Biography
American actor of great note whose charisma, both off- and on-screen, made him an artistic and
social force. With his raw passion and emotional truth, so evident in his peak years from 1947
to 1954, some say that he changed forever the way we look at acting.
Brando was the only son of a limestone products salesman. His mom, Dodie, was a gifted
local actress with a bohemian disposition. Both parents were alcoholics and both were
promiscuous. Marlon, Sr. was also something of a bully, and his son, called "Bud," hated
him. Bud was difficult in high school in Libertyville, IL, and his folks shipped him off
to a military academy in Shattuck, MN, his dad's old school. Though the school was strict,
the boy spent his time in pranks and chasing girls, catching more than a few. According to
some reports, he also caught some action with some of the male cadets. Expelled in 1943,
he ended up in New York.
At age 18, he was ineligible for the military due to a football knee injury, and other
than some applause for school plays, had no skills or training. His sister Jocelyn was an
actress, so Marlon enrolled at Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop at the New School. The
grand dame, Stella Adler, spotted his awareness, his empathy and his erotic appeal and
took him under her wing and into her private circle. Adler's method emphasized that
authenticity in acting is achieved by drawing on inner reality to expose deep emotional
experience. Brando mastered The Method from the start. He made his Broadway debut in "I
Remember Mama" in 1944. Two years later, he exploded into stage fame with his powerful
portrayal of Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire."
He never did another play but Brando brought his magnetic presence to the screen in
1950 with his first film, "The Men." He was nominated for the Best Actor award for four
years in a row for "A Streetcar Named Desire," 1951 "Viva Zapata," 1952 "Julius Caesar,"
1953 and "On the Waterfront," 1954, the performance which garnered his Oscar. He
collected another Oscar for Best Actor in 1972 for "The Godfather."
Brando spent the next 18 years making uneven movies, some commercially successful, some not. He
began walking through his roles, no longer drawing on his own inner reality and angst. He was
capricious on the set, refusing to adhere to schedules or scripts. His behavior was blamed for
ruinous cost overruns and delays on "Mutiny on the Bounty." The picture was shot in Tahiti and
he fell in love with Polynesia, eventually buying the atoll of Teti-aroa, which became his
refuge. In 1959, Brando formed his own production company to produce, direct and star in
"One-Eyed Jacks," 1961. He played in a series of disappointing films in the '60s, at one point
with 14 flops in a row. As his career drifted, he became known for his politics. He donated
money to the Palestine Jews and later, was active in the civil rights movement.
In the early '70s, he had two memorable films that represented a powerful comeback. "The Godfather"
was a great popular epic of America, and Brando portrayed a master Mafioso. He won an Oscar but
refused it in protest of the plight of the American Indian, a long-time cause. His "Last Tango
in Paris" was a controversial effort and his last important starring role. Brando began to gain
an immense amount weight and was up to 300 pounds in the '80s. After "Tango" there were only a
few stabs at acting or vignette roles, with no films at all from 1980 to 1989. The man whom many
regarded as the greatest actor the American screen has ever known retreated to Tahiti or stayed
in his house on Mulholland Drive. After a long absence, he appeared in "A Dry White Season,"
1989, which earned him another Oscar nomination.
Brando's personal life might be described as dysfunctional. From the age of 19, when he
lost his virginity, there were always women. Sex was a dominant and compelling force, and
he even mentioned in an interview "an adventure with a goat." His broken marriages include
one to Anna Kashfi from 1957-1959 and a second to Movita Castenada from 1960-1968. With his
former housekeeper, Christina Ruiz, he had children in 1990, March 1992 and 1994, bringing his
total number of children to nine, perhaps ten or eleven, with four different women. In 1990, his
son Christian was accused of killing his sister Cheyenne's boyfriend who happened to be the son
of a prominent Tahitian banker and politician. Christian's defense was that the man had been
abusing his sister. Brando testified in tears: "I tried to be a good father." Christian pleaded
guilty to involuntary manslaughter and served a jail sentence of nearly five years.
In 1995, Brando emerged for his fans to play the role of a lovelorn psychiatrist in
"Don Juan DeMarco," starring the new generation's heart-throb Johnny Depp. And in 2001,
with his supporting role in "The Score," Brando showed that he was still a fine actor.
On April 10, 2001, Brando was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital with pneumonia and a
pending movie role was cancelled for illness. He left his ever-increasing family in
December 2001, and on April 18, 2002, Christina Ruiz filed suit asking for $100 million
for support and property rights.
Brando's lifestyle resulted in increasingly poor health, and he battled congestive
heart failure for several years. On June 30, 2004 he was admitted to the UCLA Medical
Center where the great actor died the next day on July 1, 2004 of pulmonary fibrosis.
Some news reports gave a time of death of 6:20 PM. Four days later in a private service
that had been a tightly guarded secret, his body was cremated.
Top
Quotes:
- "Acting is the least mysterious of all crafts. Whenever we want something from
somebody or when we want to hide something or pretend, we're acting. Most people do it
all day long."
- "When you are a child who is unwanted or unwelcome, and the essence of what you are
seems to be unacceptable, you look for an identity that will be acceptable….I suppose
the story of my life is a search for love. But more than that, I have been looking for
a way to repair myself from the damages I suffered early on and to define my obligation,
if I had any, to myself and my species."
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What Do You Think?
A truly magnificent actor just died. Marlon Brando presents a classic case of what can
go wrong with too many trines in one's life. He has SEVEN trines that make up a grand fire
trine. He had the talent, charisma, and money to satisfy any worldly desire – and he did
just that. He bedded many, ate till he was 300 pounds, and retreated to a Tahitian island.
He fought for underdog causes and yet he was woefully self-indulgent. Fame and wealth came
easily; self-love was a constant struggle. Great actor – tragic life.
- What accounts for his raw passion and sexual charisma?
- He has an obvious signature for acting in movies. What is it?
- How do you interpret his Mars-Pluto opposition squared by a Sun-Moon conjunction?
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Answers
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