8 Things You Never Knew About Marlon Brando
When you think of classic Hollywood actors, Marlon Brando certainly comes to mind. He gained notoriety for A Streetcar Named Desire and went on to star in On the Waterfront, Julius Caesar, Apocalypse Now and, of course, The Godfather and many more. In honor of a new film coming out about Brando, starring Billy Zane, learn some interesting facts about Brando’s very colorful life and career.
1 He had some odd jobs before becoming a famous actor
Everett Collection
He worked as an elevator operator, a waiter, a sandwich man (aka someone who held up advertisements for a business), a short-order cook and a night watchman in a factory.
2 He was not a fan of this Oscar-winning role
Everett Collection
Brando was not interested in being cast in the film On the Waterfront, but was eventually convinced to take the role. When he saw the finished product, he was reportedly very depressed by his performance. Despite this, he won an Oscar for Best Actor for the role in 1955. Apparently, he didn’t care much for the Oscar because he wrote in his memoir that he lost it and didn’t notice its disappearance until 1994.
3 School was not his thing
Everett Collection
Brando was expelled from his high school for misbehaving (he rode a motorcycle through the halls of his school!) and sent to Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, Minnesota. He didn’t shape up there and was put on probation for insubordination to an officer. He still snuck out of the school and went to town. The faculty voted to expel him although the final decision was that he was allowed to come back the next year. Brando decided to drop out instead and move to New York City.
4 He was paid $2 million to make a cameo in Scary Movie 2 but it was never released
Miramax Films/Everett Collection
Brando was set to make a cameo in the opening of Scary Movie 2 as a priest but he had to drop out after being hospitalized with pneumonia. The cast remembers that he still wanted to do it and showed up for one day of filming but he was just too sick to pull through. Sadly, he died just a few years later in 2004 of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare respiratory disease.
5 Superman was a major payday
Warner Brothers/Everett Collection
He reportedly made around $3 million for 10 minutes of screen time. In the scene where Brando, who plays Superman’s father Jor-El, puts his son in an escape pod, he apparently read his lines off the baby’s diaper!
6 Chat rooms were his favorite
Everett Collection
As he aged and the internet got more widespread, he reportedly loved signing on and chatting in chat rooms. Can you imagine being told you were talking or even arguing with THE Marlon Brando? I wouldn’t have believed it!
7 That is really his voice in the video game for The Godfather
Shortly before his death, he gave EA Games permission for his voice to be used in the video game for The Godfather, which was released in 2006.
8 He couldn’t join the Army
20th Century-Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
Brando wanted to join the Army during World War II after leaving school but was rejected due to a knee injury he got while playing football. When the Korean War was drafting, he was reported to join and almost got in but was rejected for mental problems, as he was under psychoanalysis.
Now tell us, what is your favorite Marlon Brando film?
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