Marlon Brando
From Superhero Wiki Encyclopedia
 Home Books Clothing DVDs Posters Toys Video Games |
Boards Comic Book News Comic Conventions Clips and Trailers |
Gallery Features Link to us Online Comic Books |
Resources Store Superhero Wiki Wallpaper |
See DC Comics * List of DC Comics characters * Superman *Superman Store * Superman Gallery
Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an Academy Award-winning American actor, whose body of work spanned over half a century. He is widely considered the greatest film actor of all time . He is best known for his roles as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire and Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, both directed by Elia Kazan in the early 1950s. In middle age, his well-known roles include his Academy-Award winning performance as Vito Corleone in The Godfather and Colonel Walter Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, the latter two directed by Francis Ford Coppola in the 1970s.
Brando was also an activist, lending his presence to many issues, including the American Civil Rights and American Indian Movements. He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.
Jor-El
Brando portrayed Superman's father Jor-El in the 1978 Superman: The Movie, donning an English accent for the part. He agreed to the role only on assurance that he was paid a large sum for what amounted to a small part, that he did not have to read the script beforehand and his lines would be displayed somewhere off-camera. It was revealed in a documentary contained in the 2001 DVD release of Superman, that he was paid $3.7 million for just two weeks of work.
Brando also filmed scenes for the movie's sequel, Superman II, but after producers refused to pay him the same percentage he received for the first movie, he denied them permission to use the footage. However, after Brando's death the footage was re-incorporated into the 2006 re-cut of the film, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut.
Two years after his death, he "reprised" the role of Jor-El in the 2006 "loose sequel" Superman Returns, in which both used and unused archive footage of Brando as Jor-El from the first two Superman films was remastered for a scene in the Fortress of Solitude, as well as Brando's voice-overs being used throughout the film.
Some later performances, such as The Island of Dr Moreau, earned him some of the most uncomplimentary reviews of his career. Despite announcing his retirement from acting in 1980, he subsequently gave interesting supporting performances in movies such as A Dry White Season (for which he was again nominated for an Oscar in 1989), The Freshman in 1990 and Don Juan DeMarco in 1995. In his last film, The Score (2001), he starred with fellow method actor Robert De Niro.
