Only Brando

Marlon Brando with sister Jocelyn Brando on the set of “The Wild One” C.1953.

One game they played regularly as children was a form of charades called “Essences.” A player picked someone and had to describe the person by answering questions from other players, such as, “What kind of a day is this person?” or “What kind of a house?” 

Years later, Brando asked his sister Jocelyn for a character sketch to help him write his autobiography, and she followed the “Essence” grid to describe her brother. 

“What kind of water— a beaver pond”;

“What kind of bird— woodpecker with a peacock’s tail”; 

“What kind of instrument— microscope”; 

“What kind of chemical element— mercury”; 

“What kind of sport— judo or kickboxing”; 

“What kind of weapon— boomerang”; 

“What kind of sound— owl or train whistle in the night”; 

“What kind of playing card— joker”; 

“What kind of reptile— chameleon”; 

“What kind of dog— mastiff and bulldog mix”; 

“What kind of tree— ironwood”; 

“What kind of store— hardware”; 

“What kind of nationality— homesick gypsy. 

Mark Antony in films & tv shows (1/?) ◈ Marlon Brando in Julius Caesar (1953)

Nobody ever gets to know anybody. We’re, all of us, sentenced to solitary confinement… inside our own lonely skins for as long as we live on this earth.