Marlon Brando Biography

Considered to be the greatest film actor of all time, Marlon Brando began his career in the theater, perfecting what would come to be known as "The Method" technique of acting. He made his film debut in Fred Zinnemann's The Men (1950) playing a paraplegic soldier. It was his next role as Stanley Kowalski in the movie version of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) that gave him his first of eight Academy Award nominations. The young Brando followed that iconic performance with a string of Oscar-nominated performances — in Viva Zapata! (1952), Julius Caesar (1953), The Wild One (1953) and On the Waterfront (1954), for which Brando earned his first Best Actor Oscar. For the next 20 years, Brando made a string of failures (The Fugitive Kind, Reflections in a Golden Eye) and very few hits, but still managed to become the second actor (after Liz Taylor) to command a $1 million salary. His reputation was circling the drain by the end of the 60s when young director Francis Ford Coppola tapped him to play the overweight, overbearing title character in his film, The Godfather (1970). Brando won his second Oscar for the role, but turned it down, citing the mistreatment of Native-Americans in Hollywood as reason enough to reject the praise. Still, Brando helped make The Godfather one of the most successful, and iconic, films of all time. He followed Don Corleone with the highly scandalous (and successful) Ultimo tango a Parigi (1972), which earned him another Oscar nod, and a salary that surpassed any actor in Hollywood. But Brando was essentially done with the business. His last projects included cameo roles, like that of Jor-El in Superman and deranged Col. Kurtz in Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979). His health was deteriorating, he had grown tired of the business and he remained largely confined to his home in Los Angeles until he passed away July 2, 2004 of pulmonary fibrosis.


1. Brado's two nicknames were Bud (his childhood family nickname) and Mr. Mumbles (given to him by Frank Sinatra).
2. Brando focused on acting after dropping out of high school and being rejected by the military because "it was the only thing I was ever good at."
3. Young Marlon trained at the Dramatic Workshop at New York's New School in the "emotional memory" technique of Russian theatrical actor, director and impresario Constantin Stanislavsky, whose motto was "Think of your own experiences and use them truthfully."
4. Brando was third choice after John Garfield and Burt Lancaster for his career-defining role as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcare Named Desire.
5. James Dean, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Steve McQueen, and any talented actor worth his salt credits Marlon Brando as "the godfather of acting," a title he was given when he was just 30 years old.



"To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty, to interpret it is his problem and to express it his dedication."


Wife: Anna Kashfi, actress; married 1957; divorced 1959
Wife: Movita Casteneda, actress; married 1960; divorced 1962
Wife: Tarita Teriipia, actress; married 1962
Son: (with Kashfi) Christian Brando, born 1958; convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 1990; released from prison in 1996
Son: (with Casteneda) Miko Brando, born 1960; former security guard to Michael Jackson
Daughter: (withTeriipia) Rebecca Brando, born 1961
Son: (withTeriipia) Teihotu Brando, born 1963
Daughter: (adopted) Petra Barrett Brando, born 1963
Son: (with Teriipia) Simon Tehotu, born 1967
Daughter: (withTeriipia) Cheyenne Brando, born 1970; committed suicide in 1995
Daughter: (adopted) Maimiti Brando, born 1977
Daughter: (adopted) Raiatua Brando, born 1982
Daughter: (by Maria Christina Ruiz) Ninna Brando, born 1989
Son: (by Ruiz) Myles Brando, born 1992
Son: (by Ruiz) Timothy Brando, born 1994


1990: Academy Award nomination: Best Actor, A Dry White Season; Golden Globe nomination, Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, A Dry White Season

1974: Academy Award nomination: Best Actor, Ultimo tango a Parigi; Golden Globe: Henrietta Award, Wold Film Favorite - Male

1973: Academy Award: Best Actor: The Godfather; Golden Globe: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, The Godfather; Golden Globe: Henrietta Award, Wold Film Favorite - Male

1964: Golden Globe nomination: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, The Ugly American

1958: Academy Award nomination: Best Actor, Sayonara; Golden Globe nomination: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, Sayonara

1957: Golden Globe nomination: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical, The Teahouse of the August Moon

1956: Golden Globe: Henrietta Award, Wold Film Favorite - Male

1955: Academy Award: Best Actor: On the Waterfront; Golden Globe nomination: Henrietta Award, Wold Film Favorite - Male

1954: Academy Award nomination: Best Actor, Julius Caesar

1953: Academy Award nomination: Best Actor, Viva Zapata!

1952: Academy Award nomination: Best Actor, A Streetcar Named Desire



Superman Returns - (2006) - Actor
Law and the Lawless, The - 10 Movie Set - (2002) - Actor
Legends of the West - 4 Movie Set - (2002) - Actor
Apocalypse Now Redux - (2001) - Actor
The Score - (2001) - Actor
View all films


http://www.marlonbrando.com/