Born in Omaha, NE. Marlon Brando first made his name as an exponent of "the method," an acting style based on the teachings of Constantin Stanislavsky. Method acting rejected the traditional techniques of stagecraft in favor of an emotional expressiveness ideally suited to the angst-ridden atmosphere of postwar American society. Brando studied the Stanislavsky technique in the 1940s, first at the New School and later at the Actors Studio. Under the influence of Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler, Brando became the exemplar of the Method, influencing American film actors from James Dean to Robert De Niro. As the unappointed spokesman for his generation, the young Brando became identified with a character in revolt against something he could not comprehend. When asked in THE WILD ONE (1954), "What are you rebelling against?" he replies, "Whaddaya got?" Although Brando's rebels conveyed a strong sense of danger, the actor also lent a pathos to their stance, leaving his characters both menacing and vulnerable. Once he had became synonymous with the vulnerable rebel, Brando spent most of his career trying to purge himself and his audience of this initial identification. Brando's first Broadway roles were in the sentimental hit I Remember Mama (1944), Truckline Cafe (1946) and Candida (1946). But his breakthrough came with his searing portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). The role established a new order of acting intensity which soon led Brando to Hollywood.
	Brando's first film was THE MEN (1950), in which he portrayed a paraplegic war veteran struggling for his dignity. Rather than play the role for its inherent pathos, however, Brando etched a portrait of an embittered, incoherent man-child. The film version of STREETCAR followed in 1951, forever stamping the Brando image in the public imagination. But it wasn't until THE WILD ONE, a motorcycle melodrama, that Brando had his first star-making vehicle. The Stanley Kowalski brute was now removed from Tennessee Williams's confining New Orleans ghetto, his anger directed scattershot against society at large.
	With his Oscar-winning performance in ON THE WATERFRONT (1954), Brando became a full-fledged Hollywood power. He played against type in a number of subsequent roles -- from the ill-tempered Napoleon of DESIREÉ (1954) to the heel-clicking song and dance man of GUYS AND DOLLS (1955) to the effete Fletcher Christian of MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1962) -- but his rebel persona had nevertheless become a cliche by the end of the decade. (Actor-impressionist Frank Gorshin performed a devastating send-up of it in 1960's BELLS ARE RINGING.) Brando finally purged his rebel image in the 1960s, playing a figure of authority in THE UGLY AMERICAN (1963) and parodying himself in BEDTIME STORY (1964). But despite complex performances in REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE (1967) and BURN! (1969) his audience had largely abandoned him by the beginning of the 1970s.
	It wasn't until THE GODFATHER (1972) and his sensitive character role as Don Vito Corleone that Brando regained his following. He gave perhaps his crowning performance, as a self-destructive American in Paris, in Bertolucci's disturbing LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1973). Since LAST TANGO Brando appeared in few films, and more than once announced his retirement from acting, most recently in September 1989. He lent a bizarre comic presence to THE MISSOURI BREAKS (1976) and THE FORMULA (1980), stamped his moniker on such varied projects as SUPERMAN (1978) and APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) and earned an Oscar nomination for his engaging performance as a crusty South African civil rights lawyer in A DRY WHITE SEASON (1989). Other notable credits include THE FRESHMAN (1990), CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS: THE DISCOVERY (1992), DON JUAN DeMARCO (1995), THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1996), THE BRAVE (1997), FREE MONEY (1998) and THE SCORE (2001). Since his death, Brando is widely considered the greatest movie actor of all time, rivaled only by the more theatrically oriented Laurence Olivier in terms of esteem. Unlike Olivier, who preferred the stage to the screen, Brando concentrated his talents on movies after bidding the Broadway stage adieu in 1949, a decision for which he was severely criticized when his star began to dim in the 1960s and he was excoriated for squandering his talents. No actor ever exerted such a profound influence on succeeding generations of actors as did Brando. More than 50 years after he first scorched the screen as Stanley Kowalski and a quarter-century after his last great performance as Col. Kurtz, all American actors are still being measured by the yardstick that was Brando. He did not, nor did any other actor so dominate the public's consciousness of what WAS an actor before or since Brando's 1951 on-screen portrayal of Stanley made him a cultural icon. Brando eclipsed the reputation of other great actors before the 50s, such as Paul Muni and Fredric March. Only the luster of Spencer Tracy's and Jimmy Stewart's reputations haven't dimmed when seen in the starlight thrown off by Brando. However, neither Tracy nor Stewart created an entire school of acting just by the force of his personality. Brando did.  Nominated for Actor 1951: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE  Nominated for Actor 1952: VIVA ZAPATA!  Nominated for Actor 1953: JULIUS CAESAR  Actor 1954: ON THE WATERFRONT  Nominated for Actor 1957: SAYONARA  Actor 1972: THE GODFATHER  Nominated for Actor 1973: LAST TANGO IN PARIS  Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role 1989: A DRY WHITE SEASON 8 nominations, 2 Awards