The Lady Who Mentored the Godfather

As an arrogant and headstrong person, and someone trained by equally eccentric, headstrong and arrogant teachers, I have always insisted on paying respects to only those teachers who deserve it. I have also always considered Marlon Brando as a very arrogant person. And so, when he owes his acting capabilities to someone, I take it at face value, because an arrogant bastard won't bestow honors on someone who does not deserve it!

Interestingly, our lady is one of the onyl two people that Brando acknowledges as his mentor in acting, the other being Elia Kazzan. (Of course, the only person whose dialogues Brando committed to memery instead of trying to improvise was Tennessee Williams because, accroding to Brando, one could not mess around with what Shakespeare had written and so with Williams!)

She was Brando's first influential acting teacher. Brando met her through his sister, Jocelyn, who was studying drama with Adler, and he decided to take drama as well. Brando had been considered unsuitable for the army and had been expelled from the military school that his father had sent him to. She, however, believed when she met Brando that he would be the best American actor in theater before the end of the year.

She proved it!

If one looks at the actors she trained over the years, one sees the level of training and perfection she imparted to her trainees. Maybe that's why she said, "Life beats down and crushes the soul, and Art reminds you that you have one."

In memorium: Stella Adler (Feb. 10, 1901 - Dec. 21, 1992)

___________________________________________________________________
Souerces:
http://imdb.com/name/nm0012245/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Adler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantin_Stanislavski