Marlon Brando might be the most influential actor in film history, a pioneer of a new method of theatrical self-presentation who changed the standards by which we judge performance. Brando traces the career of the actor from his birth in the mid-west to alcoholic parents, to his discovery of his talent at Stella Adler's acting school in New York from the early triumphs of A Streetcar Named Desire and On The Waterfront, to The Island of Dr. Moreau. This new biography, fully illustrated with125 black and white photographs, sets the man and his films in context, drawing sharply observed connections between his life and developments in the motion picture industry, and in the social history of the last half of the 20th century. It is a rich, witty, and affectionate portrayal of one of the few, true icons of our age.