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Brando Unzipped: Marlon Brando: Bad Boy, Megastar, Sexual Outlaw
That ongoing, barely under control drama known as Marlon Brando―Hollywood's Ultimate Bad Boy, Megastar, and Sexual Outlaw―with a special focus on his early rise to fame and his social and sexual associations with the A-list legends of the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Brando Unzipped is the definitive gossip guide to the late, great actor's life ―New York Daily News. Lurid, raunchy, perceptive, and certainly worth reading, it's one of the best show-biz biographies of the year. ―London's Sunday Times. Brando Unzipped received an Honorable Mention from Foreword Magazine in its Book of the Year competition, and it won a Silver Ippy award for Best Biography from the Independent Publisher's Association.
625 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2005
16 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Darwin Porter
301 books18 followersDarwin Porter (1937-) is an American travel writer, producing numerous titles, mostly for the Frommer guidebook series, over a 50-year career span.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 4, 2023
The best geography I have ever read, and I read this about 20 plus years ago. Could not put it down. I know there are others out there on Brando that I haven't read, but after this one I probably won't bother.
July 28, 2008
The author is a joke. Granted, there may be some facts, and much of it seems probable, but he stole many of his stories from Anna Kashfi's book, and did not give her credit. She was the one who heard Brando use the word "Noble Tool", and it is doubtful that he said it ALL the time, or many of the other brutish dialouge the author gave him.
I am sure he was wild beyond imaginiation, but when did he have the time for all of this? He would have to be Superman! The printed layout of this book is poor, looks like it was copied at Kinkos, I could have written this better. The pictures are great, though. Some are rare.
Bottom line, don't judge Marlon too harshly with this, take it with a grain of salt! Some of the facts are mixed up!
I am sure he was wild beyond imaginiation, but when did he have the time for all of this? He would have to be Superman! The printed layout of this book is poor, looks like it was copied at Kinkos, I could have written this better. The pictures are great, though. Some are rare.
Bottom line, don't judge Marlon too harshly with this, take it with a grain of salt! Some of the facts are mixed up!
June 21, 2009
Though it covers less than a third of its subject's life, Darwin Porter's Brando Unzipped is more informative and enjoyable to read than most of its predecessor biographies.
Treating the twenty years that happened after a young bisexual Brando in shrunken-on jeans first arrived in New York City, this book is a detailed account of one of the greatest runs of sexual promiscuity in American history. For almost two decades, Brando had casual sex with anyone he wanted, male or female. If nothing else this book acts as a fun thought experiment: If no one would say no to me for a decade, who would be on my list?
There are a few lunges at characters Brando played through his Dreadful Period - 1960 to 1971 - and explanations as to what off-screen conflicts may have led to such poor acting. But the book ends quite abruptly just before filming of "The Godfather" and leaves you wondering just how long ago it was written - despite having to wait till Brando's death to be published.
There's little romance and few graphic accounts in Brando Unzipped, but it still comes highly recommended as a stocking stuffer for the Brandophile in your life.
Treating the twenty years that happened after a young bisexual Brando in shrunken-on jeans first arrived in New York City, this book is a detailed account of one of the greatest runs of sexual promiscuity in American history. For almost two decades, Brando had casual sex with anyone he wanted, male or female. If nothing else this book acts as a fun thought experiment: If no one would say no to me for a decade, who would be on my list?
There are a few lunges at characters Brando played through his Dreadful Period - 1960 to 1971 - and explanations as to what off-screen conflicts may have led to such poor acting. But the book ends quite abruptly just before filming of "The Godfather" and leaves you wondering just how long ago it was written - despite having to wait till Brando's death to be published.
There's little romance and few graphic accounts in Brando Unzipped, but it still comes highly recommended as a stocking stuffer for the Brandophile in your life.
May 30, 2013
I started skimming for the "good bits" partway through Chapter 1. That's never a good sign. The author takes his job as cultural dirty old man a little too seriously. The book seems to be a litany of stories about Brando's cock, where he put it, and what it tasted like. (Okay, I made up the last detail, but you get the point.) I thought I would enjoy its erm... blunt... approach, but... uh... no. I believe I have a small collection of Darwin Porter books that are now up for grabs. LOL
October 23, 2007
Super seedy & juicy.
Brando basically fucked EVERYONE!
Brando basically fucked EVERYONE!
December 6, 2010
Unlike many biographies that track their subject’s life in a linear line from birth to death, BRANDO Unzipped: A Revisionist and Very Private Look at America's Greatest Actor, opens with Marlon Brondo’s arrival in New York City. He was just nineteen. He wore a red fedora and declared, “I want to knock New York on its ass.”
Brando meant that figuratively and literally. It’s the literal part Darwin Porter highlights in this exposé of one of the world’s best-known actors.
Porter tracks Brando’s life and career using the simple expedient of Marlon’s appearances on stage, and in film. Porter discusses in depth the actors, directors, and hangers-on who swirled around Brando in each of his performances. Along with notable directors such as Elia Kazan, Joseph Mankiewcz, and Stanley Kubrick, came a cavalcade of actors and actresses seeking out what Marlon called, “my noble tool.” The names are as varied as colors in a sunlit prism. Hedy Lamarr, Burt Lancaster, Clifford Odets, Rita Moreno, Cary Grant, and James Dean stand out against a backdrop of anonymous sex with men, women, and under age boys and girls.
Shortly after sodomizing a string of fifteen-year-old Mexican boys while shooting Viva Zapata, Brando said, “They have the smoothest skin—sometimes their asses are even smoother than a woman’s creamy breasts.”
According to Porter, Brando did not discriminate. When presented with an opportunity he took it. While Marlon lived as a guest in their home, both Vivien Leigh and her husband Lawrence Olivier sampled Brando’s noble tool on alternating nights. What a guy!
Brando’s pre-New York days are detailed in flash back interviews with those who knew him. Many comments were not flattering.
On reading, BRANDO Unzipped, I came away with the feeling that the man was not very nice. If Darwin Porter’s account of Brando’s life is to be believed, Marlon loved four people: his mother Dodie, with whom he had an incestuous relationship that ended in his late teens, Wally Cox, James Dean, and above all himself. The rest were merely stand-ins. This brings me to the point where I question Mr. Porter’s accuracy. While he verifies his accounts with second voices, many others slip in without corroboration.
Unlike fiction, biographies don’t often lend themselves to flights of eloquence and Porter’s book is no exception. The style is unadorned, sometimes even tiring.
By the time I finished Brando Unzipped, I was exhausted. Marlon Brando was either a test case for a wide variety of sexual addictions, or he was the luckiest bi-sexual man to have ever breathed air.
For Brando fans this is a must read book despite its flair for tabloid sensationalism. As for his career, Marlon Brando left a body of work that only the envious decry.
Brando meant that figuratively and literally. It’s the literal part Darwin Porter highlights in this exposé of one of the world’s best-known actors.
Porter tracks Brando’s life and career using the simple expedient of Marlon’s appearances on stage, and in film. Porter discusses in depth the actors, directors, and hangers-on who swirled around Brando in each of his performances. Along with notable directors such as Elia Kazan, Joseph Mankiewcz, and Stanley Kubrick, came a cavalcade of actors and actresses seeking out what Marlon called, “my noble tool.” The names are as varied as colors in a sunlit prism. Hedy Lamarr, Burt Lancaster, Clifford Odets, Rita Moreno, Cary Grant, and James Dean stand out against a backdrop of anonymous sex with men, women, and under age boys and girls.
Shortly after sodomizing a string of fifteen-year-old Mexican boys while shooting Viva Zapata, Brando said, “They have the smoothest skin—sometimes their asses are even smoother than a woman’s creamy breasts.”
According to Porter, Brando did not discriminate. When presented with an opportunity he took it. While Marlon lived as a guest in their home, both Vivien Leigh and her husband Lawrence Olivier sampled Brando’s noble tool on alternating nights. What a guy!
Brando’s pre-New York days are detailed in flash back interviews with those who knew him. Many comments were not flattering.
On reading, BRANDO Unzipped, I came away with the feeling that the man was not very nice. If Darwin Porter’s account of Brando’s life is to be believed, Marlon loved four people: his mother Dodie, with whom he had an incestuous relationship that ended in his late teens, Wally Cox, James Dean, and above all himself. The rest were merely stand-ins. This brings me to the point where I question Mr. Porter’s accuracy. While he verifies his accounts with second voices, many others slip in without corroboration.
Unlike fiction, biographies don’t often lend themselves to flights of eloquence and Porter’s book is no exception. The style is unadorned, sometimes even tiring.
By the time I finished Brando Unzipped, I was exhausted. Marlon Brando was either a test case for a wide variety of sexual addictions, or he was the luckiest bi-sexual man to have ever breathed air.
For Brando fans this is a must read book despite its flair for tabloid sensationalism. As for his career, Marlon Brando left a body of work that only the envious decry.
March 1, 2015
I enjoyed this book a lot. Included is a certain photograph of Mr Brando to which Kenneth Anger refers to in the back pages of Hollywood Babylon II that he could not print, assuming it was because Brando was alive and would have sued. The existence of this legendary photo makes me suspect that this book is not all lies. After all Brando was a free spirit and pioneer and Hollywood is notorious for its casting couchs. His success came to him early in his career, and as said by some fellow reviewers, who would have said "no" to him in his prime?
If you're looking for reflection and an understanding of Brando's psyche this book is not for you. But it does offer a great roller coaster journey that had me laughing out loud at some parts and shocked at others, but never never bored.
If you're looking for reflection and an understanding of Brando's psyche this book is not for you. But it does offer a great roller coaster journey that had me laughing out loud at some parts and shocked at others, but never never bored.
February 18, 2023
Review : Darwin Porter werkte voor “The Miami Herald” als journalist, hij was de buurman van Tennessee Williams (die hem al vroeg verhalen over Brando vertelde) en schreef eerder intieme biografieën over Humphrey Bogart en Katharine Hepburn. Zijn biografie over Marlon Brando heb ik met mondjesmaat genuttigd omdat 702 pagina's roddel mij niet direct uitnodigen om mij constant in te verdiepen. Marlon Brando gebruikte al vroeg zijn fysieke aantrekkingskracht als een wapen om rollen en invloed te krijgen, eerst op het toneel, daarna in Hollywood. En dat deed hij zonder gêne. Hij dook niet alleen de koffer in met Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Vivien Leigh, Grace Kelly, Anna Magnani en Ava Gardner - om er maar een paar te noemen - maar ook met Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Cary Grant, Burt Lancaster, James Baldwin, Tennessee Williams, Laurence Olivier, Rock Hudson en Leonard Bernstein. Zijn (bi-)seksuele honger was legendarisch. Over de hoogtijdagen in het professionele en persoonlijke leven van Brando praatte Darwin Porter met vrienden, vertrouwelingen en vijanden van de acteur. Het resultaat is een vuistdikke, smeuïge biografie vol getuigenissen, weetjes en geheimen over misschien wel de grootste acteur van de twintigste eeuw. Porter excelleert in connecties: de juiste mensen op de juiste plaats(en) kennen. Die mensen zijn onder andere: oude vriend Carlo Fiore, zijn agent Edith Van Cleve, de scenarist Tenessee Williams en regisseurs als Mankiewicz en Kazan die van erg dichtbij met hem samengewerkt hebben. Er zitten ook aanzienlijk wat frenemies tussen: mensen die officieel vrienden waren, maar tegelijk ook rivalen en concurrenten. Náást de aanzienlijke groep aartsvijanden, waaronder Frank Sinatra en Bing Crosby. Porter focust vooral op de jaren ’50 waarvan we wel mogen zeggen dat het de acteur zijn gloriejaren waren. Maar de grote acteerprestaties die Brando onder andere vier Oscarnominaties voor beste acteur op een rij opleverden interesseren de biograaf echter bitter weinig. Porters voornaamste interesse is om het overactieve libido van Brando te belichten. Hij beschrijft haast encyclopedisch en in alle (gortige) details elk verhaaltje dat hij heeft gehoord. Het boek heeft de bedenkelijke kwaliteit van riooljournalistiek, waarbij enkel telt met wie Marlon Brando in bed heeft gelegen. De films waarin Marlon Brando speelt worden slechts terloops vermeld en als ze langer aandacht krijgen is dat omdat er een of andere gore anekdote over te vertellen valt in de stijl van: "tijdens het draaien van The Wild One neukte Brando achtereenvolgens…". Op pagina 639 komt de auteur tot inzicht dat slechts een drietal films van de akteur behandeld werden en in de slotbladzijden wordt dan de rest van de produktie van Marlon vermeld, een halve pagina per film. Voor een degelijk boekwerk over het leven én werk van deze uitzonderlijke acteur moet je duidelijk ergens anders zoeken.
March 2, 2022
☆ one single, begrudging and discoloured star
Distasteful trash published after Brando’s death and devoted to rummaging through the trashcan of his nocturnal prowling. It claims that “at Brando’s peak, the list of the actor’s lovers read like a Who’s Who of the cultural elite: Bob Dylan, Gore Vidal, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Collins, Faye Dunaway, Bianca Jagger, Kim Stanley, Rita Moreno, Shelley Winters, Tyrone Power, Gloria Vanderbilt…” and others. Denials of the alleged bedmates were to no avail.
Would the author have had the balls to trash talk Brando to his face like this?
Fuck Porter and the mountain of chips on his shoulders. May they collapse and him be swept away in the avalanche.
Distasteful trash published after Brando’s death and devoted to rummaging through the trashcan of his nocturnal prowling. It claims that “at Brando’s peak, the list of the actor’s lovers read like a Who’s Who of the cultural elite: Bob Dylan, Gore Vidal, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Collins, Faye Dunaway, Bianca Jagger, Kim Stanley, Rita Moreno, Shelley Winters, Tyrone Power, Gloria Vanderbilt…” and others. Denials of the alleged bedmates were to no avail.
Would the author have had the balls to trash talk Brando to his face like this?
Fuck Porter and the mountain of chips on his shoulders. May they collapse and him be swept away in the avalanche.
May 25, 2017
I don't know if most or any of what the author says is true...but the book is enjoyable to read, even on a stand-point of it being fiction.
The movies stars words are even written as though spoken with their voice. What a great sunny Sunday afternoon read, thanks Mr Porter.
The movies stars words are even written as though spoken with their voice. What a great sunny Sunday afternoon read, thanks Mr Porter.
July 23, 2009
As outrageous as many of the stories read, I believe they are mostly true. Brando saw being a high paid movie star as the perfect vehicle to fuel his passion for sex, food, travel, intellectual curiosity, civil rights, Native American rights, etc. After watching his acting in films like Last Tango in Paris and The Nightcomers, the stories in this book do not seem like a stretch. Most of his movies outside of One Eyed Jacks and Mutiny on the Bounty only took 2-3 months to film. During his down time he had ample opportunity to engage in countless sexual rendezvous with countless people, female and male.
November 12, 2011
Finished Brando Unzipped and it was very entertaining and fun read. Brando was quite a man, if you believe all the dirt in this biography. Just a good reading enjoyment ...a raw exposure of Hollywood and the Broadway Theater of the 1940's and 1950's .
All about his affairs with many star both in NYC' Broadway theatre and Hollywood., male or female, he apparently liked both and lots of them.
All about his affairs with many star both in NYC' Broadway theatre and Hollywood., male or female, he apparently liked both and lots of them.
May 17, 2009
This guy was always noted as a maverick, but after reading this book, the guy was a sexual pervert. He may have been a great actor, but as a person he wasn't much. This book really, explicitly goes into his life (sex and all). It's a tell all, if their ever was one.
August 7, 2013
beautiful trash. Sorry Darwin if you think I am a bit unfair, but this is pinch of salt stuff. Great read though, and I laughed deliciously to it. Big fan of your books. To all others read the Paul Newman book too. (All-time greatest actor by the way, not just America).
October 30, 2016
It was engaging and enjoyable. I like the authors style. After reading three of his biography books they coincide with each other with the celebrity he is referencing. I like that Marlon was honest in his love. To him , love was love and had no definition of gender
July 31, 2011
Deserves 10 stars for being soooooo salacious!
February 21, 2013
If even half of what's written in this book is true, it's a real eye-opener. As an actor, no matter how rubbish the movie was, he was always interesting.
November 30, 2015
Ridiculous, made-up trash. I wish somebody had hired me to write something like this.
October 19, 2014
A lot of "inside information" about Mr. Brando's sex life.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews