Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando was an American actor considered one of the greatest actors of the 20th century. He received numerous accolades throughout his six decade career, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, one Cannes Film Festival Award and three British Academy Film Awards. Brando is credited with being one of the first actors to bring the Stanislavski system of method acting to mainstream audiences.

He began his career on stage, adeptly reading his characters and consistently anticipating where scenes flowed. He transitioned to film, initially gaining acclaim and his first Academy Award for Best Actor nomination for the role of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). He received further praise and his first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for his performance as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954), which remains a watershed moment in the history of Hollywood, and his work continues to be studied and interpreted. His portrayal of the rebellious motorcycle gang leader Johnny Strabler in The Wild One (1953) became an emblem of the era's generational gap.

Brando starred as Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972), which helped him win his second Academy Award and Golden Globe Award in a performance considered among the finest in the art form's history, based on extensive surveys of critics, directors, and other actors. With this and his Oscar-nominated performance in Last Tango in Paris (1972), Brando remained atop the box-office stars.

Brando starred as Jor-El in Superman (1978), as Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (1979), and as Adam Steiffel in The Formula (1980) before taking a break from film.