Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1955)

A Character — But Brando ( Continued from page 62) thing to do. Which is one of the most wonderful things about Marlon. He always makes you feel natural and relaxed. He knows how to bring you into things and into the fun. And as you can imagine, Gertrude (Heim) and Patricia (Mulqueen) and I were pretty nervous about the whole idea of meeting him. “It all started one evening last January. I had just gotten home — I had an evening class at Hunter College that night — and Mother had kept some food warm for me. I was just sitting down to eat when she casually said, ‘A young man called today and wants you to get in touch with him.’ “ ‘Who?’ I muttered rather disinterestedly, tired from the long day. “ ‘He says his name is Marlon Brando,’ Mother answered, trying with all her might to keep calm. “ ‘Marlon Brando,’ I screamed. ‘You’re kidding,’ ” and I couldn’t eat another bite. To boot, he’d left his telephone number for me to call him back! “The reason Marlon knew of me was that I’m the president and one of the founders of the Marlon Brando Charity Fan Club, and I’d recently sent him a copy of our first club journal. It took quite a few phone calls back and forth (I was a nervous wreck), before we reached each other. But when we finally did, he was very interested in the work we were doing and asked all about us. He said he liked our journal very much and fully appreciated and approved of the charitable work we were doing on his behalf and in his name. Then he asked, ‘I’d like to meet you and some of the other girls in the club. Could you make it?’ Could we! ‘We’d love to.’ I answered. So he suggested we call his secretary and ask her to set a time since ‘she’s the one who keeps track of my engagements.’ “Miss Medwick, Marlon’s secretary, made a date for three of us to meet him for lunch at one p.m. the next Saturday at the Russian Tea Room on West Fifty-seventh Street. “I’ve been a real ardent Brando fan for fully five years, ever since I saw him in his first movie appearance in ‘The Men,’ and I’ve seen every one of his pictures. In fact, ‘Viva Zapata!,’ my favorite next to ‘Waterfront,’ I’ve seen five times. So the thought of finally having lunch with him was exciting beyond measure. “I had met Marlon once before. During the summer of ’fifty-three I traveled to Ivoryton, Connecticut, one weekend to see him in a summer stock performance of Shaw’s ‘Arms and the Man.’ Marlon was playing Sergius (and getting rave reactions). It was a wonderfully funny part, in fact, Shaw had called Sergius ‘my comic Hamlet,’ and Marlon was terrific. I arrived early and was waiting on the lawn outside the theatre when I saw Marlon drive up with a bunch of his friends in an old car, get out and go into the small near-by restaurant. While one of the fellows was taking some props out of the trunk of the car, I went over to him— quite timidly — and asked if he could introduce me to Marlon after lunch. He said he’d see what he could do. “When finally they finished eating and came out of the restaurant, Marlon was immediately surrounded and I figured that was the end of my chance to meet him. “But I was wrong. While still talking to the group, Marlon looked up and around, then said something to the boy I had talked to. He took me right through the cluster of people and introduced me to Marlon. I was very impressed with Marlon’s courtesy, his sincerity and his genuine interest in the people around him. • Stunning attractive candid photos ol all your favorites! 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