Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando (born April 3, 1924) is an American actor probably best known for his role as Vito Corleone in the movie The Godfather; though he is well-known as Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now and for his starring role in the controversial film Last Tango in Paris.

Brando also starred in On the Waterfront, Viva Zapata! and A Streetcar Named Desire; of all his roles the one he showed the most public distaste for was likely that of Jor El[?] (Superman's father) in the first Superman movie--a role he agreed to only on condition that he did not have to read the script beforehand, and that his lines would be displayed somewhere offscreen.

Brando was raised in the Omaha, Nebraska area. His mother was the one who first interested him in stage acting[?]. She was a kind and talented woman, but had a drinking problem. Brando's father was largely critical of his son.

Brando was a gifted mimic from early childhood and developed a rare ability to absorb the tics and mannerisms of people he played and to display those traits dramatically while staying in character.

For all of his talent, Brando has often had trouble finding first-rate leading parts. He has often been obese, and morbidly conscious of that fact. He has 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 and childish demands. On the other hand, most other actors have found him generous, funny and supportive.

Brando improvised one of his most famous scenes. Godfather Don Corleone dies in a tomato patch while playing with his 5-year-old grandson, after sticking an orange rind in his mouth to look like a monster.

Brando won his first Oscar for his bravura portrayal as Terry Malloy in On The Waterfront[?], an ex-heavyweight boxer mired in the mob-based corruption of the waterfront docks. He is perhaps most famous for his lines "I could have been a Contender" in the scene when he tells his brother, Charlie the Gent, what could have been.

Brando won his second Academy Award for his portrayal as Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. Brando was the second actor to refuse an Oscar (the first being George C. Scott). When he declined the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Godfather in 1972, Brando sent actress and phony Native American Sacheen Littlefeather (nee Maria Cruz), who was booed as she denounced Hollywood's portrayal of her people.

Filmography as actor includes

The Score[?] (2001)

Free Money[?] (1998)

The Brave[?] (1997)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

Don Juan DeMarco[?] (1995)

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery[?] (1992)

The Freshman (1990)

A Dry White Season[?] (1989)

The Formula[?] (1980)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Raoni[?] (1978)

Superman (1978)

The Missouri Breaks[?] (1976)

The Nightcomers[?] (1972)

Ultimo tango a Parigi[?] (1972)

The Godfather (1972)

Queimada[?] (1969)

The Night of the Following Day[?] (1968)

Candy (1968)

Reflections in a Golden Eye[?] (1967)

A Countess from Hong Kong[?] (1967)

The Appaloosa[?] (1966)

The Chase[?] (1966)

Morituri[?] (1965)

Bedtime Story[?] (1964)

The Ugly American[?] (1963)

The Mutiny on the Bounty[?] (1962)

One-Eyed Jacks[?] (1961)

The Fugitive Kind[?] (1959)

The Young Lions[?] (1958)

Sayonara (1957)

The Teahouse of the August Moon[?] (1956)

Guys and Dolls[?] (1955)

Desirée[?] (1954)

On the Waterfront (1954)

The Wild One[?] (1954)

Julius Caesar (1953)

Viva Zapata! (1952)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

The Men[?] (1950)