Marlon Brando, one of Hollywood's biggest stars, is the subject of a new BBC documentary called Imagine: Marlon Brando.
The film, airing tonight, delves into the troubled and misunderstood life of the iconic actor.
Brando's well-known s**ual appetite, shaped by his tumultuous childhood, is explored in the documentary, as well as the specific reasons behind his rejections of renowned beauties such as Liz Taylor and Sophia Loren.
Brando's unconventional desires were deeply rooted in his troubled upbringing, marked by an abusive father and an alcoholic mother.
These early experiences not only fueled his insecurities but also shaped his intense s**ual needs.
A recent book has even shed light on the specific reasons why Brando turned down famous women like Taylor and Loren.
Notoriously, Brando preferred to have multiple lovers simultaneously, a habit that stemmed from his close bond with his childhood housekeeper, Ermi.
Brando's intense attachment to her led to a s**ual relationship, with him confessing, “I sat there looking at her body and fondling her bre-sts, and arranged myself on her and crawled over her.
She was all mine; she belonged to me and me alone.
Had she known of my blinding worship of her, we would have married.”
Ermi, who was Danish and Indonesian, influenced Brando's preferences for brunettes and women of Asian, East Indian, Hispanic, black, or Jewish descent.
When Ermi left the family three years later, Brando was devastated and struggled to form lasting attachments.
He once wrote, “From that day forward, I became estranged from the world.
I spent most of the rest of my life trying to find her.”
Brando's numerous conquests often left women heartbroken, including Rita Moreno, who revealed that their affair nearly drove her to suicide.
Beyond his familial relationships, Brando's closest bond was with his lifelong friend Wally Cox, whom he met in school.
The two remained inseparable until Cox's death in 1973.
Brando kept Cox's ashes, which were later mixed with his own after his death in 2004.
Describing their friendship, Brando said, “I'm not sure I will ever forgive Wally for dying.
More than a friend; he was my brother, closer to me than any human being in my life except my sisters.
He taught me how to speak and to see in words the melodies of life.”
Upon Brando's death, a portion of his and Cox's ashes were combined and scattered in Death Valley.
However, despite his numerous relationships and encounters, Brando's most infamous s**ual experience remains the controversial butter rape scene from the film Last Tango in Paris.
Actress Maria Schneider spoke out years later, claiming that Brando and director Bernardo Bertolucci withheld explicit details of the scene from her prior to shooting.
While Brando never concealed his relationships with other men, he never documented the details of his encounters with them, unlike his comprehensive notes on his female conquests.
Rumor has it that his list included prominent stars like James Dean, Cary Grant, and Rock Hudson.
Additionally, Brando divulged his reasons for rejecting certain famous actresses, leaving many to wonder about the intricate complexities of his love life.
