Jocelyn Brando

Jocelyn Brando (November 18, 1919 – November 27, 2005) was an American actress and writer. She is best known for her role as Katie Bannion in the film noir The Big Heat (1953).

Jocelyn Brando
Brando in The Big Heat (1953)
Born(1919-11-18)November 18, 1919[1]
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 27, 2005(2005-11-27) (aged 86)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Years active1942–1983
Spouse(s)
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(div. 1950)​

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(m. 1950; div. 1955)​
Children2
RelativesMarlon Brando (brother)

Early life

Brando, the older sister of Marlon Brando,[2] was born in San Francisco, California,[3] to Marlon Brando Sr. and Dorothy Julia Pennebaker. She and her brother and their sister, Frances, grew up mostly in the Midwest - Omaha, Nebraska, Evanston, Illinois, and Libertyville, Illinois, although the family also spent time in California.

The bane of the children's existence was the alcoholism of both parents, which was particularly acute with their mother, who later became a leader in Alcoholics Anonymous. Although Jocelyn, a talented actress, was blacklisted for having signed a peace petition, she managed a career that spanned five decades in the theater, film and television.

She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[4]

Career

Brando came to the stage naturally, first appearing in a theatrical production under the direction of her mother, who was a principal in an Omaha community theater group. Her mother, Dorothy Brando, had given Henry Fonda his start in theater in this same group. She made her Broadway debut in The First Crocus[3] at the Longacre Theatre on January 2, 1942; the play closed after five performances. Her next appearance on Broadway came two months after her younger brother began his role as Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.

Even before that, however, in the fall of 1947, both Jocelyn and Marlon would become two of the first fifty or so members of New York's newly formed Actors Studio, Jocelyn studying with Elia Kazan, Marlon with Robert Lewis.[5]

On February 18, 1948, she appeared in her second role on Broadway. She played Navy nurse Lieutenant Ann Girard in Mister Roberts, which starred family friend Henry Fonda in the eponymous title role. The play was a smash hit, running about three years (1157 performances).

She did not complete the run of the play, appearing in the comedy The Golden State in the 1950-51 season, a flop that lasted but 25 performances, followed by a critically acclaimed, but commercially unsuccessful 1952 revival of Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms, which ran for only 46 performances. Brando would later appear in a Broadway revival of O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra.

Back in uniform as a military officer, she made her film debut in Don Siegel's war drama, China Venture (1953). When she first arrived in Hollywood, she gave an interview in which she commented on her brother's advice - or lack of it - to the tyro film actress: "Marlon is a sweet fellow, and he works very hard. I asked him for a tip about pictures, and he answered, 'Oh, I just say the words. That's all I know about picture acting.' He probably was smart at that to let me find my own way."[3]

It was her second film that was her best-known movie role: detective Glenn Ford's wife in Fritz Lang's The Big Heat (1953). She also appeared in supporting roles in two of her brother's films, The Ugly American (1963) and The Chase (1965).

In the late 1960s, Jocelyn joined the cast of the CBS soap opera, Love of Life, where she created the role of Mrs. Krakauer, mother of Tess (Toni Bull Bua) and Mickey (Alan Feinstein). On primetime television, she played the recurring role of Mrs. Reeves on Dallas. Other television series that featured her work include Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Wagon Train, Riverboat, The Virginian, Kojak and Little House on the Prairie.

Her final film role was in Mommie Dearest.[6]

In later life, Brando ran her own bookstore in Santa Monica, California, known as The Book Bin. She wrote poetry and conducted workshops at her home in the Intensive Journal method, a self-therapy technique developed by Ira Progoff.

Personal life and death

Brando was divorced from Don Hanmer on April 4, 1950.[7] On April 13, 1950, Brando married salesman Eliot T. Asinof in Tarrytown, New York.[8] She had two sons, Gahan Hanmer (by Hanmer) and Martin Asinof (by Asinof).[3] She died at her Santa Monica home on November 27, 2005, at age 86, from natural causes.[6]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1953China VentureLt. Ellen Wilkins
1953The Big HeatKatie Bannion
1955Ten Wanted MenCorinne Michaels
1956NightfallLaura Fraser
1957Official DetectiveThelmaTV Series, 1 episode
1958Step Down to TerrorLily Kirby
1961The Explosive GenerationMrs. RykerUncredited
1963The Ugly AmericanEmma Atkins
1965Bus Riley's Back in TownMrs. Riley
1966The ChaseMrs. Briggs
1978Movie MovieMama Popchik
Mrs. Updike		(segment "Dynamite Hands")
(segment "Baxter's Beauties of 1933")
1979Good Luck, Miss WyckoffMrs. Hemmings
1980Why Would I Lie?Mrs. Crumpe
1981Mommie DearestBarbara Bennett
1981Dark Night of the ScarecrowMrs. RitterTV movie
1983Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't LandMrs. HarveyTV movie, (final film role)

References
  1. Porter, Darwin (2006). Brando Unzipped. Blood Moon Productions, Ltd. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-9748118-2-6. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  2. "Brando's Tragic Family Values". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC: 9. 1 May 1995. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  3. Oliver, Myrna (December 4, 2005). "Jocelyn Brando, 86, actress on film, TV, Marlon's sister". The Boston Globe. The Los Angeles Times. p. 49. Retrieved October 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Roberts, Paul G. (2 October 2014). Style Icons Vol 1 Golden Boys. Fashion Industry Broadcast. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-62776-032-4. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  5. Robert Lewis (1996) [1984]. "Actors Studio, 1947". Slings and Arrows: Theater in My Life. New York: Applause Books. p. 183. ISBN 1-55783-244-7. At the end of the summer, on Gadget's return from Hollywood, we settled the roster of actors for our two classes in what we called the Actors Studio - using the word 'studio' as we had when we named our workshop in the Group, the Group Theatre Studio. Kazan's people met twice a week and included, among others, Julie Harris, Jocelyn Brando, Cloris Leachman, James Whitmore, Joan Copeland, Steven Hill, Lou Gilbert, Rudy Bond, Anne Hegira, Peg Hillias, Lenka Peterson, Edward Binns, and Tom Avera. My group, meeting three times a week, consisted of Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Maureen Stapleton, Eli Wallach, Mildred Dunnock, Jerome Robbins, Herbert Berghof, Tom Ewell, John Forsythe, Anne Jackson, Sidney Lumet, Kevin McCarthy, Karl Malden, E.G. Marshall, Patricia Neal, Beatrice Straight, David Wayne, and - well, I don't want to drop names, so I'll stop there. In all, there were about fifty.
  6. The Associated Press (November 30, 2005). "Jocelyn Brando, Actress, Is Dead at 86". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  7. "Jocelyn Brando to Be Wed". The New York Times. April 6, 1950. p. 43. Retrieved October 5, 2020 – via ProQuest.
  8. "Jocelyn Brando Married". The New York Times. April 15, 1950. p. 10. Retrieved October 5, 2020 – via ProQuest.
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