''Songs My Mother Taught Me'' an autobiography by Marlon Brando with Robert Lindsey as co-author, published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

in 1994. The book deals with Brando's childhood, his memories of being a struggling actor and of his early relationships with family members and later with other actors, producers, and directors. He talks candidly about his sex life; but, notably, he shares relatively few details about his wives or children. Reportedly, the omission of details about his experiences as a husband and father was one of Brando's conditions for agreeing to submit his manuscript to the publisher, who paid the actor over a million dollars for the work. He does, though, recount his encounters with and impressions of such notable figures as

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh,

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

, Elizabeth Taylor,

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, John Huston, and many others. He also describes some aspects of his theatre work and films, although those descriptions tend to be succinct, characterised more by

anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...

s than step-by-step descriptions of production. The book contains Brando's comment on Jews in Hollywood, which caused considerable controversy: The response to Brando's comments was exacerbated by an interview he gave in 1996, in which he repeated the suggestion that Hollywood was controlled by Jews. In addition to English editions of the book, printings are available in several other languages, including

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, a translation done by Iranian actress and director

Niki Karimi Niki Karimi ( fa, نیکی کریمی; born November 10, 1971) is an Iranian actress, director, screenwriter and producer. Regarded as "the most prominent figure among the young generations coming after the Iranian Revolution", she has received v ...

in 1999.

References

1995 non-fiction books Show business memoirs Marlon Brando Collaborative autobiographies {{LGBT-book-stub