Marlon Brando

In terms of acclaim, Marlon Brando is usually regarded as the best actor of all time, surpassed only by the more theatrically focused Laurence Olivier. Unlike Olivier, who preferred the stage to the screen, Brando focused his abilities on movies after leaving the Broadway stage in 1949, a move that was heavily condemned when his popularity began to fade in the 1960s and he was chastised for squandering his gifts. No other actor has ever had such a deep impact on subsequent generations of performers as Brando.

More than 50 years after he first scorched the screen as Stanley Kowalski in the film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Chuyến Tàu Mang Tên Dục Vọng (1951), and a quarter-century after his last great performance as Col. Kurtz in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), all American actors are still measured by Brando's yardstick. It was as though the shadow of John Barrymore, the great American actor who came closest to Brando in terms of talent and celebrity, ruled the acting world until the 1970s.

He did not, nor did any other actor before or since Brando's 1951 on-screen depiction of Stanley established him a cultural icon, dominate the public's understanding of what WAS an actor. Brando's renown surpassed that of other outstanding performers of the 1950s, such as Paul Muni and Fredric March. Only the brilliance of Spencer Tracy's fame hasn't faded in the stars cast by Brando. However, neither Tracy nor Olivier established a whole school of acting just by the power of their personalities.

Detailed information:
Born: April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Died: July 1, 2004, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA (pulmonary fibrosis)
Birth Name: Marlon Brando Jr.
Nicknames: Bud Mr. Mumbles