9-10 传奇人物：马龙 白兰度

The Legend: Marlon Brando

 

Marlon Brando, the stage and screen actor whose performances in A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront and The Godfather earned him plaudits¹ as one of the greatest actors of all time, has died, his attorney said on 1st of July, 2004. He was 80.

 

Brando's agent, Jay Cantor, said the actor was admitted to UCLA Medical Center on Wednesday evening and that the cause of death was pulmonary fibrosis. Brando had suffered from congestive heart failure² and was overweight.

 

The actor was perhaps the most influential¹³ of his generation, noted² Bob Thomas of The Associated Press.

 

Marlon Brando was born April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother was active in the local theater and encouraged two local actors, Henry Fonda and Dorothy McGuire, onto the stage.

 

Known as a rambunctious³⁴ child, Brando was sent to military school as a teenager to curb⁴⁵ his behavior. He was expelled.

 

At the age of 19, he moved to New York to live with his sister Frances. Another sister, Jocelyn, was studying acting⁵ with legendary⁶ coach Stella Adler; Brando soon joined her. Adler was quickly impressed.

 

“Within a year, Marlon Brando will be the best young actor in the American theater,” she said, according to the AP.

 

After a handful of roles, A Streetcar Named Desire -- which hit Broadway in 1947-- made him a star.

 

Brando's first film, The Men (1950), earned raves⁶, but it wasn't until the 1951 film version of Streetcar -- directed by Kazan -- that he became a major movie star. Three years later, Brando won his first Oscar for his performance as ex? boxer⁸ Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, also directed by Kazan. One of his lines from the film, “I coulda been a contender,” has been widely imitated.

 

His roles in Streetcar, Waterfront and The Wild One (1953) established him as an icon⁹ of the 1950s.

 

He followed his early success with hits in Guys and Dolls (1955), The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) and Sayonara (1957), but his career went into decline in the 1960s, particularly after his mannered⁷ performance as Fletcher Christian¹⁰ in 1962's big-budget flop¹¹ Mutiny⁸ on the Bounty¹².

 

His career revived, however, with perhaps his most famous role, that of Don Corleone in The Godfather. Director Francis Ford¹³ Coppola had only Brando in mind for the role, a decision not favored by producers, who almost fired the director over the decision.

 

Coppola was rewarded when the film became a huge hit -- it was the highest? grossing movie of all time until Jaws¹⁴ (1975) came along -- and Brando's quietly regal⁹, brooding¹⁰ performance as a Mafia¹¹ kingpin¹² was the film's centerpiece.

 

He also played the mad Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (1979), a Coppola film racked by dissent¹⁵¹³ and difficulties but hailed by many as a classic about the Vietnam War.

 

His later films were a mixed bag. He earned a supporting actor Oscar nomination¹⁶ for A Dry White Season (1989), parodied¹⁴ his Godfather role in The Freshman¹⁷ (1990) and played a thoughtful therapist in Don Juan DeMarco (1995).

 

Over the course of his career, he was nominated for eight Oscars, winning two -- for Waterfront and The Godfather (1972).

 

The actor was as famous for his off-screen antics¹⁵ as his on-screen performances. Brando was married three times, to Anna Kashfi in 1957, the Mexican actress Movita in 1960 and a Tahitian named Tahita. He had nine children.

 

注释：

1. plaudit [5plC:dit] n. 喝彩，称赞，赞扬

2. congestive [kEn5dVestiv] a. 充血性的，充血的；～heart failure [医] 充血性心力衰竭

3. influential [7influ5enFEl] a. 有影响的

4. rambunctious [rAm5bQNkFEs] a. [主美口] 桀骜不驯的，难管束的

5. curb [kE:b] vt. 控制，约束

6. rave⁷ [reiv] n. [口]（对电影、戏剧等的）狂热褒评，赞扬，吹捧

7. mannered [5mAnEd] a. 矫饰的，不自然的

8. mutiny [5mju:tini] n.（水手、士兵等对上级的）反叛，叛乱，哗变

9. regal [5ri:^El] a. 帝王的，威严的

10. brooding [5bru:diN] a. 沉思的，忧思的

11. Mafia [5mAfiE] n. 黑手党

12. kingpin [5kiNpin] n. [口]（组织或事业中的）主要人物

13. dissent [di5sent] n. 意见的不一致，意见的分歧

14. parody¹⁸ [5pArEdi] vt. 通过模仿嘲弄

15. antic [5Antik] n. [常作～s]（旨在哗众取宠的）夸张的噱头，古怪的姿势

 

 

传奇人物：马龙·白兰度

 

舞台和银幕两栖演员马龙·白兰度凭借其在《欲望号街车》、《码头风云》和《教父》中的精彩表演被誉为有史以来最伟大的演员之一。2004年7 月1日，他的律师宣布白兰度与世长辞，享年80岁。

白兰度的经纪人杰伊·坎托说，白兰度是星期三晚间住进加州大学洛杉矶分校医疗中心的，死因是肺纤维化。白兰度长期以来饱受心脏病和超重的折磨。

美联社的鲍勃·托马斯评价说，马龙·白兰度也许是他那一代演员中最有影响的一位。

马龙·白兰度于1924年4月3日出生在内布拉斯加州奥马哈城。他的母亲曾活跃在当地的戏剧界，并鼓励亨利·方达和多萝西·麦圭尔走上了舞台。

青少年时代的白兰度桀骜不驯远近闻名，因此被送到军校去接受管教，结果以被开除而告终。

19岁时，白兰度搬到纽约与姐姐弗朗西丝同住。当时，他的另一个姐姐乔斯林正师从著名的斯特拉·阿德勒学习表演。白兰度不久也加入学习，他的表演很快就给阿德勒留下了深刻印象。

“一年之内，马龙·白兰度将成为美国戏剧界最优秀的年轻演员。”她曾经这样告诉美联社的记者。

马龙·白兰度饰演了若干个角色，其后，在1947年，《欲望号街车》这部轰动百老汇的戏使他一举成名。

虽然白兰度的第一部电影《男儿本色》(1950)也取得了极大的成功，但是直到1951年由卡赞执导的《街车》问世才使他最终成为一名大牌电影明星。3年之后，白兰度凭借他在卡赞执导的另一部电影《码头风云》中饰演的退役拳击手特里·马洛伊一角赢得了奥斯卡奖。他在电影中的一句台词“我本来可以奋力拼搏一回的”被广泛仿效。

他在《街车》、《码头风云》和《飞车党》(1953)中的表演使他成为20世纪50年代的一名偶像。

在获得最初的成功之后，白兰度又相继成功地出演了《红男绿女》(1955)、《秋月茶室》(1956)、《樱花恋》(1957)。但是他的事业在20世纪60年代走了下坡路，尤其是在他出演了《叛舰喋血记》(1962)中的弗莱彻·克雷斯蒂安一角之后。他在那部电影中的表演矫揉造作；《叛舰喋血记》这部大制作在票房上惨败。

然而，在扮演了《教父》中唐·科莱奥内之后，他的事业再现辉煌，这个角色可能是他最出名的一个了。导演弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉认定这个角色非白兰度莫属，但是制片人不同意，他们几乎因此炒掉了这位导演。

科波拉得到了回报，这部电影取得了巨大的成功，直到1975年《大白鲨》问世之前，它一直是票房冠军，白兰度饰演的具有帝王气质、沉思的黑手党首脑是这部电影的最大卖点。

他还在《现代启示录》(1979)中扮演了疯狂的库尔兹上校。这部科波拉的电影虽饱受争议，遇到了很多困难，但还是被许多人视为一部关于越战的经典影片。

白兰度的后期电影参差不齐。他在《白色干燥季节》(1989)中的表演为他赢得了奥斯卡最佳男配角的提名。在《新生》(1990)中他滑稽地模仿了他自己的教父角色。

1995年他在《唐璜·德马科》中扮演了一名体贴的临床医师。

在他的影视生涯中，他获得8次奥斯卡提名，凭借《码头风云》和《教父》两获奥斯卡奖。

马龙·白兰度在生活中的古怪行为和他在银幕上的表演一样出名。他结过3次婚。1957年他与安娜·卡士菲结婚，1960年他娶了墨西哥女演员莫维塔，随后又和一名叫做塔席塔的塔希提岛女子结婚。他有9个子女。

 

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 rambunctious   

adj.喧闹的；粗鲁的

参考例句：

• Their rambunctious son always got into trouble.他们那个不受管束的儿子老是惹麻烦。
• It's not the chirping,rambunctious play that they did when they first arrived.他们现在已经不像刚开始见面那会儿，总是冲着对方乱叫，或者在玩耍时动作粗暴。

4 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

7 rave   

vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬

参考例句：

• The drunkard began to rave again.这酒鬼又开始胡言乱语了。
• Now I understand why readers rave about this book.我现明白读者为何对这本书赞不绝口了。

8 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

9 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

11 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。

12 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

13 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

14 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

15 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

16 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

17 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

18 parody   

n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文

参考例句：

• The parody was just a form of teasing.那个拙劣的模仿只是一种揶揄。
• North Korea looks like a grotesque parody of Mao's centrally controlled China,precisely the sort of system that Beijing has left behind.朝鲜看上去像是毛时代中央集权的中国的怪诞模仿，其体制恰恰是北京方面已经抛弃的。