“STELLA, I NEED ALANON” –
June 6, 2020 – As Brando revealed in his tapes, his parents’ alcoholism leached every iota of belief in human kindness from his young soul. After all, belief requires trust, and trust is a luxury the child of an alcoholic cannot afford … Lies and deceit were his daily life; webs of fantasy, pretending away the deforming pain. And so when Marlon Brando stepped onto a stage for the very first time, he was already a consummate actor. For Brando, the method acting he learned under the tutelage of Stella Adler was as natural to him as breathing. He said: “Acting is just making stuff up, but that’s OK. Life is a rehearsal. Life is an improvisation.”
Success came quickly. Brando was handsome. charismatic, and he possessed an intensity that seared itself onto the screen. A stint on Broadway drew the attention of director Elia Kazan who picked him to reprise the role of Stanley on his film version of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Soon, Brando was one of the most desired men in Hollywood.
