Ringside Report Puts the Spotlight On the Late Legendary Actor Marlon Brando – Entertainment News
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By Geoffrey Huchel
American film actor Marlon Brando (born April 3, 1924) is widely considered one of the greatest actors of all-time. His two Oscar wins, a 6 decade-long career combined with his memorable screen performances and charismatic screen presence certainly make that distinction accurate.
Prior to becoming a screen legend, Brando studied acting at the American Theatre Wing Professional School, part of the Dramatic Workshop of the New School. He was an avid student of Stella Adler, from whom he learned the techniques of the Stanislavski system, a technique in acting by which an actor strives to empathize with the character being portrayed. Or in simpler terms, method acting. Brando used his Stanislavski System skills for his first summer stock roles in New York.
In 1944, while still doing stage work, he arrived on Broadway, appearing in the drama I Remember Mama. In 1946 he appeared as the young hero in the political drama A Flag is Born. In 1945 Brando took a co-starring role in The Eagle Has Two Heads with Tallulah Bankhead. Following a tour of The Eagle Has Two Heads Brando was cast in the role of Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’s play A Streetcar Named Desire.
By 1947 Brando was ready to try film roles. He made his debut in the 1950 movie THE MEN playing a paraplegic named Ken Wilocek. The movie was not a big hit, but was a decent screen debut. It was in Brando’s second role as Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’s A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951), starring opposite Academy Award winner Vivienne Leigh that caputled his movie career as a male sex symbol in Hollywood. His performance earned him his first Academy Award nomination in the Best Actor category. He earned his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in VIVA ZAPATA! (1952), a biographical drama costarring Jean Peters and Anthony Quinn. He followed up with the dramas THE WILD ONE (1953) and JULIUS CAESAR (1953). In his next film, Brando starred in ON THE WATERFRONT (1954), a crime drama about union violence and corruption. It also starred Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger and Eva Marie Saint. Brando was nominated again and won the Academy Award for his role as Terry Malloy. Movie buffs and Brando fans alike will know his famous line, “I coulda been a contender. I coulda had class. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am…” Next, Brando starred opposite Frank Sinatra and Jean Simmons in the musical GUYS AND DOLLS (1955) and then opposite Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin in the World War II drama THE YOUNG LIONS (1958).
In the early 1960s Brando continued his leading man status, by directing and starring in the Western ONE-EYED JACKS (1961), with Karl Malden. His next film was the Best Picture nominee MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1962), with Trevor Howard, Richard Harris and Richard Hadyn, followed by THE UGLY AMERICAN (1963), BEDTIME STORY (1964), with Shirley Jones, THE CHASE (1966), A COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG (1967), with Sophia Loren, and THE NIGHT THE FOLLOWING DAY (1969), with Richard Boone and Rita Moreno.
Out of all of Brando’s films, none will come as close to defining his career more than director Francis Ford Coppola’s 3-time Oscar winning cinematic masterpiece THE GODFATHER (1972). The film is hailed as one of the greatest films ever made and Brando’s performance of Don Vito Corleone earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. The same year he starred in the drama LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1972), earning another Academy Award nomination. He starred opposite Jack Nicholson in THE MISSOURI BREAKS (1976) and reprised his role as Don Vito Corleone for the TV mini-series THE GODFATHER SAGA (1977). The following year he starred as Jor-El in the action adventure SUPERMAN (1978), also starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, and Margot Kidder.
His next role was as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar nominated war drama APOCALYPSE NOW (1979), with Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall. For his next film Brando costarred opposite George C. Scott in the thriller THE FORMULA (1980). THE FORMULA was Brando’s last film for almost a whole decade, until returning to acting to co-star in the thriller A DRY WHITE SEASON (1989), with Donald Sutherland. Brando earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. During the 1990s Brando appeared in films such as THE FRESHMAN (1990), with Matthew Broderick, DON JUAN DEMARCO (1994), with Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway, THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1996), with Val Kilmer, THE BRAVE (1997), with Johnny Depp and FREE MONEY (1998), featuring Donald Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen and Mira Sorvino. His final feature film was the crime thriller THE SCORE (2001), starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, and Angela Bassett.
Marlon Brando died on July 1, 2004 of respiratory failure from pulmonary fibrosis with congestive heart failure at the UCLA Medical Center at the age of 80.
Essential Brando:
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)
VIVA ZAPATA! (1952)
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1962)
THE GODFATHER (1972)
SUPERMAN (1978)
APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
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