Screen Legend Marlon Brando Dies At 80

Marlon Brando, the Oscar-winning Method actor known for his iconic roles in "A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront" and "The Godfather," has died. He was 80.

Brando died of lung failure at 6:30 Thursday night at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Brando's attorney David Seeley said the actor's family is gathering in Los Angeles and private funeral arrangements are being made.

Brando, who was 80, was considered the greatest actor of his generation.

As a motorcycle gang leader in "The Wild One," Marlon Brando is asked what he's rebelling against. "Whattaya got?" is his famous reply.

That seemed to sum up the star's professional and personal life.

When he first gained fame for "A Streetcar Named Desire," the press made much of his motorcycle, his leather jackets and T-shirts, and his bongo drum playing.

Brando's image was a studio's nightmare -- his weight, his many romances and three marriages, his support for Native Americans and other causes and his reputation as a difficult star.

His most famous act of rebellion was his refusal in 1973 to accept the best actor Oscar for playing Don Vito Corleone in "The Godfather." Instead, he sent a woman who called herself Sasheen Littlefeather to read a diatribe about Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans. But the woman turned out to be Maria Cruz, a little-known California actress.

While Brando refused his statuette, it was counted among the film's three Oscar wins, which included Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

From the film came one of the most recognizable lines in movie history, as Brando's Don Corleone said, "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."

Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, "The Godfather" starred Brando as the head of a New York Mafia family. It also starred Al Pacino, James Caan and John Cazale as Corlene's children, Robert Duvall as the family attorney and Diane Keaton as his conflicted daughter-in-law Kay, married to Pacino's character, Michael.

Despite the snub for "The Godfather," the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated Brando two more times, for "The Last Tango in Paris" in 1974 and "A Dry White Season" in 1990.

The actor also played crazed Col. Walter E. Kurtz in 1979's "Apocalypse Now," a Vietnam war epic also from Coppola, as well as Jor-El, the father of Superman in 1978's "Superman."

Born April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Neb., Brando became a dominating force in the American cinematic landscape with only his second film, "A Streetcar Named Desire," in 1952. With it, he earned his first of four consecutive Best Actor Oscar nominations, which was followed by "Viva Zapata!" "Julius Caesar" and "On the Waterfront." The latter earned Brando his first win.

He was nominated for Best Actor again in 1957 for "Sayonara."

Brando's last film, 2001's "The Score," finally teamed the screen legend with fellow "Godfather" actor Robert De Niro. De Niro played the young Don Corleone in "The Godfather, Part II," but the two never appeared on screen together.

Brando's private life turned tragic years later with his son Christian Brando's conviction for killing the boyfriend of his half-sister, Cheyenne Brando, in 1990. Five years later, Cheyenne committed suicide, still depressed over the killing. Christian Brando was released from prison in 1996.

Brando had nine children total and was married three times.

Friends, Colleagues Remember Marlon Brando

Friends and colleagues in Hollywood are remembering Brando.

Francis Ford Coppola said Brando "would hate the idea of people chiming in to give their comments about his death." Coppola said, simply, "it makes me sad he's gone."

His longtime friend and "Godfather" co-star James Caan said he was "shocked" by the news of Brando's death. Caan said Brando "influenced more young actors of my generation than any actor."

And, Caan said, "anyone who denies this never understood what it was all about."

Longtime friend and actor James Garner called Brando "the best," saying, "America has lost its leading film star."

Michael Winner directed Brando in the 1972 film "the Nightcomers." Winner said Brando was "the most professional, helpful and punctual actor I ever came across. He always knew his lines."

Winner said Brando was a "total delight" on the set, "immensely fun and amusing."

British publicist Max Clifford, who worked for Brando in the 1980s, described him as "mean, moody and magnificent."

Longtime friend Dick Cavett remembered a time when someone approached Brando in Beverly Hills and told him he was the world's greatest actor.

Brando shocked the fan by responding, "Don't you realize there are a lot of important things in the world than who is the best at putting paint on his face and stepping out onto a stage?"