Letters to Tennessee Williams Show Unlikely Side of Brando

Two letters Marlon Brando sent to Tennessee Williams, to be auctioned in Dallas in October, show that success seems to have been one of the legendary actor’s great fears.“Success is a real subtle whore, who would like nothing better than to catch you sleeping and bite your c— off,” he said in a letter to Williams dated May 24, 1955.In one letter, to be sold by the Heritage Auction Gallery, Brando praises Williams’ s play “Orpheus Descending” and expresses concern that success may affect Williams’ s literary output.“I think that it is the best play you have done so far,” he wrote. “I have been afraid for you sometimes, because success sings a deadly lullaby to most people.”Also discussed is the possibility of Brando starring alongside the Italian actress Anna Magnani in a production of the play, as well as Williams asking Brando about working with Magnani.Brando is dismissive about appearing in the play, crossing out half a paragraph and writing “ridiculous thought” next to it, and he puts the dramatist at ease about working with the actress. “Magnani doesn’t frighten me,” he wrote.The correspondence is part of a cache of Brando memorabilia acquired “directly from Marlon Brando’s estate,” the director of music and entertainment at Heritage, Doug Norwine, told The New York Sun. The gallery estimates the lot will be sold for $1,200 and higher.Among the other items is a third-draft copy of “The Godfather” screenplay signed and annotated by Brando. It was acquired through Brando’s assistant, Alice Marchak, who “would bring it to Brando’s dressing room during filming,” Mr. Norwine said. The script is dated March 29, 1971, and is estimated to fetch at least $50,000.Other Brando collectibles include an annotated screenplay for “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” his BAFTA Award in 1952 for “Viva Zapata!” and photographs taken on the set of “The Godfather.”Also up for auction are clothes worn by James Dean in “East of Eden,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” and “Giant,” from the James Dean Gallery in Fairmount, Ind., which are estimated to sell for between $15,000 and $20,000.“There is so much to get excited about in this auction,” Mr. Norwine said.

Letters to Tennessee Williams Show Unlikely Side of Brando

Letters to Tennessee Williams Show Unlikely Side of Brando

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