Marlon Brando

Known for ActingBorn 1924-04-03Died 2004-07-01Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned six decades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and three British Academy Film Awards. Brando was also an activist for many causes, notably the civil rights movement and various Native American movements. Having studied with Stella Adler in the 1940s, he is credited with being one of the first actors to bring the Stanislavski system of acting and method acting, derived from the Stanislavski system, to mainstream audiences. He initially gained acclaim and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for reprising the role of Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire, a role that he originated successfully on Broadway. He received further praise, and a first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award, for his performance as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, and his portrayal of the rebellious motorcycle gang leader Johnny Strabler in The Wild One proved to be a lasting image in popular culture. Brando received Academy Award nominations for playing Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata! (1952); Mark Antony in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1953 film adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar; and Air Force Major Lloyd Gruver in Sayonara (1957), an adaptation of James A. Michener's 1954 novel. The 1960s saw Brando's career take a commercial and critical downturn. He directed and starred in the cult western One-Eyed Jacks, a critical and commercial flop, after which he delivered a series of notable box-office failures, beginning with Mutiny on the Bounty (1962). After ten years of underachieving, he agreed to do a screen test as Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972). He got the part and subsequently won his second Academy Award and Golden Globe Award in a performance critics consider among his greatest. He declined the Academy Award due to alleged mistreatment and misportrayal of Native Americans by Hollywood. The Godfather was one of the most commercially successful films of all time, and alongside his Oscar-nominated performance in Last Tango in Paris (1972), Brando reestablished himself in the ranks of top box-office stars. After a hiatus in the early 1970s, Brando was generally content with being a highly paid character actor in supporting roles, such as Jor-El in Superman (1978), as Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (1979), and Adam Steiffel in The Formula (1980), before taking a nine-year break from film. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Brando was paid a record $3.7 million ($16 million in inflation-adjusted dollars) and 11.75% of the gross profits for 13 days' work on Superman. Brando was ranked by the American Film Institute as the fourth-greatest movie star among male movie stars whose screen debuts occurred in or before 1950. He was one of only six actors named in 1999 by Time magazine in its list of the 100 Most Important People of the Century. In this list, Time also designated Brando as the "Actor of the Century".Read more

Movies & web series

Ballybrando

Movie Tough Guys

Montgomery Clift: The Hidden Star

Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1

The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901–1959

Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage

Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae

Black Leather Jacket

The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980

MGM Parade

Behind the scenes: Last Tango in Paris

Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies

The Godfather

Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television

Cinépanorama

E! True Hollywood Story

Apocalypse Now

Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration

Making Montgomery Clift

In the Name of the Father

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen

Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It

Jay Sebring… Cutting to the Truth

Listen to Me Marlon

The Sixties

Taking Flight: The Development of 'Superman'

Operation Teahouse

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

On the Waterfront

Tab Hunter Confidential

Daniel Day-Lewis: The Hollywood Genius

Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire

Roots: The Next Generations

Making 'Superman': Filming the Legend

kid 90

A Streetcar Named Desire

Sophia Loren, a special destiny

The Last Days of Marlon Brando

Brando: An Icon Is Born

The Godfather and the Mob

Lost in "The Thinking"

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There

Superman

Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still

Brando

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau