Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando
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Marlon Brando
Film: West side of the 1700 block of Vine Street
Actor
Born April 3, 1924 in Omaha, NE
Died July 1, 2004 of lung failure in UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, CA

Marlon Brando, a two-time Academy Award winner, transformed the craft of acting and led peers and critics alike to hail him as the finest actor of his time.

Under the guidance of director Elia Kazan, Brando first became a star on stage — as Stanley Kowalski in the 1947 Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" — and then on screen, again as Kowalski in "Streetcar," released in 1951. He received his first Academy Award nomination for best actor for his role in "Streetcar."

Brando was nominated seven times for best actor, receiving his first Oscar for his portrayal of Terry Malloy in 1954's "On the Waterfront" and his second for Don Vito Corleone in 1972's "The Godfather." His other nominations were for "Viva Zapata!" (1952), "Julius Caesar" (1953), "Sayonara" (1957) and "Last Tango in Paris" (1973).

His eighth and last Oscar nomination was for best supporting actor in the 1989 anti-apartheid film "A Dry White Season."

From the beginning of his career, Brando voiced some of the most famous lines ever spoken in films, many of which are still part of the American lexicon.

"Streetcar" introduced the animal cry "Stell-ah!" to audiences, which Brando bellowed from the stage floor up a winding staircase. "The Godfather's" Don Corleone issued the cold threat: "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."

In 1954's "On the Waterfront," Brando, who was cast as an ex-boxer-turned-mob-errand-boy, uttered perhaps the most repeated line of any American movie: "I coulda been a contender."

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    Academy Awards

    Year Category Work
    1951 Best Actor A Streetcar Named Desire Nomination
    1952 Best Actor Viva Zapata! Nomination
    1953 Best Actor Julius Caesar Nomination
    1954 Best Actor On the Waterfront Win
    1957 Best Actor Sayonara Nomination
    1972 Best Actor The Godfather Win
    1973 Best Actor Last Tango in Paris Nomination
    1989 Best Supporting Actor A Dry White Season Nomination

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