Brando: The Biography

by Peter Manso

Using information gathered from seven years of research and hundreds of interviews, a respected biographer offers an insightful and revealing look at the troubled and fabled life of Marlon Brando, one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Film

1118 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Giorgos Katsoulas · Rating 5 out of 5]

ΒΙΒΛΙΟ ΣΥΓΚΛΟΝΙΣΤΗΚΟ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΟΜΑΚΤΙΚΟ ΔΕΝ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΜΟΝΟ ΟΤΙ ΜΑΘΑΙΝΕΙς ΤΙς ΙΔΙΟΤΡΟΠΙΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΜΠΡΑΝΤΟ ΑΛΛΑ ΚΑΙ ΤΙΣ ΤΕΧΝΙΚΕΣ ΤΟΥ.ΕΙΝΑΙ ΟΤΙ ΠΕΡΝΑΕΙ ΟΛΗ ΑΥΤΗ Η ΤΑΡΑΧΩΔΗ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΤΟ ΠΑΡΑΣΚΗΝΙΟ ΣΕ ΜΕΡΙΚΕΣ ΑΠΟ ΤΙΣ ΚΑΛΥΤΕΡΕΣ ΤΑΙΝΙΕΣ ΟΛΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΕΠΟΧΩΝ ΟΠΩΣ Ο ΝΟΝΟΣ Η ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΗ ΤΩΡΑ Η ΑΝΤΑΡΙΣΑ ΤΟΥ ΜΠΑΟΥΝΤΥ ΟΙ ΤΣΑΚΩΜΟΙ ΤΟΥ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΚΟΠΟΛΑ ,ΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΤΣΑΠΛΙΝ ,ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΤΖΕΣΙΚΑ ΤΑΝΤΥ ΤΟΝ ΤΕΝΕΣΥ ΓΟΥΙΛΙΑΜΣ ,ΟΙ ΣΧΕΣΕΙΣ ΤΟΥ ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΜΟΝΡΟΕ,Η ΠΕΡΙΟΔΟΣ ΜΑΚΚΑΡΘΥ ΚΑΙ ΧΙΛΙΑ ΔΥΟ ΑΛΛΑ.ΑΠΑΡΙΑΤΗΤΟ ΑΝΑΓΝΩΣΜΑ ΓΙΑ ΟΣΟΥΣ ΑΣΧΟΛΟΥΝΤΑΙ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΧΩΡΟ ΤΗΣ ΤΕΧΝΗΣ.Μόνο σοκαρισμένος μπορεί να μείνει κανείς διαβάζοντας την βιογραφία αυτού του Τιτάνα της υποκριτικής.Το συγκλονιστικό δεν είναι ότι στην ηλικία των 20 πηδούσε την κορυφαία δασκάλα υποκριτικής στον κόσμο ,την περίφημη Στελα Αντλερ , αλλά και την δεκαεξαχρονη κόρη της (όχι μαζι) ,αλλα ο τελειως ελεινος και τρισαθλιος χαρακτήρας του χωρίς να σέβεται κανέναν. Είχε ανοιχτή την πόρτα από την τουαλέτα στα καμαρίνια του θεάτρου για να μπορεί να συνομιλεί με επισκέπτες και μερικές φορές έβγαινε από την τουαλέτα χωρίς να χρησιμοποιεί χαρτί.Φορούσε γυναικεία εσώρουχα Δεν πλενονταν και συχνά μύριζε.Χαιδευονταν στα καμαρίνια λίγο πριν βγει στην σκηνή και η στυση του φαινονταν στο κοινο γιατι φορουσε στενα παντελονια και πηδάγε τις θ αυμαστριες του στα καμαρίνια ανάμεσα στις εμφανίσεις του (20 λεπτά περιπου).Και από την άλλη αυτός που τον καλούσαν σε αριστοκρατική πάρτυ και πήγαινε με αθλητικά παπούτσια χωρίς να μιλησειψσε άνθρωπο όλη την βραδιά,μα κυρίως αυτός που απερψε προσφορά 3.000 δολαρίων την εβδομάδα ( το 1945!) Απο την MGM σε επταετες συμβόλαιο γιατί ήθελε να επιλεγεί αυτός τους ρόλους. Όχι χαζοκωμωδιες όχι πλούσια ρομάντζο όχι θεάματα τύπου ΝτεΜιλ!!! Ήταν οι όροι του !!!Έχω διαβάσει πολλές βιογραφίες των μεγαλύτερων προσωπικοτήτων του κόσμου. (Τσάπλιν Μπετόβεν Μότσαρτ Σαίξπηρ Νοστογιεφσκι Μπρους Λι Γκασπαρωφ για τους μεγάλους Τζαζιστες αθλητες ζωγράφους επιστήμονες.Τίποτα και κανένας δεν μπορεί να συγκριθεί με Τον Μαρλον Μπαρντό.Διαβάζοντας το καταλαβαίνεις ότι ίσως άξιζε όλη αυτήν τη δυστυχία που πέρασε και μόνο μια φράση που ειπε καποιος είναι αληθινή."Ο Μαρλον Μπραντο θα μπορούσε να κάνει ότι θέλει.Προτίμησε όμως το αντιθετο"

[Addicted to Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leaning in on a 3.5 stars read!

I slowly read a chapter every day to take in the material slowly. I felt with the copious amount of research material he had at hand, he could have done a way better job! The big is over a thousand pages long and still I don't think Peter Manso captured the essence of Marlon Brando.

Review coming up

[Max Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books. Read it when I was a teenager and it really changed me. I know it sounds crazy that a book about an actor can change anyone,but it really did. It showed someone who was completely fearless and original and sensitive and brutal.I remember wanting to be an actor after reading this(I was 17).The acting did'nt happen but wanting to be original and to live life fearlessly has endured.

[Bonnie Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustively researched, this is probably as close as you’ll get to understanding Brando. I was torn between feeling pity, admiration and disgust at the man. But never bored.

[Sarah.Sep · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very confused and slightly trashy.

This is a comprehensive collection of every piece of gossip on Brando and the resulting image is so unfocused that by the midpoint, it starts reading like a TMZ article. What makes it worse is the author's ignorance of the craft of acting (do NOT expect to learn about Brando's process from this book) and tendency to psychoanalyse a man he never met.

He is obsessed with Brando's bisexuality to the point that it feels like he tries to explain anything and everything about the man by tying it to his problems with this(something that is at best a dubious claim going by almost every other biography of Brando). That the author is at least to some extent homophobic does not help.

A significant portion of the book is dedicated to Christian Brando's trial with what is meant to be titillating theorising about what "actually" went down. I'm sure at the time of this book's publication this was hot news but now it is barely remembered and doesn't guarantee this much focus.

One last thing is the treatment of Cheyenne Brando. How the author got his interview with this woman is more disturbing that the content of the interview itself. Let's just say that at times Mr Manso has the moral sensibilities of a stalker.

Every other biography of Brando is more worthwhile.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

There have been many books about Marlon Brando, but this is near the top. There seem to be many sides to him, from father, raconteur, political activist, island owner, & lastly, an actor who lampooned his craft as often as he was the greatest actor. He’s even said that if he weren’t an actor he probably would’ve been a con artist. Brando fascinates me the he most as someone who lived a wide spectrum of human experience, from ignorance to wisdom, joy to sadness, comedic to tragic, & egotism to being noble.

[The Lusty Literate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super long and exhaustive. He loved women but never got it right. He loved sex and conquest and was never satisfied. He was a gifted actor. You couldn't touch his talent. He was troubled and flawed. He suffered. I was captivated and sort of disgusted. Then I read his autobiography and realized he was nuts! And probably not that smart. He did have great creative instinct- but I think that was the crazy.

[Sekar Pertiwi]

0/10

THE WORST BIOGRAPHY BOOK I EVER READ 🤮🚮

[Barnum Knudsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is little doubt that Marlon Brando changed the face and craft of acting; in combination with the appearance of Montgomery Clift and Brando imitator James Dean, who idolized him, three men brought a casual realism to the screen that the standard studio actors rarely brought to studio portrayals; one cannot imagine Gable pausing to contemplate his next move or William Powell failing to carefully articulate each word with proper grace and charm.
Brando shot to national acclaim on the stage in Streetcar Named Desire, in which his brute Stanley Kowalski electrified audiences, and in Kazan's On The Waterfront set a new standard of frank honesty as a man beat-up by circumstances but ultimately rising above the situation. But except for his shocking and self-revealing turn in Last Tango In Paris, and quietly stunning turn commanding The Godfather, too many of his other films were flaccid affairs, half-assed attempts at keeping his coffers full so he could finance some personal passions--his private Tahitian getaway and his social causes, which inevitable fell apart, just as his claimed nine children did not exactly mark him as an ideal parent.
And for those folks interested in a close-up examination of this brilliant but tortured man, Peter Manso lays out a good deal of Brando's life in some 1000+ pages, interviewing hundreds of compatriots and insiders to present what appears to be as well-rounded an assessment of a giant of 20th Century film--perhaps of a man who showed so little growth over his life for reasons cited, but influencing Pacino, Scorcese, De Niro, so many others. One negative is that Brando lived another ten years after the publication of the book, and thus it is not "complete" in that sense.

[Adam Gossman · Rating 1 out of 5]

1000 pages of how Brando was a good actor but a horrible human being.

Brando didn’t want it published. I can see why.

If I was not so obsessive about my collection I’d gladly toss this into be recycled.

[Joanne Cheek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been shorter. Too much unnecessary detail dragged into 1,111 pages.

[Maryann Zulueta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars

[Grace Carbone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, although I do think parts of it could be trimmed.

[Poor Margo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Η γη

[John King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sprawling 1100 pages of Brando which unfortunately ends 10 years before his death.

[RunRachelRun · Rating 3 out of 5]

No kidding, I spent my Junior Year Abroad with the Sweet Briar Program. Anyway, we all had host families. At the meeting in which we were all meeting our host family, there was this woman who was looking at me very strangely - she said she thought she knew me, that I was this girl who lived in Paris, who was known to be an illegitimate daughter of Le Brando. Anyway, apart from that frisson, this is a compelling book.

[Tom Walsh]

couldn't read the entire work. couldn't hold the entire work too long (my hands hurt!) So I picked out my fav films of his and read about them: "On the Waterfront", "Godfather", "Streetcar." He had an artistic Mother, who was in the theatre, but a crazy life otherwise. He, to me, remains the penultimate actor.

[Merriam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only got about 500 pages into this (and that's about half way through) when I simply didn't want to read anymore. I'm keeping it for all the information about other people in it, but overall this is a mediocre biography, and certainly not entertaining.

[Marmar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant book with impressive extensive research...it's not a sugarcoated fluffy stuff, till now i think it's the ultimate biography of Brando , almost all other Brando biographies copy and paste from this book , i enjoyed the book very much..

[Jake Landes · Rating 3 out of 5]

If big books do not scare you, then this book will suit your needs for interesting storytelling. Overall, very descriptive and good book, but too long.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half gets 4 stars and the second, where it falls into an abyss of disdain, 2. Hence, 3.

[Frank Kreps]

Excellent book about Marlon, but it doesn't cover the last 10-11 years of his life.