Rumor of Marlon Brando's death
 

Someone posting on a music discussion board I frequent who claims to work at the Washington Post said they just got confirmation that Marlon Brando passed away tonight.

I've checked Fark, the Washington Post and CNN's website and so far I've seen nothing to confirm. Anybody got anything?

i'd like to see some confirmation before this goes any further.

Yeah, gimme some news that I can't refuse.

yeah, I couldn't find any confirmation, but thought I'd throw it up since this person is known by others on that board to work at the Washington Post.

Argh.. beat me to it.

Haha, I was going to say something clever like that also...but I lost.

Somebody call him on the phone, and somebody else call him on the Ouija board. Whoever gets him first, let us know.

If I were 20 million in debt, I'd die too.

Sad news, if it's true.

Just heard a news report on WXRT FM, Chicago. He was 80. Reportedly from liver disease.

hmmm my morning radio show just confirmed it but said he was 78

Hmmm...not looking good.

none of the news wires have picked it up that I can find. I've looked on all the official wires, AP, Reuters, and UPI and I've not found anything.

The horroooooooor. The horrooooooor.

I'd love to know the sources of the radio stations, not even Drudge, which has everything early, has this yet.

Even Google News has nothing about it. It's more likely to be a hoax than not.

Drudge just picked it up

Brando Dead/Bloomberg

i watched a snail sliding along the edge of a straight razor.

the horror, the horror.


he had a good life. rip.

I retract my statement. CNN is now reporting it, too.

such a slow day on the newsfront... but he was a contender.

I loved his acting, even if he did get grossly fat near the end

STEEELLLLLLLAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

he's fuckin built like a greek god in Streetcar though

Gonna watch the Godfather this weekend now in tribute.

Ronald Reagan
Ray Charles
Marlon Brando

That's number 3. The rule is satisfied Elderly actors of america can now breathe a sigh of relief.

Wow, CTV just did the best report on his life and movie roles... amazing!

Brando did some tremendous work as an actor. It's a shame that he kinda went kooky in recent years, and that wound up overshadowing his career a little. I recall reading an article in Rolling Stone a few years ago about some really odd acting videos he was filming.

And here it is...

EDIT: This is a great article, I forgot how eccentric Brando seems to be.

Okay, mad props to Booray for the heads up.

Liver disease huh? CNN's reporting it as unknown cause of death.

Tis a sad day for us all.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movi...ndo/index.html

Another article to add to the list. :P

I considered Peter Ustinov as part of the Reagan death triad.

He was a fabulous actor. His roles in Spartacus and Quo Vadis are immortal, imo.

I hate to see great actors going away, it is like a part of hystory going away. So sad, a tragic loss :(

Thanks. I thought this place was about to tar and feather me and ride me out on a rail. The only reason I posted it was since the person appeared to be a credible source....and I wanted to beat all the news agencies since I RULE :p

Well we were if we didn't see confirmation, you knew that right?

Thats insane that you had the inside scoop

sorry about it. he was an inspiring actor...

:) yeah, I figured I'd take the chance in the hopes that I would look like a cool connected news source for a second (even though I just happened to see this guy post on the other board and his claims seemed to have merit).

Definitely sad. I feel like picking up The Wild One if I can find it at the video store since that's one of his I never saw.

That's 3.

RIP, Godfather.

From - http://www.themediadrome.com/cgi-bin...88792967,8848,

Marlon Brando Dies At 80
Friday, July 2, 2004
Marlon Brando, four time Oscar nominee and one of the greatest actors in motion picture history, has died at the age of 80.

Brando introduced the Stanislavsky Method to filmgoers of the 1950s and the power and intensity of his preformances influenced a generation of actors, including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson.

Born Marlon Brando, Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska, Brando was a chubby kid, always in trouble with authority. The greatest influence on his early life was undoubtedly his mother, a creative woman who found little outlet for her energy. It was through her involvement in the local community theatre that the Young Brando was first exposed to theatre.

His father had other ideas for the boy, however, and packed him off to military school. Brando was soon expelled and at 19 moved to New York where one of his older sisters, Jocelyn, was studying art. Jocelyn signed up for an acting class with Stella Adler and Brando joined her. He immediately impressed the exacting teacher who predicted that the newcomer would best them all within a year.

Brando followed his training with Adler with a number of theatrical roles, culminating in 1947's A Streetcar Named Desire. The role of the brutish Stanley Kowalski made him a star and also brought him his first taste of the "star treatment". The young actor disliked the trappings of success and after his contractual two-year run was complete, never appeared in another play.

His desire to avoid the adulation traditionally rained on actors and movie stars informed his post-Streetcar choice of movie roles and he eventually decided on the independent Stanley Kramer film, The Men, in which he played a paraplegic war veteran. Stardom was out to get him, though, and the following year he reprised his role as Stanley Kowalski in Elia Kazan's big screen version of Streetcar. The role brought him the first of four consecutive Oscar nominations, the others were for Viva Zapata! (1952), Julius Caesar (1953) and On the Waterfront (1954). His part in Waterfron, again under Kazan's direction, finally won him the award.

Following that film he gradually segued into more commercial but less successful films, although his performance in them was always riveting. He brought not only an intensity, but a full emotional life to his roles. Still, by the end of the sixties it seemed as if his glory days were over. Then Francis Ford Coppola called with a role in a gangster epic he was planning.

The Godfather (1972) was not only a massive commercial success, it was also lauded by critics who recognized a seminal cinematic achievement. The film swept the Academy Awards and brought Brando his second Oscar. This time he did not accept, however. Instead he sent a Native American woman to decline the honour with a speech about U.S. oppression of her people. The speech was greeted with booes and cemented Brando's reputation as a "misguided weirdo". The actor's dedication to the cause of minorities and the downtrodden was not new, however, and he tried to practice what he preached. At one point buying a Tahitian island with a view to creating a protective envronmental resort.

Later years brought the actor personal tragedy as his son Christian was accused of murdering his sister Cheyenne's boyfriend. A jury found him guilty of voluntary manslaughter and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. A few years later, in 1995, Cheyenne committed suicide. She was 25 and reportedly still depressed about the murder.

Brando continued to work, and although the roles became less memorable, there was still the occasional flash of his former brilliance, such as the comedy The Freshman (1990).

It is difficult to overstate the importance of Marlon Brando in world cinema. Although he was not the earliest proponant of the Method on film, he almost single-handedly raised awareness of it as an approach that allowed actors to bring truth and immediacy into darkened halls around the world. For Brando, though, his job was "not to bore" his audience. And he never did.

Is also on www.iwon.com .. sad news.

He was a strange one, but he was certainly an incredible actor. :(

How ironic is this? I was watching The Godfather last night.'

The Godfather remains one of the top 5 movies EVER made. Brando was astonishing. Must watch it this weekend in tribute. Damn.

I've never seen The Godfather. I guess I should go watch it now. What I *have* seen of Brando though, he was great. An unfortunate circumstance. I'm curious to see what the cause of death is though - it does seem quite od that just a day or two ago it came out that he was millions in debt.

You *must* see it. Like others said, it is one of, if not THE greatest movie EVER made. I like the latter films in the trilogy even more--Michael's descent into darkness in II and his repentance in III. Such an incredible series of films.

larry king is supposedly showing some of his interviews with brando sunday night on CNN

sure to be 1 part interesting and 1 part unintentional humor

rip

brando was a great actor who turned into an unfornate joke later in his life. I prefer to think of him in his better roles than say... dr. moreau

to those of you who posted links to articles and ACTUALLY QUOTED THEM... thank you. Sometimes I wonder if some people will ever catch on...

once the best actor under the sun, my first movie was The Street Car named Desire, I was a literature major at the time, Brando was a awesome, Vivian Lee is seductive...

I am sorry to hear that he was not well near the end, just like the King, who still performed for 20,000 people several weeks before his death.

May the God Father rest in peace

I was sad to hear about his death...

I dunno, it seems to me that all the great actors are ones that are passing away as I grow older. How many years will it be until I will have to face the fact that Jack Nicholson is a mortal as well? :(

Is there an actor these days that's less than 40 years old that you could call a "great" actor? What, Ben Stiller? Adam Sandler? Jack Black?

Pffffft. Even Tom Cruise must be at least 40 by now, and although I like him I'd be far pushed to call him a great actor...

http://celebrityalmanac.com/

nope, not many left that would be considered great. Clint Eastwood, maybe-he's 75

I didn't quote the link I posted because I felt that it wasn't necessarily pertinent to the specific discussion of the thread - it was info about Brando but certainly not a tribute, and I didn't want it to seem disrespectful...

that blows, he was a wonderful actor, he will be missed

i think the only movie of his that i've ever had the chance to see was the Godfather. oh well.
may he rest in peace.