名人轶事:Marlon Brando

（单词翻译）

By Caty Weaver¹

Broadcast: October 24, 2004

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And, I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today, we

tell about actor Marlon Brando. Many critics say he was the greatest actor of

all time. And many actors say he influenced them more than any other person

in the film industry.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

There was no public service to honor Marlon Brando when he died in two

thousand four at the age of eighty. The actor's sister, Jocelyn Brando, said

he would have hated such an event. The family held a small private ceremony

instead.

Brando did not seek public attention when he was alive. He protected his

private life. But he was a huge star. This, combined with his personal

tragedies and his politics, made him a special target of the press.

VOICE TWO:

Marlon Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska in nineteen twenty-four. He was

named after his father, a salesman, but his family called him Bud. His

mother, Dorothy, was an actress in the local theater. He had two older

sisters.

Marlon Brando's childhood was not happy. His parents drank too much alcohol

and argued often. Dorothy Brando blamed her husband for the failure of her

acting² career. The older Marlon Brando did not have a good relationship with

his son. In a book about his life, the actor wrote that his father never had

anything good to say about his son.

VOICE ONE:

The Brandos moved many times when Marlon was young. His parents separated

when he was eleven, but they re-united after two years. Young Marlon was

always getting into trouble at school. His father decided³ to send him to a

military school in Minnesota. Marlon did not do well in classes there. But he

did find support for his interest in theater. A drama teacher urged him to

begin acting in plays there and he did. But he was expelled from the school

for getting into trouble.

VOICE TWO:

Marlon Brando moved to New York City when he was nineteen years old in

nineteen forty-three. He took acting classes at the New School for Social

Research. One of his teachers was Stella Adler, who taught the "Method" style

of realistic acting. The Method teaches actors how to use their own memories

and emotions to identify with the characters they are playing.

Marlon Brando learned the Method style quickly and easily. Critics say he was

probably the greatest Method actor ever. One famous actress commented on his

natural ability for it. She said teaching Marlon Brando the Method was like

sending a tiger to jungle school.

Marlon Brando appeared in several plays. He got his first major part in a

Broadway play in nineteen forty-seven, at the age of twenty-three. He

received great praise for his powerful performance as Stanley Kowalski in the

Tennessee Williams' play, "A Streetcar Named Desire."

His fame grew when he acted the same part in the movie version, released in

nineteen fifty-one. Brando plays an angry working-class man. His wife's

sister, Blanche, comes to visit them in New Orleans, Louisiana. Blanche's

family used to be rich landowners but they lost all their property. Now she

is mentally unstable⁴. Stanley treats Blanche unkindly and insults her. Here,

he tells Blanche what he thinks about women.

(ACT ONE: "A Streetcar Named Desire")

"I don't go in for that stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Compliments to women about their looks. I never met a dame⁵ yet didn't know

if she was good-lookin' or not without bein' told. And there's some of them

that give themselves credit for more than they've got. I once went out with a

dame who told me, 'I'm the glamorous⁶ type'…she says 'I am the glamorous

type.' I says 'so what?'"

"And what did she say then?"

"She didn't say nothin'. I shut her up like a clam⁷."
VOICE ONE:

"Streetcar" was Brando's second film. He was nominated for an Academy Award

for the performance. He was nominated for Oscars for his next two films as

well. In nineteen fifty-two he played Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano

Zapata in the movie "Viva Zapata." The following year he played Marc Antony

in "Julius Caesar."

Marlon Brando did not win an Oscar for Best Actor until nineteen fifty-four

for the movie "On the Waterfront." Many critics consider it his finest

performance. The film's director, Elia Kazan, said it was the best

performance by a male actor in the history of film.

Brando plays Terry Malloy, a failed boxer⁸. He informs on organized crime

leaders, including his brother, Charlie. His brother had made him lose fights

on purpose so Charlie could make money gambling⁹ on the fights. But now, Terry

expresses his regrets about losing the fights.

(ACT TWO: "On The Waterfront")

"You don't understand. I could'a' had class. I could'a' been a contender. I

could've been somebody instead of a bum¹⁰ which is what I am. Let's face it." #p#副标题#e#

VOICE TWO:

Marlon Brando acted in about forty movies. He was nominated for a total of

eight Academy Awards. In his movies, he played a Japanese translator, a

German Nazi¹¹ military officer and the father of Superman. He even sang in a

movie musical called "Guys and Dolls."

His real life was as colorful as his many movie characters. His love life was

especially active. He married actress Anna Kashfi in nineteen fifty-seven.

The marriage had problems from the start. Their child, a son named Christian¹²,

was born a few months after they married. They separated the next year.

In nineteen sixty, Brando married Movita Castenada, a Mexican-American

actress. They had two children before they separated in nineteen sixty-two.

The same year, he married a Tahitian actress, Tarita. The two had met while

filming the movie "Mutiny On the Bounty¹³."

Brando's marriage to Tarita lasted ten years. But his love of Tahiti never

ended. In nineteen sixty-six, he bought a small island near Tahiti. Brando

divided his time between his island and his home in California for the rest

of his life.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Critics say Marlon Brando began to suffer professionally during and after his

work on "Mutiny on the Bounty." Hollywood directors and producers considered

him difficult to work with. Some critics said the actor appeared to be tired

of acting.

But that changed in nineteen seventy-two when Brando appeared in "The

Godfather." At first, the film studio officials did not want Brando in the

movie. But the director, Francis Ford¹⁴ Coppola, chose him for the part. The

film was a major critical and financial success. Brando was praised for his

performance as the Godfather, Vito Corleone, the powerful head of a criminal

organization in New York City. He speaks to a man who wants the Godfather to

have someone killed.

(ACT THREE: "The Godfather")

"If you'd come to me in friendship then this scum that ruined your daughter

would be suffering this very day. And if by chance an honest man like

yourself should make enemies then they would become my enemies. And then they

would fear you."

VOICE TWO:

Marlon Brando won the Best Actor Oscar for "The Godfather." But he rejected

it. He sent a woman named Sasheen Littlefeather to speak for him at the

Academy Awards ceremony. She said that Brando could not accept the award

because of the way the American film industry treated Native Americans. The

people at the Academy Awards ceremony did not like the speech. But some

experts think the action helped change the way American Indians were shown in

movies.

Marlon Brando was also active in the civil rights movement. He spoke¹⁵ out

against racism¹⁶ often and forcefully. He marched in demonstrations¹⁷. And he

gave money to civil rights groups.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Marlon Brando had two family tragedies. In nineteen ninety, his son,

Christian, shot and killed a Tahitian man at the family's home in California.

The victim, Dag Drollet, was the boyfriend of Brando's daughter, Cheyenne.

Christian Brando said the killing¹⁸ was accidental. He was found guilty of

responsibility in the death and served almost five years in prison.

During the trial, Marlon Brando told the court that he and Anna Kashfi had

failed Christian as parents. He also apologized to the Drollet family and

said he wished he could trade places with their son.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen ninety-five, Marlon Brando's daughter Cheyenne killed herself.

She had struggled with mental problems and was still depressed¹⁹ about the

killing of her boyfriend.

Marlon Brando never made public statements about the death of his daughter.

But reports said he blamed himself. He did not attend his daughter's funeral

in Tahiti.

VOICE ONE:

In the following nine years, he made just four more movies. And the parts he

played were small. But his influence on the American film industry was huge.

When Marlon Brando died, many famous actors expressed regret. One of them

said simply: "He was the best."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another People in America

in VOA Special English.