The Survivor

Marlon Brando dies at 80

Star defined acting for generation of performers

Friday, July 2, 2004 Posted: 11:46 AM EDT (1546 GMT)


(CNN) -- Marlon Brando, the stage and screen actor whose performances in "A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront" and "The Godfather" earned him plaudits as one of the greatest actors of all time, has died, his attorney told The Associated Press. He was 80.

Brando died in Los Angeles. The cause of death is unknown.

Brando shot to fame in the late 1940s with his groundbreaking performance in Tennessee Williams' play "A Streetcar Named Desire" as the brutal, animalistic yet shy Stanley Kowalski.

Brando, a devotee of the Method, gave a raw, vital performance under Elia Kazan's direction that had critics swooning. Using the technique, fostered by the Russian director Konstantin Stanislavsky and popularized at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio, actors draw on their own psychology and experience in creating roles.

Brando's first film, "The Men" (1950), earned raves, but it wasn't until the 1951 film version of "Streetcar" that he became a major movie star. Three years later, Brando won his first Oscar for his performance as ex-boxer Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront," also directed by Kazan. One of his lines from the film, "I coulda been a contender," has been widely imitated.

His roles in "Streetcar," "Waterfront" and "The Wild One" (1953) established him as an icon of the 1950s. Over the course of his career, he was nominated for eight Oscars, winning two -- for "Waterfront" and "The Godfather" (1972).

He followed his early '50s films with hits in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956) and "Sayonara" (1957), but his career went into decline in the 1960s, particularly after his mannered performance as Fletcher Christian in 1962's big-budget flop "Mutiny on the Bounty."

His career revived, however, with perhaps his most famous role, that of Don Corleone in "The Godfather." Director Francis Ford Coppola had only Brando in mind for the role, a decision not favored by producers, who almost fired the filmmaker over the decision.

Coppola was rewarded when the film became a huge hit -- it was the highest-grossing movie of all time until "Jaws" came along -- and Brando's quietly regal, brooding performance as a Mafia kingpin was the film's centerpiece.

The actor followed up "The Godfather" with a role in a different kind of film, Bernardo Bertolucci's "Last Tango in Paris" (1973), in which he played a depressed American expatriate who strikes up a charged affair with a young Paris woman (Maria Schneider). Brando and Schneider were nakedly fearless, both physically and emotionally; the film was rated X upon its release.

ColorMist

One of my favorite actors. When I was little I had a crush on him because of his role in Guys and Dolls.
-[-*colormist*-]-

last beautiful girl

"I knew it was you. You broke my heart." Sniff. It's so sad when celebrities pass away.

*Maxi*

He's one of my all time favourites, such a great actor.

groovyk1

He was such an amazing actor. RIP.

LaraCroft01

Actress Vivien Leigh and Actor Marlon Brando (news) are shown in character from the 1951 movie 'A Streetcar Named Desire.' Brando, who revolutionized American acting with his Method performances in 'Streetcar Named Desire' and 'On the Waterfront' and went on to create the iconic characterization of Don Vito Corleone in 'The Godfather,' has died, his lawyer said Friday, July 2, 2004. He was 80. (AP Photo)



Actor Marlon Brando, shown here in September 2001, has died in Los Angeles at age 80.(AFP/POOL/File/Beth A. Keiser)



Steve Arriaga pauses after placing a red rose at the Vine Street star of actor Marlon Brando (news) along Hollywood's Walk of Fame in California July 2, 2004. The legendary actor and two-time Academy Award winning actor died Friday at the age of 80. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

groovyk1

Thanks for posting the pics and info. Its so sad. He will be deeply missed.

Cursed

This shocking to me. Despite his age, he's one of those actors who I didn't think would be dying anytime soon. I still kept expecting to see him in at least a few more movies over the next few years.

He made some truelly memorable movies and I'll miss him.

LittleMilkJug

He was one of the best.