An enigmatic genius whose creative work transformed an entire art form, Marlon Brando continues to inspire new generations of actors. Yet despite the tremendous emotional depth Brando reveals in his performances, he has kept his personal life a closely guarded secret.
Born April 3, 1924, Brando’s nickname was “Bud.” His mother, Dorothy, was active in Nebraska theater, and was the woman who got Henry Fonda to try his luck at the thespian life. Brando’s home life was unhappy. His father was an alcoholic and an adulterer, and his mother turned to the bottle herself in response. Though young Marlon felt abandoned by Dorothy, she did manage to instill in him a love of music, nature, and the theater.
The rebellious young Brando was sent to, and soon expelled from, the Shattuck Military Academy. He traveled to New York City, and despite his initial lack of interest in acting, the theater soon proved to be his calling. When he enrolled in the New School’s Dramatic Workshop, his famed teacher Stella Adler introduced him to Stanislavsky’s “Method", an approach that values emotional honesty and verisimilitude in performance above traditional stagecraft. At the Actors Studio, Method mentor Lee Strasberg also nurtured Brando’s monumental talent, preparing the powerhouse actor for his breakthrough role as Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” (playing some performances with a broken nose after sparring with understudy Jack Palance). Hollywood was impressed, and soon Brando, together with most of the original cast, re-created his role in the film version of Streetcar (1951) to wide acclaim.