Marlon Brando will never cease to fascinate us: for his triumphs as an actor (On the Waterfront, The Godfather, Last Tango in Paris), as well as his disasters. He captivates us with the power of the screen portrayals he gave. Furthermore, his turbulent, tumultuous personal life intrigues many.

Seamlessly intertwining the man and the work, Kanfer takes us through Brando’s troubled childhood. Then to his arrival in New York in the 1940s, where he studied with the legendary Stella Adler. At the age of twenty-three, he became the toast of Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Kanfer expertly examines each of Brando’s films – from The Men in 1950 to The Score in 2001. He makes clear the evolution of Brando’s singular genius. The book also sheds light on the cultural evolution of Hollywood itself. Furthermore, he brings into focus Brando’s self-destructiveness and his lifelong dissembling. His deeply ambivalent feelings towards his chosen vocation are also emphasized. And the tragedies that shadowed his final years are not left out.

This is a never-before-seen portrait of one of the most extraordinary talents of the twentieth century.