Godfather Marlon Brando

Godfather Marlon Brando

We start tonight with Marlon Brando. He was 80 when he died of lung failure yesterday in Los Angeles. As an actor, Brando’s talent was 1)unparalleled. As a man, he was something of an 2)enigma 1.

One of Brando’s publicists once described him as, “mean, moody 2 and magnificent.” In the 1950’s, he was the highest paid actor in Hollywood, although later in life, he seemed to reject his 3)stardom and his talent. “The only reason I’m in Hollywood”, he said, “is because I don’t have the moral courage to refuse the money.”

A new book about his life claims that Brando died in debt, living on social security and the little money that 4)trickled in from his old films. 5)Turmoil 4, tragedy, and brilliance 5 swirled 6 around him. As his co-star, 6)Jack 7 Nicholson once said, “He gave us our freedom.”

For a time, when he was young, Marlon Brando was 7)hailed as one of the best actors in America. He had a presence, a raw power that filled the stage and screen.  He 8)rose to fame in a part that was a lot like him, Stanley Kowalski, the beer-drinking mechanic in the Broadway and film versions of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. He delivered some of the most quoted and imitated lines in the history of the movies. Brando was one of the first “method Actors,” who took emotions and experiences from their own lives to make their characters believable. He won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1954 for his performance in On the Waterfront. 

In this scene from The Godfather, he put an orange peel in his mouth to get a reaction from the little boy playing his grandson. Brando won the Oscar for that performance too. But, at the time, he was taken with the cause of American Indians.  He sent a representative to decline the award as a protest 9)in their behalf.

Marlon Brando went to New York to act after he was 10)kicked out of military school. He was undisciplined, a 11)perpetual rebel, even as an actor.

While shooting Mutiny on the Bounty 8 in Tahiti, he met the woman who would be his first wife. He also fell in love with Tahiti and bought his own island.

Brando once said, “I have no respect for acting 9. It’s a 12)bum 10’s life.” Sometimes he acted like it, taking roles that were beneath his talent.

His later life was marked with family tragedies. His son Christian 11 went to prison for killing 12 his daughter Cheyene’s boyfriend. Cheyene later committed suicide. Brando became 13)reclusive. He worked occasionally for the money. But, in his prime, Marlon Brando was an actor other actors could only hope to become.

注释：
1) unparalleled [Qn5pArEleld] a. 空前的，无比的
2) enigma [i5ni^mE] n. 谜，不可思议的事情（人物）
3) stardom [5stB:dEm] n. 演员的地位（或身份）
4) trickle 3 [5trikl] v. 滴，流
5) turmoil [5tE:mCil] n. 混乱，骚动
6) Jack Nicholson: 杰克·尼科尔森，美国著名演员，曾凭《飞越疯人院》（One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1975）和《猫屎先生》 （As Good As It Gets, 1997）分别获得第48、70届奥斯卡最佳男主角奖。
7) hail [heil] v. 热情赞扬
8) rise to 达到（高水平、高职位等）
9) in one’s behalf 代表某人的利益
10) kick out 开除，解雇
11) perpetual [pE5petjuEl] a. 永久的
12) bum [bQm] n. 游民，懒鬼
13) reclusive [ri5klU:siv] a. 隐居的，独处的

一代巨星马龙·白兰度

今晚我们从马龙·白兰度开始。昨天他因为肺功能衰竭于洛杉矶逝世，终年八十岁。作为一名演员，白兰度的才华无与伦比；作为一个普通人，他像谜一般难以捉摸。
白兰度的一位公关人员曾经这样描述他：“冷酷，忧郁，高贵。”尽管晚年他很抗拒自己的明星身份，并否认自己的表演才能，但在二十世纪五十年代，他是好莱坞片酬最高的演员。“我呆在好莱坞的唯一原因，”他说，“就在于我没有道德勇气去拒绝金钱。”
一部有关他生平的新书声称，他去世时债务缠身，靠社会保障养老金以及从他的老电影中得到的微薄分红过活。混乱、悲剧和辉煌萦绕他一生。曾与他合作的影星杰克·尼科尔森说过，“他给我们带来自身的自由。”
年轻时的马龙·白兰度曾一度被赞誉为美国最优秀的演员之一。他在舞台和银幕上有着一股自然而然的风采和魅力。在田纳西·威廉斯的《欲望号街车》百老汇舞台剧和电影版中，他饰演一个酗酒的修理工斯坦利·科瓦尔斯基，一个与他本人很相似的角色；这个角色使他声名鹊起。他在剧中的一些台词是电影史上引用及仿效率最高的。白兰度是最早的“方法派演员”之一，这派演员从他们自己的生活中汲取情感和经验，使他们的角色变得可信。1954年，凭借他在影片《码头风云》中的演出，他赢得奥斯卡最佳男主角奖。
《教父》中有这样一个场景：他往嘴里放一片桔皮，以此得到小男孩——也就是影片中他的孙子——的回应。因为那一部电影，白兰度再次赢得奥斯卡奖。不过，当时他沉浸于美国印第安人的民权事业；他派出一位代表去宣布拒绝领奖，藉此为印第安人的利益进行抗议。
马龙·白兰度是在被军校开除后去纽约做演员的。即使成为一名演员，他也狂野不羁，反叛不断。
在塔希提拍摄《叛舰喋血记》时，他遇到后来成为他第一任妻子的女人。他还爱上了塔希提这个地方，并在当地买下属于自己的小岛。
白兰度曾说，“我对演艺事业毫无尊敬。那是懒汉的生活。”有时他确实表现得与懒汉无异，饰演一些与他的才华毫不相称的角色。
他的晚年生活与一连串家庭悲剧连在一起。他儿子克里斯蒂安由于杀害妹妹切耶娜的男友而进了监狱。切耶娜后来自杀。白兰度遁世隐居。他偶尔为挣钱出来工作。但是在他的全盛时期，马龙·白兰度是一个其他演员可望不可及的演员。