Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor and film director. With a career spanning 60 years, he is regarded for his cultural influence on 20th-century film. Brando's Academy Award-winning performances include that of Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront" (1954) and Don Vito Corleone in "The Godfather" (1972). Brando was an activist for many causes, notably the civil rights movement and various Native American movements. He is credited with helping to popularize the Stanislavski system of acting having studied with Stella Adler in the 1940s. He initially gained acclaim and an
Marlon Brando Illinois, a small town north of Chicago. In 1939 and 1941, he worked as an usher at the town's only movie theatre, The Liberty. Brando, whose childhood nickname was "Bud", was a mimic from his youth. He developed an ability to absorb the mannerisms of kids he played with and display them dramatically while staying in character. He was introduced to neighborhood boy Wally Cox and the two were unlikely closest friends until Cox's death in 1973. In the 2007 TCM biopic, "Brando: The Documentary", childhood friend George Englund recalls Brando's earliest acting as imitating the cows and horses on