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Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004)
was an American movie star and political activist.
"Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern
American Cinema" according to the St. James
Encyclopedia of Popular Culture,[1] Brando was one
of only three professional actors, along with
Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe, named by Time
magazine as one of its 100 Persons of the Century in
1999.[2]
Brando had a significant impact on film acting, and
was the foremost example of the "method" acting
style. While he became notorious for his "mumbling"
diction and exuding a raw animal magnetism,[3] his
mercurial performances were nonetheless highly
regarded, and he is widely considered as one of the
greatest and most influential actors of the 20th
century.[4][5] Director Martin Scorsese said of him,
"He is the marker. There's 'before Brando' and
'after Brando'."[6] Actor Jack Nicholson once said,
"When Marlon dies, everybody moves up one."[7] He
was ranked by the American Film Institute as the
fourth greatest screen legend among male movie
stars.
An enduring cultural icon, Brando became a box
office star during the 1950s, during which time he
racked up five Oscar nominations as Best Actor,
along with three consecutive wins of the BAFTA Award
for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He initially
gained popularity for recreating the role as Stanley
Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), a
Tennessee Williams play that had established him as
a Broadway star during its 1947-49 stage run; and
for his Academy Award-winning performance as Terry
Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954), as well as for
his iconic portrayal of the rebel motorcycle gang
leader Johnny Strabler in The Wild One (1953), which
is considered to be one of the most famous images in
pop culture. Brando was also nominated for the Oscar
for playing Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata! (1952);
Mark Antony in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1953 film
adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar; and as
Air Force Major Lloyd Gruver in Sayonara (1957),
Joshua Logan's adaption of James Michener's 1954
novel. Brando made the Top Ten Money Making Stars,
as ranked by Quigley Publications' annual survey of
movie exhibitors, three times in the decade, coming
in at number 10 in 1954, number 6 in 1955, and
number 4 in 1958.
Brando directed and starred in the cult western film
One-Eyed Jacks that was released in 1961, after
which he delivered a series of box office failures
beginning with the non-success of the 1962 film
adaptation of Mutiny on the Bounty. The 1960s proved
to be a fallow decade for Brando, and after 10 years
in which he did not appear in a commercially
successful movie, he won his second Academy Award
for playing Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's
The Godfather (1972), a role critics consider among
his greatest. The movie, which became the most
commercially successful film of all time when it was
released — along with his Oscar-nominated
performance as Paul in Last Tango in Paris (1972),
another smash hit — revitalized Brando's career and
reestablished him in the ranks of top box office
stars, placing him at number 6 and number 10 in Top
10 Money Making Stars poll in 1972 and 1973,
respectively.
Brando failed to capitalize on the momentum of his
revitalized career, taking a long hiatus before
appearing in The Missouri Breaks (1976), a box
office bomb. Afterwards, he was content to be a
highly-paid character actor in parts that were
glorified cameos in Superman (1978) and The Formula
(1980) before taking a nine-year break from motion
pictures. According to the Guinness Book of World
Records, Brando was paid a record $3.7 million
($14,190,445 in today's funds[8]) plus 11.75% of the
gross profits for 13 days work playing Jor-El in
Superman, further adding to his mystique. He
finished out the decade of the 1970s with his
highly-controversial performance as Colonel Walter
Kurtz in another Coppola film, Apocalypse Now
(1979), a box office hit for which he was highly
paid and that helped finance his career layoff
during the 1980s.
Brando was also an activist, supporting many issues,
notably the African-American Civil Rights Movement
and various American Indian Movements.
****
Background information
Born Marlon Brando, Jr.
April 3, 1924(1924-04-03)
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Died July 1, 2004(2004-07-01) (aged 80)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death Respiratory failure
Residence Los Angeles, California
Nationality American
Education The New School
Alma mater Actors Studio
Years active 1944–2004
Influenced by Stella Adler, Constantin Stanislavski,
Elia Kazan, Erwin Piscator
Influenced James Dean, Paul Newman, Elvis Presley,
Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Dennis
Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Meryl
Streep, Martin Sheen, Sean Penn, Johnny Depp,
Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Gosling
Home town Libertyville, Illinois
Height 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m)
Spouse Anna Kashfi (1957–59)
Movita Castaneda (1960–62)
Tarita Teriipia (1962–72)
Children 15, including:
Christian Brando (deceased)
Cheyenne Brando (deceased)
Stephen Blackehart
Parents Marlon Brando, Sr.
Dodie Brando
Website
http://www.marlonbrando.com/
****
Early life
Marlon Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marlon
Brando, Sr., a pesticide and chemical feed
manufacturer, and his wife, Dorothy Julia (née
Pennebaker).[4] His parents moved to Evanston,
Illinois, but separated when he was eleven years
old. His mother took her three children: Jocelyn
(1919–2005), Frances (1922–1994) and Marlon, to live
with her mother in Santa Ana, California.[4] In
1937, Brando's parents reconciled and moved together
to Libertyville, Illinois, north of Chicago.[4]
Brando's ancestry included German, Dutch, English,
and Irish.[9][10][11] His patrilineal ancestor,
Johann Wilhelm Brandau, was a German immigrant to
New York in the early 1700s.[12] Brando was raised a
Christian Scientist.[13] His paternal grandmother,
Marie Holloway, abandoned her family when Marlon
Brando, Sr., was five years old. She used the money
her husband Eugene sent her to support her gambling
and alcoholism.[9]
Marlon Brando, Sr., was a talented amateur
photographer. His wife, known as Dodie, was
unconventional but talented, having been an
actress.[14][15] She smoked, wore trousers, and
drove cars, unusual for women at the time. However,
she was an alcoholic and often had to be brought
home from Chicago bars by her husband; she finally
joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Dodie Brando acted and
was a theater administrator. She helped Henry Fonda
to begin his acting career, and fueled her son
Marlon's interest in stage acting. However, Brando
was closer to his maternal grandmother, Bessie Gahan
Pennebaker Meyers, than to his mother. Widowed while
young, Meyers worked as a secretary and later as a
Christian Science practitioner. Her father, Myles
Gahan, was a doctor from Ireland; her mother, Julia
Watts, was from England.[16]
Brando was a mimic from early childhood and
developed an ability to absorb the mannerisms of
people he played and display them dramatically while
staying in character. His sister Jocelyn Brando was
the first to pursue an acting career, going to study
at the American Academy of Dramatic Art. She
appeared on Broadway, then movies and television.
Brando's sister Frances left college in California
to study art in New York. Brando soon followed her.
Brando had been held back a year in school and was
later expelled from Libertyville High School for
riding his motorcycle through the corridors.[17] He
was sent to Shattuck Military Academy, where his
father had studied before him. Brando excelled at
theatre and did well in the school. In his final
year (1943), he was put on probation for being
insubordinate to a visiting army colonel during
maneuvers. He was confined to his room, but sneaked
into town, and was caught. The faculty voted to
expel him, though he was supported by the students,
who thought expulsion was too harsh. He was invited
back for the following year, but decided instead to
drop out of high school.[18]
Brando worked as a ditch-digger as a summer job
arranged by his father. Brando then attempted to
join the army, but at his induction physical it was
discovered that a football injury that he had
sustained at Shattuck had left him with a trick
knee. Brando was therefore classified as a 4-F, and
not inducted into the army.[9] He then decided to
follow his sisters to New York. His father supported
him for six months, then offered to help him find a
job as a salesman. However, Brando left to study at
the American Theatre Wing Professional School, part
of the Dramatic Workshop of The New School with the
influential German director Erwin Piscator and at
the Actors Studio. He also studied with Stella Adler
and learned the techniques of the Stanislavski
System. There is a story in which Adler spoke about
teaching Brando, saying that she had instructed the
class to act like chickens, then adding that a
nuclear bomb was about to fall on them. Most of the
class clucked and ran around wildly, but Brando sat
calmly and pretended to lay an egg. Asked by Adler
why he had chosen to react this way, he said, "I'm a
chicken - What do I know from a bomb?"[19]
Career
Early work
Brando used his Stanislavski System skills for his
first summer-stock roles in Sayville, New York, on
Long Island. His behavior got him kicked out of the
cast of the New School's production in Sayville, but
he was discovered in a locally produced play there
and then made it to Broadway in the bittersweet
drama I Remember Mama in 1944. Critics voted him
"Broadway's Most Promising Actor" for his role as an
anguished veteran in Truckline Café, although the
play was a commercial failure. In 1946 he appeared
on Broadway as the young hero in the political drama
A Flag is Born, refusing to accept wages above the
Actor's Equity rate because of his commitment to the
cause of Israeli independence.[20][21] In that same
year, Brando played the role of Marchbanks with
Katharine Cornell in her production's revival of
Candida, one of her signature roles.[22] Cornell
also cast him as The Messenger in a her production
of Jean Anouilh's Antigone that same year. Brando
achieved stardom, however, as Stanley Kowalski in
Tennessee Williams's 1947 play A Streetcar Named
Desire, directed by Elia Kazan. Brando sought out
that role,[23] driving out to Provincetown,
Massachusetts, where Williams was spending the
summer, to audition for the part. Williams recalled
that he opened the screen door and knew, instantly,
that he had his Stanley Kowalski. Brando's
performance revolutionized acting technique and set
the model for the American form of method acting.
In 1947, Brando was asked to do a screen test for
Warner Brothers. The screen test used an early
script for Rebel Without A Cause that bears no
relation to the film eventually produced in
1955.[24] The screen test appears as an extra in the
2006 DVD release of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Brando's first screen role was as the bitter
paraplegic veteran in The Men in 1950. True to his
method, Brando spent a month in bed at the
Birmingham Army Hospital in Van Nuys to prepare for
the role. By Brando's own account, it may have been
because of this film that his draft status was
changed from 4-F to 1-A. He had had an operation on
the knee he had injured at Shattuck, and it was no
longer physically debilitating enough to incur
exclusion from the draft. When Brando reported to
the induction center, he answered a questionnaire
provided to him by saying his race was "human", his
color was "Seasonal-oyster white to beige", and he
told an Army doctor that he was psycho neurotic.
When the draft board referred him to a psychiatrist,
Brando explained how he had been expelled from
Military School, and that he had severe problems
with authority. Coincidentally enough, the
psychiatrist knew a doctor friend of Brando, and
Brando was able to avoid military service during the
Korean War.[9]
Rise to fame
Brando brought his performance as Stanley Kowalski
to the screen in Kazan's adaptation of Tennessee
Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, and was
nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for
that role, and again in each of the next three years
for his roles in Viva Zapata! in 1952, Julius Caesar
in 1953 as Mark Antony, and On the Waterfront in
1954. These first five films of his career
established Brando, as evidenced in his winning the
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in
three consecutive years, 1951 to 1953.
In 1953, Brando also starred in The Wild One riding
his own Triumph Thunderbird 6T motorcycle which
caused consternation to Triumph's importers, as the
subject matter was rowdy motorcycle gangs taking
over a small town. But the images of Brando posing
with his Triumph motorcycle became iconic, even
forming the basis of his wax dummy at Madame
Tussauds.
Later that same year, Brando starred in Lee Falk's
production of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man
in Boston. Falk was proud to tell people that Marlon
Brando turned down an offer of $10,000 per week on
Broadway, in favor of working on Falk's play in
Boston. His Boston contract was less than $500 per
week. It would be the last time he ever acted in a
stage play.
Brando won the Oscar for his role as Terry Malloy in
On the Waterfront. For the famous I coulda' been a
contender scene, Brando convinced Kazan that the
scripted scene was unrealistic, and with Rod
Steiger, improvised the final product.
Brando then took a variety of roles in the 1950s:
portraying Napoleon in Désiréa, Sky Masterson in the
musical Guys and Dolls; Sakini, a Japanese
interpreter for the U.S. Army in postwar Japan in
The Teahouse of the August Moon; as a United States
Air Force officer in Sayonara, and a German officer
in The Young Lions.
In the 1960s, Brando starred in films such as
One-Eyed Jacks (1961), a western that would be the
only film Brando would ever direct; Mutiny on the
Bounty (1962), The Chase (1966), and Reflections in
a Golden Eye (1967), portraying a repressed gay army
officer. It was the type of performance that later
led critic Stanley Crouch to write, "Brando's main
achievement was to portray the taciturn but stoic
gloom of those pulverized by circumstances."[25] He
also played a guru in the sex farce Candy (1968).
Burn! (1969), which Brando would later claim as his
personal favorite, was a commercial failure. His
career slowed down by the end of the decade as he
gained a reputation for being difficult to work
with.
The Godfather
Brando's performance as Vito Corleone or 'the Don'
in 1972's The Godfather was a mid-career turning
point. Director Francis Ford Coppola convinced
Brando to submit to a "make-up" test, in which
Brando did his own makeup (he used cotton balls to
simulate the puffed-cheek look). Coppola was
electrified by Brando's characterization as the head
of a crime family, but had to fight the studio in
order to cast the temperamental Brando. Mario Puzo
always imagined Brando as Corleone.[26] However,
Paramount studio heads wanted to give the role to
Danny Thomas in the hope that Thomas would have his
own production company throw in its lot with
Paramount. Thomas declined the role and actually
urged the studio to cast Brando at the behest of
Coppola and others who had witnessed the screen
test.
Eventually, Charles Bluhdorn, the president of
Paramount parent Gulf + Western, was won over to
letting Brando have the role; when he saw the screen
test, he asked in amazement, "What are we watching?
Who is this old guinea?"
Brando won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his
performance, but turned down the Oscar, becoming the
second actor to refuse a Best Actor award (the first
being George C. Scott for Patton). Brando boycotted
the award ceremony, sending instead American Indian
Rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather, who appeared
in full Apache dress, to state Brando's reasons,
which were based on his objection to the depiction
of American Indians[27] by Hollywood and television.
The actor followed with Bernardo Bertolucci's 1973
film Last Tango in Paris, but the performance was
overshadowed by an uproar over the erotic nature of
the film. Despite the controversy which attended
both the film and the man, the Academy once again
nominated Brando for the Best Actor.
Brando, along with James Caan, was later scheduled
in 1974 to appear in the final scene of The
Godfather Part II. However, rewrites were made to
the script when Brando refused to show up to the
studio on the single day of shooting, due to
disputes with the studio.
Later career
Brando portrayed Superman's father Jor-El in the
1978 film Superman. He agreed to the role only on
assurance that he would be paid a large sum for what
amounted to a small part, that he would not have to
read the script beforehand and his lines would be
displayed somewhere off-camera. It was revealed in a
documentary contained in the 2001 DVD release of
Superman, that he was paid $3.7 million for just two
weeks of work.
Brando also filmed scenes for the movie's sequel,
Superman II, but after producers refused to pay him
the same percentage he received for the first movie,
he denied them permission to use the footage.
However, after Brando's death, the footage was
reincorporated into the 2006 re-cut of the film,
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut.
Two years after Brando's death, he "reprised" the
role of Jor-El in the 2006 "loose sequel" Superman
Returns, in which both used and unused archive
footage of Brando as Jor-El from the first two
Superman films was remastered for a scene in the
Fortress of Solitude, and Brando's voice-overs were
used throughout the film.
Brando starred as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Francis
Ford Coppola's Vietnam epic Apocalypse Now. Brando
plays a highly decorated American Army Special
Forces officer who goes renegade. He runs his own
operations based in Cambodia and is feared by the US
military as much as the Vietnamese. Brando was paid
$1 million a week for his work.
Despite announcing his retirement from acting in
1980, he subsequently gave interesting supporting
performances in movies such as A Dry White Season
(for which he was again nominated for an Oscar in
1989), The Freshman in 1990 and Don Juan DeMarco in
1995. In his last film, The Score (2001), he starred
with fellow method actor Robert De Niro, who played
Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II. Some later
performances, such as The Island of Dr Moreau
(1996), earned Brando some of the most
uncomplimentary reviews of his career.
Brando conceived the idea of a novel called Fan-Tan
with director Donald Cammell in 1979, which was not
released until 2005.[28]
In 2004, Brando signed with Tunisian film director
Ridha Behion and began pre-production on a project
to be titled Brando and Brando. Up to a week before
his death, Brando was working on the script in
anticipation of a July/August 2004 start date.[29]
Production was suspended in July 2004 following
Brando's death, at which time Behi stated that he
would continue the film as an homage to Brando,[30]
with a new title of Citizen Brando.[31][32]
Personal life
****
Brando's children
By Anna Kashfi
Christian Brando (1958–2008)
By Movita Castaneda
Miko Castaneda Brando (born 1961)
Rebecca Brando (born 1966)
By Tarita Teriipia
Simon Teihotu Brando (born 1963)
Tarita Cheyenne Brando (1970–1995)
By Maria Christina Ruiz
Ninna Priscilla Brando (born 1989)
Myles Jonathan Brando (born 1992)
Timothy Gahan Brando (born 1994)
By unidentified women:
Stefano Brando (born 1967)
Dylan Brando (1968–1988)
Angelique Brando (unknown)
Michael Gilman (born 1967)
Adopted:
Petra Brando-Corval (born 1972)
Maimiti Brando (born 1977)
Raiatua Brando (born 1982
****
Relationships and family
In Songs My Mother Taught Me, Brando claimed he met
Marilyn Monroe at a party where she played piano,
unnoticed by anybody else there, and they had an
affair and maintained an intermittent relationship
for many years, receiving a telephone call from her
several days before she died. He also claimed
numerous other romances, although he did not discuss
his marriages, his wives, or his children in his
autobiography.
Brando married actress Anna Kashfi in 1957. Kashfi
was born in Calcutta and moved to Wales from India
in 1947. She is said to have been the daughter of a
Welsh steel worker of Irish descent, William
O'Callaghan, who had been superintendent on the
Indian State railways. However, in her book, Brando
for Breakfast, she claimed that she really is half
Indian and that the press incorrectly thought that
her stepfather, O'Callaghan, was her real father.
She said her real father was Indian and that she was
the result of an "unregistered alliance" between her
parents. Brando and Kashfi had a son, Christian
Brando, on May 11, 1958; they divorced in 1959.
In 1960, Brando married Movita Castaneda, a
Mexican-American actress seven years his senior;
they were divorced in 1962. Castaneda had appeared
in the first Mutiny on the Bounty film in 1935, some
27 years before the 1962 remake with Brando as
Fletcher Christian. They had two children together,
Miko Castaneda Brando (born 1961) and Rebecca Brando
(born 1966).
Tahitian actress Tarita Teriipia, who played his
love interest in Mutiny on the Bounty, became
Brando's third wife on August 10, 1962. She was 20
years old, 18 years younger than Brando, who was
reportedly delighted by her naiveté.[33] Because
Teriipia was a native French speaker, Brando became
fluent in the language and gave numerous interviews
in French.[34][35] Teriipia became the mother of two
of his children, Simon Teihotu Brando (born 1963)
and Tarita Cheyenne Brando. Brando also adopted
Teriipia's daughters Maimiti Brando (born 1977) and
Raiatua Brando (born 1982). Brando and Teriipia
divorced in July 1972.
Brando had a longterm relationship with his
housekeeper Maria Christina Ruiz, by whom he had
three children, Ninna Priscilla Brando (born May 13,
1989), Myles Jonathan Brando (born January 16,
1992), and Timothy Gahan Brando (born January 6,
1994). He had four more children by unidentified
women, Stefano Brando (born 1967),[36][37] Dylan
Brando (born 1968), Angelique Brando, and Michael
Gilman (born 1967; adopted by longtime Brando friend
Sam Gilman). Brando also adopted Petra Brando-Corval
(born 1972), the daughter of his assistant Caroline
Barrett and novelist James Clavell.
Tuki Brando, one of Brando's numerous grandchildren,
is a famous Tahitian fashion model in his own right.
Brando's grandchildren also include Michael Brando
(b. 1988), son of Christian Brando, in addition to
Prudence Brando, and Shane Brando, children of Miko
C. Brando, the three children of Teihotu Brando,[38]
and many others. Courtney Love claimed to be the
granddaughter of Marlon Brando.[39] The current
exact number of Brando's descendents is unknown.
Death of Dag Drollet
In May 1990, Dag Drollet, the Tahitian lover of
Brando's daughter Cheyenne, died of a gunshot wound
after a confrontation with Cheyenne's half-brother
Christian at the family's hilltop home above Beverly
Hills. Christian, then 31 years old, claimed he was
drunk and the shooting was accidental. After heavily
publicized pre-trial proceedings, Christian pleaded
guilty to voluntary manslaughter and use of a gun.
He was sentenced to ten years in prison. Before the
sentence, Brando delivered an hour of testimony, in
which he said he and his former wife had failed
Christian. He commented softly to members of the
Drollet family: "I'm sorry... If I could trade
places with Dag, I would. I'm prepared for the
consequences." Afterward, Drollet's father, Jacques,
said he thought Brando was acting and his son was
"getting away with murder." The tragedy was
compounded in 1995, when Cheyenne, suffering from
lingering effects of a serious car accident and said
to still be depressed over Drollet's death,
committed suicide by hanging herself in Tahiti.
Christian Brando died of pneumonia at age 49, on
January 26, 2008.
Lifestyle
Marlon Brando earned a "bad boy" reputation for his
public outbursts and antics. According to Los
Angeles magazine, "Brando was rock and roll before
anybody knew what rock and roll was".[40] His
behavior during the filming of Mutiny on the Bounty
(1962) seemed to bolster his reputation as a
difficult star. He was blamed for a change in
director and a runaway budget, though he disclaimed
responsibility for either. On June 12, 1973, Brando
broke paparazzo Ron Galella's jaw. Galella had
followed Brando, who was accompanied by talk show
host Dick Cavett, after a taping of The Dick Cavett
Show in New York City. He reportedly paid a $40,000
out-of-court settlement and suffered an infected
hand as a result. Galella wore a football helmet the
next time he photographed Brando at a gala
benefiting the American Indians Development
Association.
Brando was bisexual, and said in an interview with
Gary Carey, for his 1976 biography The Only
Contender, "Homosexuality is so much in fashion it
no longer makes news. Like a large number of men, I,
too, have had homosexual experiences and I am not
ashamed. I have never paid much attention to what
people think about me. But if there is someone who
is convinced that Jack Nicholson and I are lovers,
may they continue to do so. I find it amusing."[41]
The filming of Mutiny on the Bounty affected
Brando's life in a profound way, as he fell in love
with Tahiti and its people. He bought a
twelve-island atoll, Tetiaroa, which he intended to
make partly an environmental laboratory and partly a
resort. Brando eventually had a now-closed hotel
built on Tetiaroa, which went through many redesigns
as a result of changes demanded by Brando over the
years.[42] His son Simon is the only inhabitant of
Tetiaroa. Brando was an active ham radio operator,
with the call signs KE6PZH and FO5GJ (the latter
from his island). He was listed in the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) records as Martin
Brandeaux to preserve his privacy.[43]
Final years and death
Brando's notoriety, his troubled family life, and
his obesity attracted more attention than his late
acting career. He gained a great deal of weight in
the 1980s and by the mid 1990s he weighed over 300
lbs. (136 kg) and suffered from diabetes. Like Orson
Welles or Elvis Presley, he had a history of weight
fluctuations through his career, attributed to his
years of stress-related overeating followed by
compensatory dieting. He also earned a reputation
for being difficult on the set, often unwilling or
unable to memorize his lines and less interested in
taking direction than in confronting the film
director with odd demands. Brando also dabbled with
some innovation in his last years. Brando had
several patents issued in his name from the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office, all of which involve a
method of tensioning drum heads, in June 2002 –
November 2004. For example, see U.S. Patent
6,812,392 and its equivalents.
The actor was a longtime close friend of entertainer
Michael Jackson and paid regular visits to his
Neverland Ranch, resting there for weeks at a time.
Brando also participated in the singer's two-day
solo career thirtieth-anniversary celebration
concerts in 2001, and starred in his 13-minute-long
music video, "You Rock My World," in the same year.
The actor's son, Miko, was Jackson's bodyguard and
assistant for several years, and was a friend of the
singer. He stated "The last time my father left his
house to go anywhere, to spend any kind of time...
was with Michael Jackson. He loved it... He had a
24-hour chef, 24-hour security, 24-hour help,
24-hour kitchen, 24-hour maid service."[44] On
Jackson's 30th anniversary concert, Brando gave a
speech to the audience on humanitarian work which
received a poor reaction from the audience and was
unaired.
On July 1, 2004, Brando died, aged 80. He left
behind eleven children as well as over thirty
grandchildren. The cause of death was intentionally
withheld, his lawyer citing privacy concerns. It was
later revealed that he had died at UCLA Medical
Center of respiratory failure brought on by
pulmonary fibrosis. He also suffered from congestive
heart failure,[45] failing eyesight caused by
diabetes, and liver cancer.[46] Shortly before his
death and despite needing an oxygen mask to breathe,
he recorded his voice to appear in The Godfather:
The Game, once again as Don Vito Corleone. However,
due to his health problems his voice was too weak to
be used in the game.
Karl Malden, Brando's fellow actor in A Streetcar
Named Desire, On The Waterfront, and One-Eyed Jacks
(the only film directed by Brando), talks in a
documentary accompanying the DVD of A Streetcar
Named Desire about a phone call he received from
Brando shortly before Brando's death. A distressed
Brando told Malden he kept falling over. Malden
wanted to come over, but Brando put him off telling
him there was no point. Three weeks later, Brando
was dead. Shortly before his death, Brando had
apparently refused permission for tubes carrying
oxygen to be inserted into his lungs, which, he was
told, was the only way to prolong his life.
Brando was cremated, and his ashes were put in with
those of his childhood friend Wally Cox and another
longtime friend Sam Gilman.[47] They were then
scattered partly in Tahiti and partly in Death
Valley.[48]
In 2007, a 165-minute biopic of Brando, Brando: The
Documentary, produced by Mike Medavoy (the executor
of Brando's will) for Turner Classic Movies, was
released.[49]
Politics
In 1946, Brando showed his dedication to the Jewish
desire for a homeland by performing in Ben Hecht's
Zionist play "A Flag is Born." Brando's involvement
had an impact on three of the most contentious
issues of the early postwar period: the fight to
establish a Jewish state, the smuggling of Holocaust
survivors to Israel, and the battle against racial
segregation in the United States.
Brando attended some fundraisers for John F. Kennedy
in the 1960 presidential election.
In August 1963, Brando participated in the March on
Washington along with fellow celebrities Harry
Belafonte, James Garner, Charlton Heston, Burt
Lancaster, and Sidney Poitier.[50] Brando also,
along with Paul Newman, participated in the freedom
rides.
In the aftermath of the 1968 slaying of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., Brando made one of the strongest
commitments to furthering Dr. King's work. Shortly
after Dr. King's death, Brando announced that he was
bowing out of the lead role of a major film (The
Arrangement) which was about to begin production, in
order to devote himself to the civil rights
movement. "I felt I’d better go find out where it
is; what it is to be black in this country; what
this rage is all about," Brando said on the late
night ABC-TV Joey Bishop Show.
The actor's participation in the African-American
civil rights movement actually began well before
King's death. In the early 1960s Brando contributed
thousands of dollars to both the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.) and to a
scholarship fund established for the children of
slain Mississippi N.A.A.C.P. leader Medgar Evers. By
this time, Brando was already involved in films that
carried messages about human rights: Sayonara, which
addressed interracial romance, and The Ugly
American, depicting the conduct of US officials
abroad and its deleterious effect on the citizens of
foreign countries. For a time Brando was also
donating money to the Black Panther Party and
considered himself a friend of founder Bobby
Seale.[51] However, Brando ended his financial
support for the group over his perception of its
increasing radicalization, specifically a passage in
a Panther pamphlet put out by Eldridge Cleaver
advocating indiscriminate violence, "for the
Revolution."
At the 1973 Academy Awards ceremony, Brando refused
to accept the Oscar for his performance in The
Godfather. Sacheen Littlefeather represented Mr.
Brando at the ceremony. She appeared in full Apache
clothing. She stated that owing to the "poor
treatment of Native Americans in the film industry"
Mr. Brando would not accept the award.[52] At this
time the 1973 standoff at Wounded Knee occurred,
causing rising tensions between the government and
Native American activists. The event grabbed the
attention of the US and the world media. This was
considered a major event and victory for the
movement by its supporters and participants.
Outside of his film work, Brando not only appeared
before the California Assembly in support of a fair
housing law, but personally joined picket lines in
demonstrations protesting discrimination in housing
developments.
Comments on Jews, Hollywood, and Israel
In an interview in Playboy magazine in January 1979,
Brando said: "You've seen every single race
besmirched, but you never saw an image of the kike
because the Jews were ever so watchful for that—and
rightly so. They never allowed it to be shown on
screen. The Jews have done so much for the world
that, I suppose, you get extra disappointed because
they didn't pay attention to that."[53]
Brando made a similar comment on Larry King Live in
April 1996, saying "Hollywood is run by Jews; it is
owned by Jews, and they should have a greater
sensitivity about the issue of—of people who are
suffering. Because they've exploited—we have seen
the—we have seen the Nigger and Greaseball, we've
seen the Chink, we've seen the slit-eyed dangerous
Jap, we have seen the wily Filipino, we've seen
everything but we never saw the Kike. Because they
knew perfectly well, that that is where you draw the
wagons around." King, who is Jewish, replied, "When
you say—when you say something like that you are
playing right in, though, to anti-Semitic people who
say the Jews are—" at which point Brando
interrupted. "No, no, because I will be the first
one who will appraise the Jews honestly and say
'Thank God for the Jews.'"[54]
Jay Kanter, Brando's agent, producer and friend
defended him in Daily Variety: "Marlon has spoken to
me for hours about his fondness for the Jewish
people, and he is a well-known supporter of
Israel."[55] Similarly, Louie Kemp, in his article
for Jewish Journal, wrote: "You might remember him
as Don Vito Corleone, Stanley Kowalski or the eerie
Col. Walter E. Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now," but I
remember Marlon Brando as a mensch and a personal
friend of the Jewish people when they needed it
most."[20] Brando was also a major donor to the
Irgun, a Zionist political-paramilitary group.
In an interview with NBC Today one day after
Brando's death, Larry King also defended Brando's
comments, saying that they were out of proportion
and taken out of context.
Legacy
Honors and tributes
Brando is widely considered as one of the greatest
and most influential actors of the 20th century.[56]
Largely credited for popularizing the "method"
acting style, he has earned great respect among
critics and theatre experts for his memorable
performances and charismatic screen presence.[57] In
the book Movies in American History: An
Encyclopedia, James Delmont wrote: "Marlon Brando
was arguably the finest screen actor of the
twentieth century, winning worldwide acceptance as
both a movie star of the first rank and as a
performer of uncommon skill."[4] Film scholar
Richard Schickel, while examining his charismatic
screen presence and acting ability, argued: "As a
movie actor he [Brando] has no peer in this
generation. That he consistently underplays, yet
still packs more emotion into a scene than anyone
else, is a sign of a charisma that may be an act of
God."[58] Similarly, Roger Ebert, writing of his
iconic performance in Last Tango in Paris, said:
"This was the greatest movie actor of his time, the
author of performances that do honor to the
cinema."[59]
Tennessee Williams, among the many who acknowledged
his finesse, described Brando as "the greatest
living actor ever... greater than [Laurence]
Olivier."[60] Laurence Olivier himself said: "Brando
acted with an empathy and an instinctual
understanding that not even the greatest technical
performers could possibly match."[58] Johnny Depp
credits Brando with changing the way actors work,
stating that "Marlon reinvented acting, he
revolutionized acting."[61] In a 2007 Best Life
article, praising his performance in On the
Waterfront, Rob Reiner wrote: "Marlon Brando gives
the single greatest performance ever. It's just so
natural, powerful, real, and honest."[62]
Cultural impact
Brando is widely considered as one of the greatest
and most influential actors of the 20th century.[56]
Largely credited for popularizing the "method"
acting style, he has earned great respect among
critics and theatre experts for his memorable
performances and charismatic screen presence.[57] In
the book Movies in American History: An
Encyclopedia, James Delmont wrote: "Marlon Brando
was arguably the finest screen actor of the
twentieth century, winning worldwide acceptance as
both a movie star of the first rank and as a
performer of uncommon skill."[4] Film scholar
Richard Schickel, while examining his charismatic
screen presence and acting ability, argued: "As a
movie actor he [Brando] has no peer in this
generation. That he consistently underplays, yet
still packs more emotion into a scene than anyone
else, is a sign of a charisma that may be an act of
God."[58] Similarly, Roger Ebert, writing of his
iconic performance in Last Tango in Paris, said:
"This was the greatest movie actor of his time, the
author of performances that do honor to the
cinema."[59]
Tennessee Williams, among the many who acknowledged
his finesse, described Brando as "the greatest
living actor ever... greater than [Laurence]
Olivier."[60] Laurence Olivier himself said: "Brando
acted with an empathy and an instinctual
understanding that not even the greatest technical
performers could possibly match."[58] Johnny Depp
credits Brando with changing the way actors work,
stating that "Marlon reinvented acting, he
revolutionized acting."[61] In a 2007 Best Life
article, praising his performance in On the
Waterfront, Rob Reiner wrote: "Marlon Brando gives
the single greatest performance ever. It's just so
natural, powerful, real, and honest."[62]
Marlon Brando is a cultural icon whose popularity
has endured for over six decades. Brando's rise to
national attention in the 1950s had a profound
effect on the motion picture industry and influenced
the broader scope of American culture.[63] According
to film critic Pauline Kael, "[Marlon] Brando
represented a reaction against the post-war mania
for security. As a protagonist, the Brando of the
early fifties had no code, only his instincts. He
was a development from the gangster leader and the
outlaw. He was antisocial because he knew society
was crap; he was a hero to youth because he was
strong enough not to take the crap ... Brando
represented a contemporary version of the free
American ... Brando is still the most exciting
American actor on the screen."[63] Sociologist Dr.
Suzanne Mcdonald-Walker states: "Marlon Brando,
sporting leather jacket, jeans, and moody glare,
became a cultural icon summing up 'the road' in all
its maverick glory."[64] His portrayal of the gang
leader Johnny Strabler in The Wild One has become an
iconic image, used both as a symbol of
rebelliousness and a fashion accessory that includes
a Perfecto style motorcycle jacket, a tilted cap,
jeans and sunglasses. Johnny's haircut inspired a
craze for sideburns, followed by James Dean and
Elvis Presley, among others.[56] Dean copied
Brando's acting style extensively and Presley used
Brando's image as a model for his role in Jailhouse
Rock.[65] The "I coulda been a contenda" scene from
On the Waterfront, according to the author of
Brooklyn Boomer, Martin H. Levinson, is "one of the
most famous scenes in motion picture history and the
line itself has become part of America's cultural
lexicon."[56]
Marlon Brando was also considered a sex symbol, one
of the earliest in the film industry to achieve
widespread attention due to his enigmatic and sexy
persona and the reports of his dalliances and
relationships with various major Hollywood
celebrities. Film scholar Linda Williams writes:
"Marlon Brando [was] the quintessential American
male sex symbol of the late fifties and early
sixties".[66]
He was one of the first actor-activists to march for
civil and Native American rights.
Financial legacy
Upon his death in 2004, Marlon Brando left an estate
valued at $21.6 million.[67] Brando's estate still
earns about $9,000,000 per year, according to
Forbes. He was named one of the top-earning dead
celebrities in the world by the magazine.[68]
Filmography
[See filmography below]
Honors, awards and nominations
Brando was named the fourth greatest male star in
the history of American cinema by the American Film
Institute, and part of Time magazine's Time 100: The
Most Important People of the Century.[69] He was
also named one of the top 10 "Icons of the Century"
by Variety magazine.[58][70]
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|title={{Nl icon}} Courtney Love's grandfather
|publisher=Film1.nl |date= |accessdate=2012-02-27}}
40.^ Los Angeles Magazine Sep 2004.
41.^ Stern, Keith (2009). Queers in history: the
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Bibliography
Bain, David Haward. The Old Iron Road: An Epic of
Rails, Roads, and the Urge to Go West. New York:
Penguin Books, 2004. ISBN 0-14303-526-6.
Bosworth, Patricia. Marlon Brando. London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001. ISBN 0-297-84284-6.
Brando, Anna Kashfi and E.P. Stein. Brando for
Breakfast. New York: Crown Publishers, 1979. ISBN
0-517-53686-2.
Brando, Marlon and Donald Cammell. Fan-Tan. New
York: Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-40004-471-5.
Brando, Marlon and Robert Lindsey. Brando: Songs My
Mother Taught Me. New York: Random House, 1994. ISBN
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Pierpont, Claudia Roth. Method Man. New Yorker,
October 27, 2008.
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