Acting was a skill he honed as a child, the lonely son of alcoholic parents. With his father away on the road, and his mother frequently intoxicated to the point of stupefaction, the young Bud would play-act for her to draw her out of her stupor and to attract her attention and love. His mother was exceedingly neglectful, but he loved her, particularly for instilling in him a love of nature, a feeling which informed his character Paul in Last Tango in Paris (1972) ("Last Tango in Paris") when he is recalling his childhood for his young lover Jeanne. "I don't have many good memories," Paul confesses, and neither did Brando of his childhood. Sometimes he had to go down to the town jail to pick up his mother after she had spent the night in the drunk tank and bring her home, events that traumatized the young boy but may have been the grain that irritated the oyster of his talent, producing the pearls of his performances. Anthony Quinn, his Oscar-winning co-star in Viva Zapata! (1952) told Brando's first wife Anna Kashfi, "I admire Marlon's talent, but I don't envy the pain that created it."
Brando enrolled in Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop at New York's New School, and was mentored by Stella Adler, a member of a famous Yiddish Theatre acting family. Adler helped introduce to the New York stage the "emotional memory" technique of Russian theatrical actor, director and impresario Konstantin Stanislavski, whose motto was "Think of your own experiences and use them truthfully." The results of this meeting between an actor and the teacher preparing him for a life in the theater would mark a watershed in American acting and culture.
Brando enrolled in Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop at New York's New School, and was mentored by Stella Adler, a member of a famous Yiddish Theatre acting family. Adler helped introduce to the New York stage the "emotional memory" technique of Russian theatrical actor, director and impresario Konstantin Stanislavski, whose motto was "Think of your own experiences and use them truthfully." The results of this meeting between an actor and the teacher preparing him for a life in the theater would mark a watershed in American acting and culture.
Movies List:
| 2001 |  | The Score |
| 1998 | | Free Money |
| 1997 | |
The Brave
|
| 1996 | | The Island of Dr. Moreau |
| 1995 | | Don Juan DeMarco |
| 1992 | |
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
|
| 1990 | | The Freshman |
| 1989 | | A Dry White Season |
| 1980 | |
The Formula
|
| 1979 | |
Roots: The Next Generation
|
| Apocalypse Now | |
| 1978 | | Superman The Movie |
| 1976 | | The Missouri Breaks |
| 1972 | | Last Tango in Paris |
| The Godfather | |
| 1971 | |
The Nightcomers
|
| 1969 | | The Night of the Following Day |
|
Queimada!
| |
| 1968 | |
Candy
|
| 1967 | |
Reflections in a Golden Eye
|
| Countess from Hong Kong | |
| 1966 | | The Chase |
|
The Appaloosa
| |
| 1965 | | Morituri |
| 1963 | |
The Ugly American
|
|
Bedtime Story
| |
| 1962 | |
Mutiny on the Bounty
|
| 1961 | | One-Eyed Jacks |
| 1960 | | The Fugitive Kind |
| 1958 | | The Young Lions |
| 1957 | | Sayonara |
| 1956 | |
The Teahouse of the August Moon
|
| 1955 | | Guys and Dolls |
| 1954 | | On the Waterfront |
|
The Wild One
| |
|
Desiree
| |
| 1953 | |
Julius Caesar
|
| 1952 | |
Viva Zapata!
|
| 1951 | |
A Streetcar Named Desire
|
| 1950 | | The Men |
Awards and Nominations:
