| Marlon Brando |
| Broadcast: July 16, 2004 Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English. This is Doug Johnson. ...we remember American actor Marlon Brando. Marlon Brando The American movie industry lost one of its greatest stars on July first. Marlon Brando died in Los Angeles, California at the age of eighty. Gwen Outen takes a look back at the actor\'s long life in movies. MARLON BRANDO: "You don\'t understand. I could\'ve had class. I could\'ve been a contender. I could\'ve been somebody instead of a bum which is what I am." GWEN OUTEN: That was Marlon Brando playing a former boxer in the nineteen-fifty-four movie "On the Waterfront." Marlon Brando was somebody, of course. Many critics say he was the greatest actor of all time. And many actors say Marlon Brando influenced them more than any other person in the movie industry. Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska in nineteen-twenty-four. His mother was an actress. His father was a salesman. His childhood was not happy. In a book about his life, Brando wrote that both his parents were dependent on alcohol. He wrote that his father never said anything good about his son. Marlon Brando linked his interest in acting to the painful years of his childhood. He said a child who feels unaccepted by his parents will search for a different identity that will be acceptable. When he was nineteen, Brando moved to New York City. He studied acting and learned what is called the "method" style of realistic acting. In nineteen-forty-seven, he became a Broadway star with his famous performance as Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams\' play, "A Streetcar Named Desire."  Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski Brando\'s fame grew in nineteen-fifty-one when he acted the same part in the film version of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Brando acted in more than forty movies. He won two Academy Awards for Best Actor. One was for his work in "On the Waterfront." The other was for playing Vito Corleone, the powerful head of a criminal organization in "The Godfather" in nineteen-seventy-two. He was nominated for five other Academy Awards.  Marlon Brando as Don Corleone Brando was a private man but he did not lead a quiet or easy life. He was married three times. He had at least seven children. Brando dealt with several tragedies. One of his sons was sent to prison for killing a man. Brando\'s daughter, Cheyenne, killed herself in nineteen-ninety-five. No public service was held to honor Marlon Brando after his death. A family spokesperson said he would not have wanted one. But the actor\'s place in Hollywood history is secure. |