Synopses & Reviews
When people think about Marlon Brando, they think of the movie star, the hunk, the scandals. In , Susan L. Mizruchi reveals the Brando others have missed: the man who collected four thousand books; the man who rewrote scripts, trimming his lines to make them sharper; the man who consciously used his body and employed the objects around him to create believable characters; the man who loved Emily Dickinson's poetry.
Review
"Eye-opening . . . made me rethink my opinion of the actor. And rewatch his films with greater appreciation of his craft." Carrie Rickey
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"An always interesting, addictive book (I didn't move for two days)." Philadelphia Inquirer
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"Forcefully reminds us of the actor's guile and charm, as well as his reckless bohemian spirit. . . . [Mizruchi] has construct[ed] something that is . . . more than I imagined possible." Antonia Quirke Financial Times
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"[Mizruchi is] the first to have access to Brando's private archives, including his extensive library, film archives and research materials... Fascinating." Scott Eyman Wall Street Journal
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"To understand the complete Brando...any future biographer will now have to take account of Mizruchi's Brando as well--to somehow square the lover and the sensualist with the critical thinker." Tom Shone Atlantic
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"Explores the Brando that was not visible to the world in order to better understand the one that was--a Brando that was independent of the public persona and often at odds with it." Julia M. Klein Boston Globe
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"The most amazing restoration work on an artist's image that I've ever seen." Examiner
Synopsis
To write this biography, Mizruchi gained unprecedented access to a vast number of annotated books from Brando s library, hand-edited copies of screenplays, private letters, and recorded interviews that have never before been quoted in a biography. Original interviews with some of the still-living players from Brando s life, including Ellen Adler, his one-time girlfriend and the daughter of his acting teacher Stella Adler, provide even deeper insight into the complex person whose intelligence belied the high-school dropout.
Mizruchi shows how Brando s embrace of foreign cultures and social outsiders led to his brilliant performances in unusual roles a gay man, an Asian, a German soldier to test himself and to foster empathy on a global scale. We also meet the political Brando: the civil rights activist, the close friend of James Baldwin, the actor who declined his Oscar to support Indian rights.
More than seventy stunning and many rare photographs of Marlon Brando illuminate this portrait of the man who has left an astounding cultural legacy.
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Synopsis
When people think about Marlon Brando they think of the movie star, the hunk, the scandals. Here, Susan L. Mizruchi--who gained unprecedented access to Brando's letters, audiotapes, revised screenplays, and books--reveals the complex man whose intelligence belies the high-school dropout. She shows how Brando's embrace of foreign cultures and social outsiders led to his brilliant performances in unusual roles to test himself and to foster empathy in his audience.
Synopsis
A groundbreaking work that reveals how Marlon Brando shaped his legacy in art and life.
About the Author
Susan L. Mizruchi, a professor of English at Boston University, specializes in American literature, cultural history, and film.