Marlon Brando
Overview
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...

 and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
The St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture is a cross-curriculum English-language resource that publishes scholarly articles and features on a range of popular culture topics such as television, movies, theater, radio, music, print media, sports, fashion, health and politics. It is available in...

, Brando was the only professional actor, aside from Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...

, named by Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

 magazine as one of its 100 Persons of the Century
Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century
Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century is a compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people, published in Time magazine in 1999....

 in 1999.

Brando had a significant impact on film acting, and was the foremost example of the "method" acting
Method acting
Method acting is a phrase that loosely refers to a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances...

 style. While he became notorious for his "mumbling" diction and exuding a raw animal magnetism, his mercurial performances were nonetheless highly regarded, and he is widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential actors of the 20th century.
Quotations

An actor's a guy, who if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening.

The Observer (1956)

I think awards in this country at this time are inappropriate to be received or given until the condition of the American Indian is drastically altered. If we are not our brother's keeper, at least let us not be his executioner.

Speech for the Academy Awards written by Brando as it appeared in the New York Times (March 30, 1973)

Bertolucci is extraordinary in his ability to perceive, he's a poet...he is very easy to work for.

Rolling Stone Issue No. 213 (May 20, 1976) on Bernardo Bertolucci|Bernardo Bertolucci.

Chaplin you got to go with. Chaplin is a man whose talents is such that you have to gamble. First off, comedy is his backyard. He's a genius, a cinematic genius. A comedic talent without peer.

Rolling Stone Issue No. 213 (May 20, 1976) on Charlie Chaplin

Kazan is a performer's director, the best director I ever worked with... Most actors don't get any help from directors. Emotional help, if you're playing an emotional part. Kazan is the only one I know who really gives you help.

Rolling Stone Issue No. 213 (May 20, 1976) on Elia Kazan|Elia Kazan

Even today I meet people who think of me automatically as a tough, insensitive, coarse guy named Stanley Kowalski|Stanley Kowalski. They can't help it, but, it is troubling.

Songs My Mother Taught Me (1994)

I was surprised as anyone when T-shirts, jeans and leather jackets suddenly became symbols of rebellion. In the film there was a scene in which somebody asked my character, Johnny, what I was rebelling against, and I answered 'Whaddya got?' But none of us involved in the picture ever imagined that it would instigate or encourage youthful rebellion.

Speaking about the film The Wild One (1953) in Songs My Mother Taught Me (1994)

On the day Kazan showed me the completed picture I was so depressed by my performance that I got up and left the screening room.

Speaking of his performance in On the Waterfront (1954). Songs My Mother Taught Me (1994)

 
x
OK