156 Facts About Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando was an American actor and activist who received numerous accolades throughout his career including two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

Marlon Brando began his career on stage, adeptly reading his characters and consistently anticipating where scenes flowed.

Marlon Brando transitioned to film, initially gaining acclaim and his first Academy Award for Best Actor nomination for the role of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Marlon Brando received further praise and his first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for his performance as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, which remains a watershed moment in the history of Hollywood, and his work continues to be studied and interpreted.

The 1960s saw Marlon Brando's career take a commercial and critical downturn.

Marlon Brando directed and starred in One-Eyed Jacks, a commercial flop, after which he delivered a series of notable box-office failures, beginning with Mutiny on the Bounty, which damaged his career.

The last two decades of Marlon Brando's life were marked with controversy and his troubled private life received significant attention.

Marlon Brando continues to be held in the highest regard and he is credited with being one of the first actors to bring the Stanislavski system of acting and method acting to mainstream audiences.

Marlon Brando's father was a salesman that often travelled out-of-state and his mother was a stage actress, often away from home.

In 1930, the family moved to Evanston, Illinois, where Marlon Brando mimicked other people, developed a reputation for pranking and met Wally Cox, whom he remained friends with until his death in 1973.

Marlon Brando attended Libertyville High School, excelling at sports and drama, but failing in every other subject.

Marlon Brando's father sent his son to Shattuck Military Academy, where he himself studied before.

Marlon Brando was confined to the campus, but sneaked into town and was caught.

Marlon Brando was invited back for the following year but decided instead to drop out of high school.

Marlon Brando then worked as a ditch-digger as a summer job arranged by his father and tried to enlist in the Army, but his routine physical revealed that a football injury he had sustained at Shattuck had left him with a trick knee; he was classified physically unfit for military service.

Marlon Brando decided to follow his sisters to New York, studying at the American Theatre Wing Professional School, part of the Dramatic Workshop of the New School, with influential German director Erwin Piscator.

Marlon Brando was an avid student and proponent of Stella Adler, from whom he learned the techniques of the Stanislavski system.

Adler used to recount that when teaching Marlon Brando, she had instructed the class to act like chickens, and added that a nuclear bomb was about to fall on them.

Marlon Brando would have claimed credit for the sun and the moon if he believed he could get away with it.

Marlon Brando was an ambitious, selfish man who exploited the people who attended the Actors Studio and tried to project himself as an acting oracle and guru.

Marlon Brando was the first to bring a natural approach to acting on film.

Once Marlon Brando felt he could deliver the dialogue as natural as that conversation he would start the dialogue.

Critics would later say this was Marlon Brando being difficult, but actors who worked opposite would say it was just all part of his technique.

Marlon Brando used his Stanislavski System skills for his first summer stock roles in Sayville, New York, on Long Island.

Marlon Brando established a pattern of erratic, insubordinate behavior in the few shows he had been in.

Marlon Brando's behavior had him kicked out of the cast of the New School's production in Sayville, but he was afterwards discovered in a locally produced play there.

Marlon Brando was offered the opportunity to portray one of the principal characters in the Broadway premiere of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, but turned the part down after falling asleep while trying to read the massive script and pronouncing the play "ineptly written and poorly constructed".

In 1945, Marlon Brando's agent recommended he take a co-starring role in The Eagle Has Two Heads with Tallulah Bankhead, produced by Jack Wilson.

Marlon Brando came ambling offstage and said to me, 'They don't think you can act unless you can yell.

Marlon Brando displayed his apathy for the production by demonstrating some shocking onstage manners.

Marlon Brando "tried everything in the world to ruin it for her," Bankhead's stage manager claimed.

Graziano did not know who Marlon Brando was, but attended the production with tickets provided by the young man.

In 1947, Marlon Brando performed a screen test for an early Warner Brothers script for the novel Rebel Without a Cause, which bore no relation to the film eventually produced in 1955.

Marlon Brando's first screen role was a bitter paraplegic veteran in The Men.

Marlon Brando spent a month in bed at the Birmingham Army Hospital in Van Nuys to prepare for the role.

Marlon Brando had had surgery on his trick knee, and it was no longer physically debilitating enough to incur exclusion from the draft.

When Marlon Brando reported to the induction center, he answered a questionnaire by saying his race was "human", his color was "Seasonal-oyster white to beige", and he told an Army doctor that he was psychoneurotic.

Early in his career, Marlon Brando began using cue cards instead of memorizing his lines.

Marlon Brando felt otherwise he would appear to be reciting a writer's speech.

Some thought Marlon Brando used the cards out of laziness or an inability to memorize his lines.

Once on The Godfather set, Marlon Brando was asked why he wanted his lines printed out.

Marlon Brando brought his performance as Stanley Kowalski to the screen in Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire.

In 1953, Marlon Brando starred in The Wild One, riding his own Triumph Thunderbird 6T motorcycle.

Later that same year, Marlon Brando co-starred with fellow Studio member William Redfield in a summer stock production of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man.

In 1954, Marlon Brando starred in On the Waterfront, a crime drama film about union violence and corruption among longshoremen.

Marlon Brando won the Oscar for his role as Irish-American stevedore Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront.

Marlon Brando's performance, spurred on by his rapport with Eva Marie Saint and Kazan's direction, was praised as a tour de force.

Schulberg's script had Marlon Brando acting the entire scene with his character being held at gunpoint by his brother Charlie, played by Rod Steiger.

Marlon Brando insisted on gently pushing away the gun, saying that Terry would never believe that his brother would pull the trigger and doubting that he could continue his speech while fearing a gun on him.

Kazan let Marlon Brando improvise and later expressed deep admiration for Marlon Brando's instinctive understanding, saying:.

Marlon Brando put little effort into the role, claiming he didn't like the script, and later dismissed the entire movie as "superficial and dismal".

The movie was controversial due to openly discussing interracial marriage, but proved a great success, earning 10 Academy Award nominations, with Marlon Brando being nominated for Best Actor.

In 1958, Marlon Brando appeared in The Young Lions, dyeing his hair blonde and assuming a German accent for the role, which he later admitted was not convincing.

Marlon Brando closed out the decade by appearing in The Fugitive Kind opposite Anna Magnani.

In 1961, Marlon Brando made his directorial debut in the western One-Eyed Jacks.

Marlon Brando portrays the lead character Rio, and Karl Malden plays his partner "Dad" Longworth.

Previously only signing short-term deals with film studios, in 1961 Marlon Brando uncharacteristically signed a five-picture deal with Universal Studios that would haunt him for the rest of the decade.

Marlon Brando was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.

Countess in particular was a disappointment for Marlon Brando, who had looked forward to working with one of his heroes, director Charlie Chaplin.

The experience turned out to be an unhappy one; Marlon Brando was horrified at Chaplin's didactic style of direction and his authoritarian approach.

Marlon Brando had appeared in the spy thriller Morituri in 1965; that, too, failed to attract an audience.

Not for the first time, Mr Marlon Brando gives us a heavy-lidded, adenoidally openmouthed caricature of the inarticulate, stalwart loner.

Marlon Brando portrayed a repressed gay army officer in Reflections in a Golden Eye, directed by John Huston and co-starring Elizabeth Taylor.

Marlon Brando's performance earned him a nomination for a Best Actor BAFTA, but the film bombed at the box office.

Marlon Brando's performance as Vito Corleone, the "Don," in The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Mario Puzo's 1969 bestselling novel of the same name, was a career turning point, putting him back in the Top Ten and winning him his second Best Actor Oscar.

That boiled down to Laurence Olivier or Marlon Brando, who are the greatest actors in the world.

Marlon Brando bested Brando at the 1972 New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

Marlon Brando had One-Eyed Jacks working against him, a troubled production that lost money for Paramount when it was released in 1961.

Coppola convinced Marlon Brando to do a videotaped "make-up" test, in which Marlon Brando did his own makeup.

Coppola had feared Marlon Brando might be too young to play the Don, but was electrified by the actor's characterization as the head of a crime family.

Marlon Brando was on his best behavior during filming, buoyed by a cast that included Pacino, Robert Duvall, James Caan, and Diane Keaton.

Marlon Brando broke the ice by toasting the group with a glass of wine.

Marlon Brando would go in front of that camera just like he was before.

Marlon Brando did not attend the award ceremony; instead, he sent actress Sacheen Littlefeather to decline the Oscar on his behalf.

Marlon Brando had written a longer speech for her to read but, as she explained, this was not permitted due to time constraints.

The film features several intense, graphic scenes involving Marlon Brando, including Paul anally raping Jeanne using butter as a lubricant, which it was alleged was not consensual.

Bertolucci said about Marlon Brando that he was "a monster as an actor and a darling as a human being".

Marlon Brando refused to speak to Bertolucci for 15 years after the production was completed.

The controversial movie was a hit however, and Marlon Brando made the list of Top Ten Box Office Stars for the last time.

Marlon Brando won the 1973 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor.

Bertolucci and Marlon Brando have altered the face of an art form.

In 1973, Marlon Brando was devastated by the death of his childhood best friend Wally Cox.

In 1976, Marlon Brando appeared in The Missouri Breaks with his friend Jack Nicholson.

Marlon Brando speaks in an Irish accent for no apparent reason.

In 1978, Marlon Brando narrated the English version of Raoni, a French-Belgian documentary film directed by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux and Luiz Carlos Saldanha that focused on the life of Raoni Metuktire and issues surrounding the survival of the Indigenous tribes in north central Brazil.

Marlon Brando portrayed Superman's father Jor-El in the 1978 film Superman.

Marlon Brando 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 that his lines would be displayed somewhere off-camera.

Marlon Brando 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.

Marlon Brando plays a highly decorated US Army Special Forces officer who goes renegade, running his own operation based in Cambodia and is feared by the US military as much as the Vietnamese.

Marlon Brando was very, very adamant about how he didn't want to portray himself that way.

Marlon Brando agreed to do the film for free, but fell out with director Euzhan Palcy over how the film was edited; he even made a rare television appearance in an interview with Connie Chung to voice his disapproval.

Marlon Brando scored enthusiastic reviews for his caricature of his Vito Corleone role as Carmine Sabatini in 1990's The Freshman.

The Island of Dr Moreau screenwriter Ron Hutchinson would later say in his memoir, Clinging to the Iceberg: Writing for a Living on the Stage and in Hollywood, that Marlon Brando sabotaged the film's production by feuding and refusing to cooperate with his colleagues and the film crew.

Unlike its immediate predecessors, Marlon Brando's last completed film, The Score, was received generally positively.

Marlon Brando conceived the novel with director Donald Cammell in 1979, but it was not released until 2005.

Marlon Brando gained a great deal of weight in the 1970s; by the early-to-mid-1990s he weighed over 300 pounds and suffered from Type 2 diabetes.

Marlon Brando had a history of weight fluctuation throughout his career that, by and large, he attributed to his years of stress-related overeating followed by compensatory dieting.

Marlon Brando 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.

Marlon Brando dabbled with some innovation in his last years.

Marlon Brando had several patents issued in his name from the US Patent and Trademark Office, all of which involve a method of tensioning drumheads, between June 2002 and November 2004.

In 2004, Marlon Brando recorded voice tracks for the character Mrs Sour in the unreleased animated film Big Bug Man.

Marlon Brando participated in the singer's two-day solo career 30th-anniversary celebration concerts in 2001 and starred in his 13-minute-long music video "You Rock My World", in the same year.

Marlon Brando had a 24-hour chef, 24-hour security, 24-hour help, 24-hour kitchen, 24-hour maid service.

Marlon Brando loved the outdoors, so Michael would invite him over to Neverland.

On July 1,2004, Marlon Brando died of respiratory failure from pulmonary fibrosis with congestive heart failure at the UCLA Medical Center.

However, Marlon Brando recorded only one line due to his health and an impersonator was hired to finish his lines.

Marlon Brando's single recorded line was included within the final game as a tribute to the actor.

Malden wanted to come over, but Marlon Brando put him off, telling him there was no point.

Marlon Brando was cremated and his ashes were put in with those of Wally Cox.

Marlon Brando was known for his tumultuous personal life and his large number of partners and children.

Marlon Brando was the father to at least 11 children, three of whom were adopted.

Marlon Brando had asked Campbell to have an affair with him and was often seen standing in the wings with Campbell and holding his hand.

Marlon Brando said he went to bed with lots of other men, too, but that he didn't consider himself a homosexual.

Marlon Brando said they were all so attracted to him.

In Songs My Mother Taught Me, Marlon Brando wrote that he met Marilyn Monroe at a party where she played piano, unnoticed by anybody else there, that they had an affair and maintained an intermittent relationship for many years, and that he received a telephone call from her several days before she died.

Marlon Brando claimed numerous other romances, although he did not discuss his marriages, his wives, or his children in his autobiography.

Marlon Brando met nisei actress and dancer Reiko Sato in the early 1950s.

Marlon Brando was smitten with the Mexican actress Katy Jurado after seeing her in High Noon.

Marlon Brando met actress Rita Moreno in 1954, and they began a love affair.

Marlon Brando was briefly engaged to the 19 year-old French actress Josanne Mariani whom he met in 1954.

Marlon Brando is the daughter of a Welsh steel worker of Irish descent, William O'Callaghan, who had been superintendent on the Indian State railways, and his Welsh wife Phoebe.

Marlon Brando claimed that her biological father was Indian and that she was the result of an "unregistered alliance" between her parents.

In 1960, Marlon Brando married Movita Castaneda, a Mexican-American actress; the marriage was annulled in 1968 after it was discovered her previous marriage was still active.

Marlon Brando was 20 years old, 18 years younger than Brando, who was reportedly delighted by her naivete.

Marlon Brando earned a reputation as a "bad boy" for his public outbursts and antics.

Marlon Brando was blamed for a change in director and a runaway budget, though he disclaimed responsibility for both.

On June 12,1973, Marlon Brando broke paparazzo Ron Galella's jaw.

Marlon Brando paid a $40,000 out-of-court settlement and suffered an infected hand as a result.

Marlon Brando bought a 12-island atoll, Tetiaroa, and in 1970 hired an award-winning young Los Angeles architect, Bernard Judge, to build his home and natural village there without despoiling the environment.

Marlon Brando was an active ham radio operator, with the call signs KE6PZH and FO5GJ.

Marlon Brando was listed in the Federal Communications Commission records as Martin Brandeaux to preserve his privacy.

In 1946, Marlon Brando performed in Ben Hecht's Zionist play A Flag is Born.

Marlon Brando attended some fundraisers for John F Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election.

Marlon Brando's visit was based on the famine he had seen in Bihar, India, and he presented the film he shot there to the press and invited guests.

Marlon Brando spoke in favor of children's rights and development aid in developing countries.

In 1964 Marlon Brando was arrested at a "fish-in" held to protest a broken treaty that had promised Native Americans fishing rights in Puget Sound.

Marlon Brando gave a eulogy after Bobby Hutton was shot by the police.

Marlon Brando was a supporter of Native American rights and the American Indian Movement.

Marlon Brando appeared in full Apache attire and stated that owing to the "poor treatment of Native Americans in the film industry", Brando would not accept the award.

Outside of his film work, Marlon Brando appeared before the California Assembly in support of a fair housing law and personally joined picket lines in demonstrations protesting discrimination in housing developments in 1963.

Marlon Brando took part at a 1975 protest rally against American investments in South Africa and for the release of Nelson Mandela.

In 1989, Marlon Brando starred in the film A Dry White Season, based upon Andre Brink's novel of the same name.

Marlon Brando made a similar comment on Larry King Live in April 1996, saying:.

Marlon Brando was one of the most respected actors of the post-war era.

Marlon Brando is listed by the American Film Institute as the fourth greatest male star whose screen debut occurred before or during 1950.

Marlon Brando earned respect among critics for his memorable performances and charismatic screen presence.

Marlon Brando is regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century.

Marlon Brando's rise to national attention in the 1950s had a profound effect on American culture.

Marlon Brando was a development from the gangster leader and the outlaw.

Marlon Brando is still the most exciting American actor on the screen.

Dean copied Marlon Brando's acting style extensively and Presley used Marlon Brando's image as a model for his role in Jailhouse Rock.

Marlon Brando was an early lesbian icon who, along with James Dean, influenced the butch look and self-image in the 1950s and after.

Marlon Brando is one of the many faces on the cover of The Beatles' album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", directly above the wax model of Ringo Starr.

Marlon Brando confessed that, while having great admiration for the theater, he did not return to it after his initial success primarily because the work left him drained emotionally:.

Marlon Brando repeatedly credited Stella Adler and her understanding of the Stanislavski acting technique for bringing realism to American cinema, but added:.

Marlon Brando showed admiration for Sean Penn, Jack Nicholson, Johnny Depp and Daniel Day-Lewis.