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VOICE ONE:
I’m Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And, I’m Steve Ember with People in America in VOA SpecialEnglish. Today, we tell about actor Marlon Brando. Many critics sayhe was the greatest actor of all time. And many actors say heinfluenced them more than any other person in the film industry.
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VOICE ONE:
There was no public service to honor Marlon Brando when he diedin two thousand four at the age of eighty. The actor’s sister,Jocelyn Brando, said he would have hated such an event. The familyheld a small private ceremony instead.
Brando did not seek public attention when he was alive. Heprotected his private life. But he was a huge star. This, combinedwith his personal tragedies and his politics, made him a specialtarget of the press.
VOICE TWO:
Marlon Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska in nineteentwenty-four. He was named after his father, a salesman, but hisfamily called him Bud. His mother, Dorothy, was an actress in thelocal theater. He had two older sisters.
Marlon Brando’s childhood was not happy. His parents drank toomuch alcohol and argued often. Dorothy Brando blamed her husband forthe failure of her acting career. The older Marlon Brando did nothave a good relationship with his son. In a book about his life, theactor wrote that his father never had anything good to say about hisson.
VOICE ONE:
The Brandos moved many times when Marlon was young. His parentsseparated when he was eleven, but they re-united after two years.Young Marlon was always getting into trouble at school. His fatherdecided to send him to a military school in Minnesota. Marlon didnot do well in classes there. But he did find support for hisinterest in theater. A drama teacher urged him to begin acting inplays there and he did. But he was expelled from the school forgetting into trouble.
VOICE TWO:
Marlon Brando moved to New York City when he was nineteen yearsold in nineteen forty-three. He took acting classes at the NewSchool for Social Research. One of his teachers was Stella Adler,who taught the “Method” style of realistic acting. The Methodteaches actors how to use their own memories and emotions toidentify with the characters they are playing.
Marlon Brando learned the Method style quickly and easily.Critics say he was probably the greatest Method actor ever. Onefamous actress commented on his natural ability for it. She saidteaching Marlon Brando the Method was like sending a tiger to jungleschool.
Marlon Brando appeared in several plays. He got his first majorpart in a Broadway play in nineteen forty-seven, at the age oftwenty-three. He received great praise for his powerful performanceas Stanley Kowalski in the Tennessee Williams’ play, “A StreetcarNamed Desire.”
His fame grew when he acted the same part in the movie version,released in nineteen fifty-one. Brando plays an angry working-classman. His wife’s sister, Blanche, comes to visit them in New Orleans,Louisiana. Blanche’s family used to be rich landowners but they lostall their property. Now she is mentally unstable. Stanley treatsBlanche unkindly and insults her. Here, he tells Blanche what hethinks about women.
(ACT ONE: “A Streetcar NamedDesire”)
“I don’t go in for that stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“Compliments to women about their looks. I never met a dame yetdidn’t know if she was good-lookin’ or not without bein’ told. Andthere’s some of them that give themselves credit for more thanthey’ve got. I once went out with a dame who told me, ‘I’m theglamorous type’…she says ‘I am the glamorous type.’ I says ‘sowhat?'”
“And what did she say then?”
“She didn’t say nothin’. I shut her up like a clam.”
VOICE ONE:
“Streetcar” was Brando’s second film. He was nominated for anAcademy Award for the performance. He was nominated for Oscars forhis next two films as well. In nineteen fifty-two he played Mexicanrevolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata in the movie “Viva Zapata.” Thefollowing year he played Marc Antony in “Julius Caesar.”
Marlon Brando did not win an Oscar for Best Actor until nineteenfifty-four for the movie “On the Waterfront.” Many critics considerit his finest performance. The film’s director, Elia Kazan, said itwas the best performance by a male actor in the history of film.
Brando plays Terry Malloy, a failed boxer. He informs onorganized crime leaders, including his brother, Charlie. His brotherhad made him lose fights on purpose so Charlie could make moneygambling on the fights. But now, Terry expresses his regrets aboutlosing the fights.
(ACT TWO: “On The Waterfront”)
“You don’t understand. I could’a’ had class. I could’a’ been acontender. I could’ve been somebody instead of a bum which is what Iam. Let’s face it.”
VOICE TWO:
Marlon Brando acted in about forty movies. He was nominated for atotal of eight Academy Awards. In his movies, he played a Japanesetranslator, a German Nazi military officer and the father ofSuperman. He even sang in a movie musical called “Guys and Dolls.”
His real life was as colorful as his many movie characters. Hislove life was especially active. He married actress Anna Kashfi innineteen fifty-seven. The marriage had problems from the start.Their child, a son named Christian, was born a few months after theymarried. They separated the next year.
In nineteen sixty, Brando married Movita Castenada, aMexican-American actress. They had two children before theyseparated in nineteen sixty-two. The same year, he married aTahitian actress, Tarita. The two had met while filming the movie”Mutiny On the Bounty.”
Brando’s marriage to Tarita lasted ten years. But his love ofTahiti never ended. In nineteen sixty-six, he bought a small islandnear Tahiti. Brando divided his time between his island and his homein California for the rest of his life.
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VOICE ONE:
Critics say Marlon Brando began tosuffer professionally during and after his work on “Mutiny on theBounty.” Hollywood directors and producers considered him difficultto work with. Some critics said the actor appeared to be tired ofacting.
But that changed in nineteen seventy-two when Brando appeared in”The Godfather.” At first, the film studio officials did not wantBrando in the movie. But the director, Francis Ford Coppola, chosehim for the part. The film was a major critical and financialsuccess. Brando was praised for his performance as the Godfather,Vito Corleone, the powerful head of a criminal organization in NewYork City. He speaks to a man who wants the Godfather to havesomeone killed.
(ACT THREE: “The Godfather”)
“If you’d come to me in friendship then this scum that ruinedyour daughter would be suffering this very day. And if by chance anhonest man like yourself should make enemies then they would becomemy enemies. And then they would fear you.”
VOICE TWO:
Marlon Brando won the Best Actor Oscar for “The Godfather.” Buthe rejected it. He sent a woman named Sasheen Littlefeather to speakfor him at the Academy Awards ceremony. She said that Brando couldnot accept the award because of the way the American film industrytreated Native Americans. The people at the Academy Awards ceremonydid not like the speech. But some experts think the action helpedchange the way American Indians were shown in movies.
Marlon Brando was also active in the civil rights movement. Hespoke out against racism often and forcefully. He marched indemonstrations. And he gave money to civil rights groups.
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VOICE ONE:
Marlon Brando had two family tragedies. In nineteen ninety, hisson, Christian, shot and killed a Tahitian man at the family’s homein California. The victim, Dag Drollet, was the boyfriend ofBrando’s daughter, Cheyenne. Christian Brando said the killing wasaccidental. He was found guilty of responsibility in the death andserved almost five years in prison.
During the trial, Marlon Brando told the court that he and AnnaKashfi had failed Christian as parents. He also apologized to theDrollet family and said he wished he could trade places with theirson.
VOICE TWO:
In nineteen ninety-five, Marlon Brando’s daughter Cheyenne killedherself. She had struggled with mental problems and was stilldepressed about the killing of her boyfriend.
Marlon Brando never made public statements about the death of hisdaughter. But reports said he blamed himself. He did not attend hisdaughter’s funeral in Tahiti.
VOICE ONE:
In the following nine years, he made just four more movies. Andthe parts he played were small. But his influence on the Americanfilm industry was huge. When Marlon Brando died, many famous actorsexpressed regret. One of them said simply: “He was the best.”
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written and produced by Caty Weaver. I’m SteveEmber.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another Peoplein America in VOA Special English.