Marlon Brando, what a life.
Many of his admirers like to look back at the Brando legacy with some cynicism, stating that he threw his career away.
But there’s no denying that he did it his way and nobody could take that away from him. I think that’s something to admire: Forget what others want or expect me to do, I’m doing it MY way.

It’s fitting that Brando practically invented the rebel without a cause image, even before James Dean swept into icon status. Brando didn’t just play rebels on the screen, he lived the rebel lifestyle. He was unique, visually and sexually arresting, a master performer. He also seemed to make it ok for men to be macho, yet be at ease with their feelings—a
fine line for many people.

In recent years, Brando became the butt of a plethora of jokes for his fluctuating weight, but happily people still remember the tight t-shirt and muscles from “A Streetcar Named Desire” and the macho vulnerability of Terry
Malloy in “On the Waterfront.” I had always known about Marlon Brando, thanks to his role as “Jor-El” in Superman: The Movie and The Godfather, but it wasn’t until the last few years that I realized he was one of the best actors of all time.
I rented “Last Tango in Paris”—the movie he made the year after “The Godather”—and what I saw was easily one of the greatest performances of all time. If you’re looking to sample Brando’s range as an actor, all you have to do
is this—do a Godfather and Last Tango in Paris double feature.
When I saw “The Godfather”, Brando was the Godfather, but I had no idea there was more to him than that role and a glorified, not to mention effective, cameo in “Superman”. I was shocked when I saw “Last Tango” and realized that Brando wasn’t that old in “The Godfather”, but he was in his 40s. (“Last Tango” is not for everybody—it’s artsy and slow at times and definitely NOT for kids, but I highly recommend it for any movie fan. Very rewarding for the patient viewer.)

Behind the scenes, a Brando fan like myself has an insatiable appetite for stories about all of his antics.
Here’s a summary of one of my favorite behind-the-scenes stories,that can be found in Peter Manso’s epic Brando biogaphy: While filming Mutiny on the Bounty in the early 60s, Brando was at the peak of his power as a star. He had people pulled off the film crew to organize and decorate a lavish wedding for a friend and had MGM fly a charter plane filled with turkeys, hams, booze and cases of champagne. MGM picked up the tab. It’s not surprising that MGM nearly went under as a result of this film.
There’s considerably more tantalizing information in that book to satisfy any movie star fan.
Another favorite Brando story of mine, (this one can be found in his autobiography), was when he and a friend, during his theater days, were walking around New York City and ran into two beautiful black girls. The four went home
together. Hours later, there was a banging on the door and one of the girls said, “That’s my daddy.” Brando thought she was talking about her father. Seconds later, he and his buddy were rushing down the fire escape ladder hoping
to avoid a confrontation.
“We ran like hell,” Brando said, but he quickly added that it was fun. They were very beautiful girls, he said.
I think what I got the most out of Brando was that I somehow felt connected with him. Having read about him and his life, I admire that he seemed to live life to the fullest despite a traumatizing childhood with alcoholic, even
occasionally neglectful parents.
Whether he ever became at peace with the trauma of his childhood, I won’t know until the information is released, if ever, by those close to him. I do know that Brando spent much of his life conflicted by those formative memories.
It is doubtful he ever fully enjoyed his accomplishments. A virtual platoon of children, two Academy Awards, owned a Tahitian island, he had relationships and love affairs with many beautiful people, he was a jokster, a rebel, an actor and a man that was admired by millions of people.
And, though he was an atheist last I heard, I would hope that Brando’s last thoughts before he died were “Damn, that was one hell of a ride.”
And it was.

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