The best Marlon Brando roles of all time

Brando was nominated for Best Actor at the Golden Globes for this comedy that pokes fun of the American occupation of Okinawa following the end of World War II. Brando, who plays a wacky interpreter to the local citizens, proved his versatility standing out in a comedic role. However, an American actor could not get away with a role like this this today as film critics over the years panned Brando's character as quite politically incorrect.

As we'll see, Brando had no problem taking on historical figures during his illustrious career. Here, he plays infamous French military leader Napoleon, who also happened to be a former fiancée for Désirée Clary, the Queen of Sweden and Norway and subject of this Henry Koster picture. While the movie received a collectively lukewarm critical reception, Brando and Jean Simmons, as Clary, were praised for the way they handled the portrayal of such complex characters.

It's hard to tell which was more appealing: Brando's performance in this Sidney Lumet film or the famous snakeskin jacket he wore in the film? Brando's character, a guitar-playing drifter who is running from the law, got the nickname from the jacket. While active during the 1960s, Brando did not enjoy the individual success from his legendary 1950s work or what was to come in the '70s, but this is one of his better efforts from the decade.

Another 1960s offering, One-Eyed Jacks marked the first and only time Brando served as director on a film. Fun fact: Stanley Kubrick was originally slated to direct this Western about the fates of a bank-robbing trio. The movie played to mixed reviews, but Brando was consistently hailed for a realistic approach to both his direction and starring role. Co-star Karl Malden should not be slighted for his performance, either.

Another Golden Globe nomination came Brando's way for his part in a movie that even some hardcore fans of the legendary actor might have trouble remembering. While the movie might be a forgotten one amid his overall arsenal, Brando is worthy of the individual praise he garnered as an American ambassador working in a Southeast Asian country where he's caught in the middle of the fight between communism and democracy. 

The final film of Brando's career, The Score was released a little less than three years before he passed away on July 1, 2004, at age 80. Robert De Niro — on film with Brando for the only time in their careers,  though they obviously played the same role in that legendary mobster sequel decades earlier — Edward Norton and Angela Bassett are the stars. Brando plays a veteran fence working with De Niro's Nick Wells and Norton's Jack Teller on one-last big heist for the former. Though not the focal point of the picture, Brando was hailed for his entertaining performance. Also, it was truly special to see him share screen time with another legend like De Niro.

Another latter day Brando movie, and another opportunity to show off his comedic chops. There are also numerous fun references to one of Brando's past legendary roles (Can you figure out each one?) in this movie, in which he stars as a mafia figure (a.k.a. "Jimmy The Toucan") who owns the mysterious Gourmet Club. Brando is brilliant as taking on this more light-hearted turn as a mobster, and his on-screen relationship with co-star Matthew Broderick is fun to watch. 

Based on the beloved Broadway musical, Guys and Dolls was as popular on the big screen as on stage. While some critics felt the casting of Brando was not the right call, considering his earlier, more dramatic and masculine roles, Brando more than held his own alongside fellow stars Frank Sinatra and Jean Simmons. He sang all the songs himself, and he looked pretty comfortable in somewhat of an unorthodox role for him at the time.

Brando's screen presence in this Richard Donner classic is relatively brief, but it was certainly impactful. Naturally frightened about the impending doom of his home planet Krypton, Brando's Jor-El is calmly stoic and fatherly, knowing the only way to save his potentially powerful son Kal-El (a.k.a. Superman) is to place the baby into a mini spacecraft and send him out to Earth before his planet explodes. Even in limited time, Brando is memorable as the man who bestowed Superman upon the world. 

One of Brando's earliest roles, and also among his most iconic. Though Brando did not earn any Oscar love for this performance, his character is considered one of the pioneers in terms of kick-starting the outlaw motorcycle/biker gang genre of films that would become popular the rest of the 1950s, throughout the '60s, and into the '70s. There was not a cooler actor on the planet during the 1950s than Brando, and this was another example of that thinking.

Amid all the screen greatness Brando delivered during the 1950s, perhaps this role, as a conflicted German soldier in World War II, is one that tends to be lost in the mix. It's quite the emotional role for Brando, whose character is dedicated to serving his country but becomes disheartened with the direction and belief of the German military under Adolf Hitler. Brando earned a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor, and the project is still considered one of the great World War II movies of all time.

Brando's eighth and final Academy Award nomination came via A Dry White Season. It was also the only time during his cinematic career that he was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category. (The rest came for Best Actor.) Brando stars as lawyer Ian McKenzie, who plays well off leading man Donald Sutherland in this dramatic and sometimes disturbing film with South African apartheid as its main subject matter.

During the 1950s, Brando earned Oscar nominations for Best Actor on five occasions. This was the last of those considerations during the decade. Brando is no doubt superb as an American Korean War fighter pilot who inconveniently falls in love with a popular Japanese dancer. He's an obvious highlight of the movie, but it was co-stars Red Buttons and Miyoshi Umeki who both took home Academy Awards for their supporting roles.

Our first mention of Brando's working relationship with fellow legend, the multi-faceted director Elia Kazan. Another literary legend, John Steinbeck, wrote this fictional chronicle of the infamous Mexican revolutionary. The picture romanticized Zapata, making him attractive to Hollywood, while taking liberties with actual accounts of his life. Brando, who delivered the kind of grandiose performance Kazan expected from the star, earned a second consecutive Best Actor Oscar nomination for the role.

Working with more Hollywood heavyweights in director Joseph L. Mankiewicz and producer John Houseman, Brando's 1950s dominance continued. This was the third in Brando's four-year run in which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. While this version hardly veers from the renowned Shakespearean play, Brando delivered a spot-on performance. It almost seemed as if he had channeled the infamous Roman politician to become one with the part. Mark Antony's Forum speech remains a highlight of the film.

Raw, passionate and highly controversial. Those are just a few words to describe this early 1970s erotic drama that earned Brando his seventh and final Best Actor Oscar nomination. Starring as a widowed, middle-aged hotel owner staying in Paris, Brando's Paul has a torrid, sexual relationship with an engaged local woman (Maria Schneider). For a man pushing 50 at the time, it's quite the unbridled performance from Brando, who completely gets into the role. He even seems too into the part at times. 

No doubt, this was Brando's most unnerving role but also one of his most memorable. Col. Kurtz is a highly decorated member of the United States Special Forces, but too much war has enveloped his mind. He's gone off the deep end during the Vietnam War and formed his own army of Cambodian natives. Now, Capt. Willard (Martin Sheen), backed by a group of forgotten U.S. soldiers, is tasked to take out the crazed Colonel — with "extreme prejudice." Brando did not earn any major-award love, but his performance essentially introduced him to a new generation of moviegoers.

In Brando's second feature film, he earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor — the first of four in a row. Of course, the film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' famed play featured Brando playing the same iconic character he portrayed on stage — before movie fans really knew anything about him. Elia Kazan directed both the stage and movie versions, which featured some changes from the original production. This was essentially the moment that got the ball rolling on Brando's historic film legacy.

After failing to win the Best Actor Oscar after being nominated three consecutive years from 1951-53, Brando finally was awarded the prize by the Academy. The fight for Terry "I coulda been a contender" Malloy continues even though his boxing days have finished, and this extremely flawed character is still one who's hard to root against. Again working with Elia Kazan and opposite Eva Marie Saint, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance, Brando delivers what critics have long considered one of the greatest individual acting performances in film history. 

Some 18 years after his first Oscar victory for Best Actor, Brando is honored again for his part in what tends to be crowned the greatest movie of all time. Don Vito Corleone might be the most recognizable and memorable character in film history. Mostly because the role spanned generations of movie fans, and still resonates with audiences today. Don Corleone is compassionate, yet ruthless, humorous, yet frightening. He's responsible for some of the most quoted lines in Hollywood history, and he commands respect from the first moment he appears on screen.