Perhaps the most venerated actor of the last 50 years, Marlon Brando has left the building.

His career exploded in the early 50’s with work on The Wild One, A Streetcar Named Desire and Julius Caesar. Films like these marked the dawn of a new era in film, the era of stars insisting everything be done their way.

While many of his performances on screen were inspired at times, almost surreal, little credit is given to directors who coaxed these kind of results out of him.

His role as Don Vito Corleone in the Godfather was sheer genius, bordering on flawless. What was less than perfect was the exacting toll on the Francis Ford Coppola, who not only had to endure Brando not showing up for weeks at a time, but when the actor did deign to appear, he required more than a month of work to determine the right approach for the role. It was a tactic he reprised during Apocalypse Now.

His advancing age did little to soften his attitude. More recently, Brando starred in The Score. Referring to Frank Oz the director as Miss Piggy, he refused to appear on the set if Oz was present.

Betcha lots of people wish they could get away with that at work huh? Sorry boss, I’m not doing anything as long as you are around.

Come to think of it, maybe Brando was onto something…