Hi, all, from Joe Bonelli.
Here's an interesting article my friend Richard Salassi, who does a superb one-man Twain show, sent me.
As we had quite a too-doo on the two lists (MOPO and Style B) when Marlon passed away, this is worth looking at.
The sad thing is that Marlon chose not to open up this way to more people than he did-- like to the public on occasion. I truly believe he could have made more friends for his causes by giving a bit more of himself to those fascinated with his talent and genius.
Joe B.
(Southern Arts Network) My Lunch with Brando
Back in '73 I had lunch with Marlon Brando.
For those who are not old enough to recall, 1973
was the year of the Wounded Knee debacle in South
Dakota. There was violence and upset � and when
the FBI and AIM decided to sit down for peace
talks - they sought out neutral territory. Bev and
I owned a theatre in Rapid City in those days,
called The Toby. Since we were acquainted with
Dennis Banks and Russel Means, (they had season
tickets) our theatre was suggested and agreed to
by all parties.
So, while the press were staked out in front of
the Federal building -- the principals were meeting
in our theatre. Bev stayed home to do the books
and I went in alone, with a sack lunch to open the
building in the morning. I saw Brando come in with
Dennis Banks and was suitably star-struck.
Around noon, I was getting ready to eat my sack
lunch when Brando (who was apparently asked to
lea! ve the auditorium) came into the lobby and
asked me where the nearest restaurant was. I told
him it was more than walking distance. He frowned.
He'd gotten a ride from the hotel. I offered him
one of my tuna sandwiches and a soda pop from the
concession stand. He said thanks, and that's how I
ended up having "lunch" with Mr. Brando.
We sat and ate in silence for a bit. As he chewed,
he looked around the place. He asked me how long
I'd worked at the theatre. I told him that my wife
and I had built it, that we owned it, lock stock
and barrel. He seemed impressed and questioned me.
I told him how we'd left New York City and started
producing so that we could play the roles we wanted
to play. He laughed and said he thought that was a
great tactic.
He told me that he grew up in Omaha and it was my
turn to laugh I told him he didn't have to tell me
about himself -- I was a fan. We talked about the
! midwest and the people from our part of the country
that had "made it." We talked about Johnny Carson
and Cloris Leachman (whom Brando adored) and some
others. We agreed that the midwestern "work ethic"
had a lot to do with success in the business.
Then we fell into silence as we finished eating.
He crumpled up the foil from the sandwich, thanked
me again, got up and walked toward the door to the
auditorium. He stopped in the middle of the lobby.
You could actually see the "realization" from the
back. He couldn't go back in. He chuckled. (It was
a Marlon Brando chuckle, mind you) and he turned
back to me. "No exit," he said.
"Becket." I said.
"Sartre." He corrected.
"No, Becket." said I - all of 27 years old and
cocksure.
"Sartre. I'm pretty sure."
He came back and sat down and we talked about the
theatre, movies, and show business in general for
about forty minutes. Along the way! we argued about
"the method." I have always believed that good
acting is all about how well you pretend and, well,
Mr. Brando had another point of view.
It was an amazing moment in my life. Not so much
because I was arguing with Marlon Brando, but that
it was Marlon Brando and he was enjoying (and
provoking) the argument.
At one point I trotted out the "children can do it
without any training" argument and I'll never forget
his response -- "You're right, Bob. The problem is
how do we grown-ups learn to be children again?"
"With the Method?" I asked, sarcastically, as only
a smart ass kid can do.
"Well, I think what they call the method helps some
people." He paused for a moment and then smiled,
"But the truth of it is that some of us just don't
grow up."
I'll always cherish the twinkle he had in his eye
when he said that.
We continued the "debate" until the meeting insidecame to halt and suddenly the lobby was filled with
FBI guys, AIM organizers, city officials and other
bureaucrats. Something had been decided and Brando
was borne off in the mass exodus. Once again I was
alone in my theatre.
I wrote the "lunch" up in my journal and scrawled
in big letters at the end -- "Don't grow up!" ~
Marlon Brando
In the end, I think all acting theories are an
attempt to show us the way back to a time when we
used to get so involved in the 'game' that we had to
be called home to eat -- and were rarely able to
remember how we scraped our knee -- because we had
been "in the moment."
The issue: Is watching kids play entertainment?
Probably not.
Unless they're your kids.
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
Bob Fraser is an actor, writer, director and
author of You Must Act! "The Bible of Acting
Success"
Visit his site and download actor reso! urces at
no charge.
http://www.youmustact.com
For those who are not old enough to recall, 1973
was the year of the Wounded Knee debacle in South
Dakota. There was violence and upset � and when
the FBI and AIM decided to sit down for peace
talks - they sought out neutral territory. Bev and
I owned a theatre in Rapid City in those days,
called The Toby. Since we were acquainted with
Dennis Banks and Russel Means, (they had season
tickets) our theatre was suggested and agreed to
by all parties.
So, while the press were staked out in front of
the Federal building -- the principals were meeting
in our theatre. Bev stayed home to do the books
and I went in alone, with a sack lunch to open the
building in the morning. I saw Brando come in with
Dennis Banks and was suitably star-struck.
Around noon, I was getting ready to eat my sack
lunch when Brando (who was apparently asked to
lea! ve the auditorium) came into the lobby and
asked me where the nearest restaurant was. I told
him it was more than walking distance. He frowned.
He'd gotten a ride from the hotel. I offered him
one of my tuna sandwiches and a soda pop from the
concession stand. He said thanks, and that's how I
ended up having "lunch" with Mr. Brando.
We sat and ate in silence for a bit. As he chewed,
he looked around the place. He asked me how long
I'd worked at the theatre. I told him that my wife
and I had built it, that we owned it, lock stock
and barrel. He seemed impressed and questioned me.
I told him how we'd left New York City and started
producing so that we could play the roles we wanted
to play. He laughed and said he thought that was a
great tactic.
He told me that he grew up in Omaha and it was my
turn to laugh I told him he didn't have to tell me
about himself -- I was a fan. We talked about the
! midwest and the people from our part of the country
that had "made it." We talked about Johnny Carson
and Cloris Leachman (whom Brando adored) and some
others. We agreed that the midwestern "work ethic"
had a lot to do with success in the business.
Then we fell into silence as we finished eating.
He crumpled up the foil from the sandwich, thanked
me again, got up and walked toward the door to the
auditorium. He stopped in the middle of the lobby.
You could actually see the "realization" from the
back. He couldn't go back in. He chuckled. (It was
a Marlon Brando chuckle, mind you) and he turned
back to me. "No exit," he said.
"Becket." I said.
"Sartre." He corrected.
"No, Becket." said I - all of 27 years old and
cocksure.
"Sartre. I'm pretty sure."
He came back and sat down and we talked about the
theatre, movies, and show business in general for
about forty minutes. Along the way! we argued about
"the method." I have always believed that good
acting is all about how well you pretend and, well,
Mr. Brando had another point of view.
It was an amazing moment in my life. Not so much
because I was arguing with Marlon Brando, but that
it was Marlon Brando and he was enjoying (and
provoking) the argument.
At one point I trotted out the "children can do it
without any training" argument and I'll never forget
his response -- "You're right, Bob. The problem is
how do we grown-ups learn to be children again?"
"With the Method?" I asked, sarcastically, as only
a smart ass kid can do.
"Well, I think what they call the method helps some
people." He paused for a moment and then smiled,
"But the truth of it is that some of us just don't
grow up."
I'll always cherish the twinkle he had in his eye
when he said that.
We continued the "debate" until the meeting insidecame to halt and suddenly the lobby was filled with
FBI guys, AIM organizers, city officials and other
bureaucrats. Something had been decided and Brando
was borne off in the mass exodus. Once again I was
alone in my theatre.
I wrote the "lunch" up in my journal and scrawled
in big letters at the end -- "Don't grow up!" ~
Marlon Brando
In the end, I think all acting theories are an
attempt to show us the way back to a time when we
used to get so involved in the 'game' that we had to
be called home to eat -- and were rarely able to
remember how we scraped our knee -- because we had
been "in the moment."
The issue: Is watching kids play entertainment?
Probably not.
Unless they're your kids.
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
Bob Fraser is an actor, writer, director and
author of You Must Act! "The Bible of Acting
Success"
Visit his site and download actor reso! urces at
no charge.
http://www.youmustact.com
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