Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1924. Brando grew up in the state of Illinois and enrolled in a military academy. Unfortunately, Brando was expelled and had to go to work digging ditches to finance himself. His father offered to pay for his education, and Brando accepted; moving to New York, where he trained to become an actor. After intense training Brando began acting on Broadway, where he played several roles, including Stanley Kowalski in the play, “A Streetcar Named Desire.” With his fame growing, Brando made his debut on the silver screen in the movie “The Men.” Marlon Brando went on to star in many more movies. Among them were “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “The Godfather.” In his life time he won many awards for his acting abilities, such as best actor for “The Godfather.” Brando was also famous for not conforming to Hollywood’s norms. He would often go against what was expected, even denying his award for “The Godfather.” Overall, Marlon Brando represented a larger than life figure that everyone knew during the 1950s. He was a typically independent figure that stood out from the conformity of Hollywood and represented the ideal “independent” U.S. citizen of the time period.