Jocelyn Brando

Jocelyn Brando
Brando in The Big Heat (1953)
Born	(1919-11-18)November 18, 1919[1] San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died	November 27, 2005(2005-11-27) (aged 86) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1942–1983
Spouse(s)	Don Hanmer ​ ​ (div. 1950)​ Eliot Asinof ​ ​ (m. 1950; div. 1955)​
Children	2
Relatives	Marlon Brando (brother)

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).

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]} Although Jocelyn, a talented actress, was blacklisted for having signed a peace petition, she managed a career which spanned five decades in the theater, film and television.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]} She made her Broadway debut in ^[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.^{[citation needed]}

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).^{[citation needed]}

She did not complete the run of the play, appearing in the comedy The Golden State in the 1950-51 season, a flop which lasted only 25 performances, followed by a critically acclaimed, though 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 which 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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[]

References[]

External links[]

• Jocelyn Brando at IMDb
• Jocelyn Brando at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jocelyn Brando at AllMovie
• Jocelyn Brando at Find a Grave