Marlon Brando

Considered by his peers to be the greatest actor of all time, Marlon Brando was born April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Neb. He helped popularize the practice of method acting and revolutionized the stage and screen with a gripping portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), for which he earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

Brando continued his streak of memorable film roles with Julius Caesar, The Wild One, On the Waterfront (which produced his first Best Actor Oscar) and Guys and Dolls. His iconic performances continued through the 1970s with The Godfather (which garnered another Best Actor Oscar win), Last Tango in Paris and Apocalypse Now.

Later in his career, Brando displayed signs of his former greatness, playing off his Godfather image in The Freshman and taking on a romantic lead in Don Juan DeMarco. He died of pulmonary fibrosis on July 1, 2004.

Filmography