Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando, Jr. (born April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska; d. July 1, 2004, in Los Angeles) was an American actor considered by many to have been the greatest ever. He was featured in some of the finest Hollywood films of the second half of the twentieth century. Brando's idiosyncratic use of Constantin Stanislavski's "emotional memory" technique of acting had a profound influence on his generation of actors as well as subsequent ones. Elia Kazan said Brando challenged "the whole system of politeness and good nature and good ethics and everything else."^[1]

Brando began his acting career in the theater, debuting on Broadway in 1944 in I Remember Mama. Three years later his performance as Stanley Kowalski in the Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire and in the film version of the play (1951) catapulted the young actor to stardom and acclaim, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Brando played the lead role in the X-rated Last Tango in Paris, which featured a simulated rape scene that left his co-star actress Maria Schneider in real tears. The movie was praised by prominent movie reviewers but harshly criticized by many, and Brandon's co-star felt humiliated by the unexpected filming of the scene that went beyond the script. The director of that movie, Bernardo Bertolucci, was a communist^[2] who made a fortune from it as did Brando, while the co-star Maria Schneider received only a pittance.^[3]

Other notable films starring Brando include

• Viva Zapata! (1952) – Academy Award nomination, Best Actor
• Julius Caesar (1953) – Academy Award nomination, Best Actor
• The Wild One (1953)
• On the Waterfront (1954) – Academy Award, Best Actor

Brando plays Terry Malloy, who under the inspiration of a Catholic priest (Father Barry, played by Karl Malden), becomes a Christ-like figure. Betrayed by his brother and almost killed by the gang, he finds the strength to overcome and redeem his people from the slavery to the mobsters who run the waterfront. In stunning contrast to the liberals who kept silent about the Communist subversion in Hollywood, the film portrays the informer as the hero; liberal Hollywood never forgave director Elia Kazan for his stunning film.

• Guys and Dolls (1955)
• Sayonara (1957) – Academy Award nomination, Best Actor
• Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
• The Godfather (1972) - Academy Award, Best Actor
• Last Tango in Paris (1972) - Academy Award nomination, Best Actor
• Apocalypse Now (1979)
• A Dry White Season (1989) - Academy Award nomination, Best Supporting Actor
• The Freshman (1990).

External links[edit]

• "Marlon Brando" at IMDB.com

References[edit]

1. ↑ Mad about the boy - Germaine Greer in The Guardian 14 May 2005
2. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000934/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
3. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0773932/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm