Marlon Brando Jr. was born in 1924 in Oklahoma to a family of a field salesman and a not-so-prominent theater actress. Both his parents were often away from home and later divorced, which led to a restless and not very pleasant childhood for the boy. The roots of his family can be found in Germany, France and above all in Ireland, for which he later showed considerable sympathy.
From an early age, Marlon was a street hustler and troublemaker with an unprecedented amount of energy. So, as a teenager, he found himself at a military school, where they were supposed to raise him into an orderly young man. At that time, he already had an acting talent, but Marlon did not immediately think that he should develop it. He tried to start a military career, but a childhood sports knee injury made him officially unfit for service.
At eighteen, he ended up in New York with one of his sisters and finally devoted himself fully to acting. Suddenly everything seemed to fall into place for him. For the first time, he felt like he belonged somewhere and was doing something he was interested in. It was here that he was discovered by Stella Adler, a great name in acting theory. She flirted with Stanislavsky’s method, which she picked up from Soviet theorists. It gave birth to the famous “method acting” and the Adler School, one of the most prestigious acting institutions in America.
Tram to Desire Station (1951) | Warner Bros.
Brando became the mascot of these procedures, consisting of trying to analyze in detail and understand all the internal and external aspects of the character. Marlon later rejected the connection with methodical acting, he said, following his own theses, which also developed over time. But this does not change the fact that at the beginning of his career he was considered a pioneer of highly analytical and reflective acting, protected by an unprecedented emphasis on realism.
Still, Marlon Brando’s rise was fraught with problems, as was his entire life. He spent the 1940s on the boards, but his erratic, sometimes aggressive and generally erratic behavior cost him several positions. However, his magnetic charisma and absolute dedication to his roles meant that there was always someone willing to give him another chance. In the 1950s, he finally ended up in front of the cameras. And once the whole world saw him, there was no going back. Brando was born to be old.
He perfectly fulfilled the proverbial “women want him, men want to be him”. In Brando, impetuousness was mixed with a fragile soul. He was a ruffian, but your friendship or love will lead him to the right path! He also accepted the role of a sex symbol, as revealed by countless photo series in which he exhibits his “workman-made” body.
Marlon Brando in The Godfather | Paramount Network Already his first roles in the films Men, Tram to the Station of Desire and Divoch defined him as an absolute acting icon. At the same time, he cut the technically demanding role of Marc Antony in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Caesar. And then came In the Port, in which he portrays a worker whose life is crumbling under his hands. Kazan’s classic is still considered an acting masterclass, according to which it is taught in schools. Brando’s film career lasted only five years, but he had worked with some of the biggest filmmakers and had Hollywood at his feet.
He never matched this moment in his career again – but where does one go from the top? After all, Brando scored four Oscar nominations in his first five years, one of which he changed. During the 1950s, he seemed to do no wrong. And he performed his position as an acting giant with gusto. His idiosyncrasies escalated over time, his unreliability grew. The actor, who was used to reciting Shakespeare on stage, suddenly could not remember a single line of the text. Ignored directing instructions. He had no problem not coming to the set and leaving the whole crew in the lurch. Hand in hand with this, the media reported on his personal escapades (suffice it to say that Marlon had 11 children).
And when, towards the end of the 1960s (probably due to increasing wrinkles and falling sales) it seemed that Hollywood had run out of patience with Brando and he found himself on so many blacklists that his career seemed to be over, Francis Ford Coppola stomped him into of his early blockbuster The Godfather. He redefined Brando from an aging celadon into a dignified old man, and Marlon’s escapades could begin anew. By the way, he was not even fifty yet, and he was significantly older for the role of Don Corleone, which not everyone realizes. In fact, he still had three decades of a roller-coaster career ahead of him.
Last Tango in Paris | MGM
This text is certainly not a consistent summary of his career. In the same way, we will not begin to interpret specific crazy anecdotes illustrating his antics, nor will we get bogged down in his obesity, which in the last stage of his life became the target of many ridicules. Then Brando could be dreamed up as a self-centered madman, even though we know he was an extremely intelligent and thoughtful person who just didn’t like the Hollywood glitz. After all, as indicated by his famous rejection of his second Oscar in the name of solidarity with American Indians, whom, according to him, Hollywood did not support enough. He was definitely a complicated personality that cannot be reduced to a few stories from the filming.
Looking at him, we shouldn’t just be filled with endless respect and wonder. His myth is firmly tied to the romanticization of unbridled artistic egos that crush everything in their path. His ruthlessness and creative selfishness are often represented mainly by his behavior towards the actress Maria Schneider during the filming of Last Tango in Paris, which bordered on sexual violence in the worst moments. Filmmaking is not an environment that is not subject to legal and moral laws, and Brando went through things that can hardly be excused by talent. This is as much the fault of the world around him as his own.
So Brando is, for better or for worse, an absolute Hollywood star. An untamed solitaire who used his immeasurable talent to feed his ego and push his agenda. And because he represented everything we want from a star, he was untouchable. There is no one else like him, perhaps because one film industry could not support two such persons.
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sources: Wikipedia, Kinobox