22These Notes for MB Autobiography are in the Brando Estate Archives.
23Brando, who advised Tom Oppenheim to “never throw out a letter,” kept hundreds of letters from his many lovers. The letters from Rita Moreno are especially powerful. All are in the Brando Estate Archives. The teenage “advice” on “how to treat women” is recounted in Bob Hoskins, Notes for MB autobiography, Brando Estate Archives.
24Lindsey Interviews.
25The Actor’s Duty was entered as a possible title in “Marlon Brando: Notes for Book,” June 22, 1992, p. 26, Brando Estate Archives.
26Avra Douglas was the assistant accompanying Brando on this trip to New York at the time of the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center catastrophe. Ellen Adler and Tom Oppenheim recounted time spent with Brando during this visit. Avra Douglas, Ellen Adler, and Tom Oppenheim, interviews with the author.
27Brando describes this Manhattan encounter in the early 1990s in Lindsey Interviews.
28These recitations can be found on the website Tobiasent.com, under “The Brando Project.”
PERMISSIONS
Excerpt from Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me by Marlon Brando, copyright © 1994 by Marlon Brando. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
All selections from the Brando Estate reproduced by permission of Brando Enterprises, L.P.
Quote from Jocelyn Brando, courtesy of Martin Asinof.
Quote from Frances Brando, courtesy of Julia Loving.
Interviews with Martin Asinof, printed with permission.
Interviews with Miko C. Brando, printed with permission.
Interviews with Rebecca Brando, printed with permission.
Interview with Bob Bendetson, printed with permission.
Interviews with Avra Douglas, printed with permission.
Interview with Nina G. Rosenfeld, printed with permission.
Interview with Tom Oppenheim, printed with permission.
Interview with Joseph Brutsman, printed with permission.
Interviews with Quincy D. Jones Jr. and “Molecule Jiggler” quote, printed with permission.
Interview with Carmelita Pope, printed with permission.
Interviews with Ellen Adler, printed with permission.
Interview with Stanley M. Brooks, printed with permission.
Interview with Jay Kanter, printed with permission.
Interview with Patt Morrison, printed with permission.
Interviews with Stewart Stern, printed with permission .
Interview with Angie Dickinson, printed with permission.
INDEX
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
Academy Awards, 125, 131, 137, 143, 173, 285, 303, 324
Brando’s turning down of, 250–51, 303, 322
Brando’s winning of, 18, 403n
Kazan honored by, 106
On the Waterfront and, 18, 82, 106–7, 403n
accents, xxv, xxvi, 10, 29–30, 35, 53, 66, 70, 92, 100, 120, 136, 205, 260
British, xxv, 10, 30, 120, 161, 162, 171, 214, 264, 284, 370n
French, 232, 286
German, xxv, 136
Irish, xxv, 220, 258, 260, 406n
Japanese (and Okinawan), 128
Mexican, 92
Southern, xx, 30, 205
Texas, 193, 220
Yiddish, 66, 286
Actor Prepares, An (Stanislavski), xxviii–xxix
actors, acting, xxv–xxxi, 37–41, 150, 377n, 378n
behaving vs., xxviii
Brando’s alleged decline as, 139, 153
Brando’s attitude toward, xxiii–xxiv, xxix–xxx, 66, 249, 251
Brando’s contributions to, xxxviii, 68, 69, 70
Brando’s discovery of talent for, 29–30, 376n
Brando Sr.’s contempt for, 18, 157
Brando’s standing among, xxiv, 117, 121, 123, 131, 136–37, 370n, 391n, 406n
Brando’s study of, xxvii, xxix, 31, 32, 37–40, 44–51, 47, 71, 123
Brando’s teaching of, xxix, 80, 232, 371n, 384n, 403n, 405n–6n
Brando’s use of objects in, xxvi–xxviii, 110–12, 135–36, 150, 188–89, 196, 202, 206–7, 208, 242–44, 247–48
in family background, 9–11, 10, 13, 374n
as human survival skill, 232–33, 251
improvisation in, xxvi–xxvii, 81, 110, 245, 356, 389n, 423n
instinctive, xxiii, 71, 196, 255, 405n
Jacob Adler and, 37–41, 45, 49, 377n, 378n
method, 80, 255, 405n
in Reflections in a Golden Eye, 209, 210
self brought to, 39, 40
as slave to image, xv
space dominated by, 261
Stella Adler’s contribution to, 44–45
unpredictable, 257
actor’s mask, the, xxix
Actor’s Mask (Klee), xxix
Actors Studio, 32, 80
Adams, Hank, 319–20, 322, 329
Adams, Marjory, 385n
addiction, 253
see also alcohol, alcoholism
Adler, Celia, 58, 64, 65
Adler, Ellen, 41, 369n, 373n, 374n, 379n, 380n, 407n
Brando’s correspondence with, 119–20
Brando’s dating of, 33, 38, 40, 49, 376n
in Paris, 85
Adler, Jacob P., 37–41, 45, 56, 57–58, 377n
Brando compared with, 38–40, 49, 378n
makeup and, 38, 54, 381n
marriages of, 37, 49, 380n
Adler, Luther, 58, 64
Adler, Mortimer, 192
Adler, Sara, 37, 48–49, 380n
Adler, Stella, xxiii, 33, 42–46, 80, 82, 201, 377n
Brando’s study with, xxvii, xxix, xxx, 32, 37–40, 44–51, 71, 123
The Group and, 42–44, 379n
home gatherings of, 48–49
Mead at dinner party with, xxiii, 369n
affective memory exercises, 44, 51
Africa, 338
age, aging, 157
of Brando, xxxii, xxxv, 29, 253, 284, 302
of “Don Corleone,” 244–45
guessing of, xv
aggression, 73, 100, 110, 233, 234
in Streetcar, 74, 76, 78
alcohol, alcoholism, 205, 214, 237
in family background, 2, 3, 5, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 21–24, 30, 33, 120, 205, 237, 253
in Streetcar, 74, 78
Alexander, Shana, 249, 402n
Alexian Brothers, 325
Algeria, 227–29, 339
Allegheny River Project, 321
Allegret, Catherine, 229
Allen, Woody, 287
Allport, Gordon, 338
Alpert, Hollis, 125
ambition, 74, 240, 248
of Brando, xxxii, 105, 123, 142, 143, 168, 180, 218
Ambler, Eric, 161
“Ambulances” (Larkin), 293
America Challenged (Douglas), 192–93
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 333
American Indian Movement (AIM), 295, 322, 323–24, 325
American Indian Policy in the Formative Years (Prucha), 192, 329, 398n
American Indians, 5, 64, 293, 294, 316–30, 333
Brando’s activism and, 250–51, 276, 295, 316–30, 333, 405n
Brando’s prospective film about, 142, 217–18, 316, 326–29
Brando’s reading about, xxii, xxxvi, 62, 85, 142, 192, 271, 317–19, 328–29, 398n–99n
in Grand Island, 2
in Mexico, 90, 91, 316, 317
treaty violations and, xviii
in West, 142, 143, 144
American Laboratory Theatre (The Lab), 41–42
American League for a Free Palestine, 59, 66
American Nazi Party, 72, 266
American Revolution, 60–61
Anderson, Maxwell, 51–52
anger (rage), 242
of Brando, 21, 22, 45, 51, 105, 284, 295
in films, 74, 76, 100, 113, 209, 210, 226
Anglo-Americans, in West, 142, 143, 150
Anhalt, Edward, 132
animals, xxxvii, 16, 45, 155, 314
Brando’s books about, xxxvi
Brando’s companionship with, 23
Reflections in a Golden Eye and, 201, 202, 206, 209, 210
see also cats, dogs; horses, horsemen; pets
animation, animated film, xxiv, 308–9
Anthology of Islamic Literature, xxxiv
anthropology, 169, 271, 402n, 408n
anti-Americanism, 182
anti-Communism, 89, 104–6, 182, 387n
Antigone, 26
antihero, moral and political power of, 154
antimiscegenation laws, 338
anti-Semitism, 294
Brando accused of, xxxii, 62, 382n
Holocaust and, 59–61, 63, 65–66, 117, 138, 191–92, 266, 382n
antiwar movement, 323–24
Apaches, 318
apartheid, 284
Apocalypse Now (film), xvi, xxvi, 28, 102, 163, 236, 256, 266–75, 269, 393n, 407n–8n
career materials related to, 268, 369n–70n
reviews of, 275
Apocalypse Now Redux (film), 272, 275
Appaloosa, The (film), xxv
aquaculture, 346
Archaeology of Teti’aroa Atoll and Society Islands, 344
Arcola Picture Corp., 393n
Arendt, Hannah, xvi, xxxviii, 47, 66, 73, 168, 273–74, 368n, 409n
Aristotle, 46, 316, 379n
Arizona, 156
art, xxix, 36, 208, 377n
Art of Loving, The (Fromm), 114
Ashley Book of Knots, 221
Asians:
in West, 142, 144
women, 129–31
Asinof, Martin, 155–56, 376n, 381n, 387n
assassins, xxv, 102, 257–62
Associated Press, 173
atom bombs, 299
audience, 47, 72, 73
emotional participation of, xxix–xxx
fantasy and, 261–62
film, 69, 82, 83, 94, 99, 103, 106, 116, 123, 132, 138, 140, 149, 165, 171, 183, 197, 202, 209, 216, 224, 246, 248, 256, 261–62, 272, 383n
Omaha, 10
theater, 10, 39, 42, 45, 52, 58–59, 65–66, 74, 377n
TV, 250–51
twenty-first-century, xxxviii
Australia, 301, 311, 340
Authentic Death of Hendry Jones, The (Neider), 143–44, 146
Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, The (Garrett), 142
autogenic training, 379n
Autumn of the Patriarch (García Márquez), 303
Avedon, Richard, 19
Avery, Sid, 20
Bach, Johann Sebastian, xxii, 216, 301
Baird, Bil, 11
Baldwin, James, 35, 191, 266, 330, 331–32, 334, 337, 376n, 377n, 407n, 422n, 423n
Baldwin, Jay, 345
Bali, 119, 182, 313
Balk, Fairuza, 300
Balzac, Honoré de, 239
Bangkok, 312
Bankhead, Tallulah, 53
Banks, Dennis, 322, 324–25
Banner, Jill, 330
Barbieri, Gato, 369n
Barker, Margaret, 42
Basie, Count, 22
Battle of Algiers, The (film), 210, 211
Battle of Angels (play), 159
Beacham, Stephanie, 220
Beatles, xviii, 368n
Beaton, Cecil, 19
Beatty, Warren, 197
beauty, 155, 171, 200, 265
Beauvoir, Simone de, 114
Beck, Jack, 329
Bedtime Story (film), 28, 126, 127, 181, 286, 287, 334
Beecher, Henry Ward, 73
Beechly, June Gahan, 2–4, 3, 17, 31, 373n, 410n
bees, xxxi
Belafonte, Harry, 191, 331
Beloved (Morrison), 337
Benedict, Ruth, 133
Bergman, Andrew, 287
Bergson, Peter, 59
Bergson Group, 59, 60
Bernstein, Leonard, 48, 116–17, 369n
Bertolucci, Bernardo, 224, 330, 401n
betrayal, 106, 110, 199
Beyond Biofeedback (Green and Green), 374n
Bible, 270–71, 409n
Big Bug Man, The (animated film), xxiv, 308–9
Bihar, India, 340, 342
Bill of Rghts, 193
Billy the Kid, 142, 144
biofeedback, 5, 374n, 379n
birds, bird-watching, xxv, 159–60, 259–60, 406n
Birmingham VA Hospital, 85–86, 87
bisexuality, 205
blacklisting, 105, 106, 190, 387n, 398n
Black Panthers, 175, 211, 293, 334, 335–36, 338
blacks, 137, 193, 240, 328, 330–39
breaking servility image of, 208
in Burn!, 211–13, 215–16, 400n
Chase and, 193, 195, 197, 198
civil rights of, 5, 96, 101, 154, 181, 193, 198, 322, 330, 331, 333, 337
in Reflections in a Golden Eye, 208, 209
Watts riots and, 199–200
Black Skin, White Masks (Fanon), 338
Blake, William, 223
Blame Me on History (Modisane), 338
Bligh, William, 345
Boas, Franz, 266
Bobino (Kauffmann), 45
body, body parts, 19
commodity status of, xiv–xv
mind’s influence on, 5, 374n
see also eyes; face, facial muscles
body language:
Brando’s reading of, xiii, xv
see also gestures
bohemianism, 157, 230
of Brando, xvii, xxix, 237, 238
in family background, 4, 11, 13, 48, 237
Boleslavsky, Richard, 42
Bolivia, 176
Bonnie and Clyde (film), 197
Book Bin, 191, 398n
books, book collection, reading, xv–xvi, xx, xxii–xxiii, xxiv, xxx, xxxiii–xxxvi, 5, 13, 23–25, 33, 35, 45–46, 48, 49–50, 50, 62, 70, 71, 84–85, 86, 90–92, 96–97, 117–18, 120, 126, 127, 139, 142, 149, 161, 164–69, 174, 191, 192–93, 217, 223, 253, 256, 259–60, 265, 268–71, 277, 279, 281, 314, 317–19, 319, 325–29, 337–38, 350–51, 356, 367n, 369n, 371n, 372n, 373n, 376n, 379n, 382n, 388n–89n, 395n, 396n, 397n, 402n, 405n, 406n, 407n, 408n, 409n,410n, 415n, 416n
annotating of, xxii, xxx, xxxiv–xxxvi, xxxviii, 5, 23–24, 73, 97, 114, 116, 128, 132–33, 163, 166, 169, 223, 268–71, 326, 369n, 379n, 388n, 390n, 391n, 395n, 397n, 406n, 407n, 408n, 410n, 423n, 426n
arranging of, xxx
on Asia, 127–28, 133
on birds, 259–60, 406n
on diet, 253
evil as subject in, 73, 166, 268–69, 279
on homebuilding and home repair, 410n
on Indians, xxii, xxxvi, 62, 142, 192, 261, 317–19, 328–29, 391n, 398n–99n
Jewish subjects in, 62, 382n
poetry, xxxvi, 23–24, 270–72, 275, 293, 407n, 408n–9n
on politics, xxxvi
on Polynesia, 165–66
on psychology, xxxvi, 85, 117, 369n, 371n
religion, spirituality, and myth in, 270–71, 408n–9n
Shakespeare in, 96, 97
on Vietnam, 268, 406n, 407n
Boston Globe, 88, 385n
Bothers Karamazov, The (Dostoevsky), 26, 375n
Bounty Trilogy, The, 165
Bourke-White, Margaret, 19
boxing, boxers, 80, 84, 107, 384n
see also On the Waterfront (film), “Terry Malloy” in
boycotts, 105, 181
Brain Revolution, The (Ferguson), 369n
Brand, Stewart, 345–46
Brando, Cheyenne, 237, 291, 301, 322, 347
car accident of 292
mental health of, 292
suicide of, 293, 299
Brando, Christian, 21, 158, 174, 175–76, 181, 289, 396n
Brando’s attention to, 237, 238, 256, 265, 409n
murder charges, trial, and imprisonment of, 256, 265, 291–93, 292, 294, 301, 304
Brando, Dorothy Pennebaker (Dodie), 1–7, 9–13, 17, 20–27, 29–34, 48, 118, 141, 191, 410n
alcoholism of, 5, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20–24, 30, 33, 120
Brando’s correspondence with, 26, 27, 66, 375n
Brando’s relationship with, 12, 26, 33, 105, 156–57
death of, 21, 120, 156–57
“Kowalski” portrayal criticized by, 73–74, 384n
music and, 34, 376n
in New York, 32–33
One-Eyed Jacks and, 155
political idealism of, 5–6, 16, 316, 330
as reader, 2, 5, 16, 23
separations and reconciliations of, 16–17, 22, 32–33
theater work of, 9–11, 10, 13, 29–30, 155, 374n
Brando, Eugene, 1, 2, 17
Brando, Frances, see Loving, Frances Brando
Brando, Jocelyn, xx, 1–9, 22, 155, 373n, 376n
acting of, 24, 30–31, 105, 106n, 190–91, 387n, 398n
blacklisting and, 105, 106, 190, 387n, 398n
Brando’s correspondence with, 26
childhood of, 6–10, 8, 13–17
competitiveness of, 31, 376n
“Essences” and, 9
ultimatum of, xxxiv
Brando, Marie Holloway, 1–2
Brando, Marlon:
actor’s mask of, xxix
as actor type, xxix
adolescence of, 21–29, 34
aging of, xxxii, xxxv, 253, 284, 292, 302
ambition of, xxxii, 105, 123, 142, 143, 168, 180, 218
Americanness of, 1, 29, 33
anger and rage of, 21, 22, 45, 51, 66, 105, 284, 295, 333
antics and pranks of, 28, 85
anxiety of, 33, 125, 157
arrests of, 295, 320
athleticism of, 1, 7, 18, 22, 34, 202, 375n
authority and convention resisted by, xxix, 17, 23, 25, 28–29, 46, 102–3, 105
autobiography of, see Songs My Mother Taught Me
awards and prizes of, 18, 51, 99, 115, 118, 153, 233, 250–51, 255–56, 266, 322, 383n
in Bangkok, 312
birth of, xxix, 1
boycotts of films of, 334
branding of, xix, 368n
as camera-ready, 18–20, 19
career materials preserved by, xxiii, xxx, 174, 369n–70n
cats and, xxxvi, 8, 23, 242, 244, 244, 290–91, 290, 343, 378n, 412n
causes supported by, xviii, xxxii, 63–64, 66–67, 83, 167, 174–75, 250–51, 265, 276, 316–17, 320–26, 330–31, 333–48, 382n, 398n
celebrity, fame, and success of, xv–xviii, xxxi, xxxiii, xxxviii–xxxix, 49, 67, 82–83, 152, 158, 175, 180, 205, 230, 237, 254, 255, 310, 316, 400n
Brando's Smile: His Life, Thought, and Work Page 45