Brando's Indian Star Wife
Anna Kashfi, born as Joan O'Callaghan in the northern hill resort of Darjeeling in 1934, was yet another girl who sailed away from India to seek fame in Hollywood.
Throughout her life she insisted that William O'Callaghan (who worked in the Indian Railways) was her stepfather, that her real parents were a Devi Kashfi and Selma Ghose. Some reports suggest she had decided the best way to succeed in Hollywood was to hitch on to a big star...and that's how she met Brando in the commissary (restaurant) of a Hollywood studio.
Marlon Brando had made the big time with A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. He came from Lee Strasberg's Method School of Acting in New York. (James Dean and Al Pacino are among notable alumni of the School) which taught students to act out emotions without getting emotional, underplaying roles to create a powerful effect.
Marlon fell for Anna's dusky, exotic looks. She became his first wife. But their marriage was shortlived, tempestuous. They fought bitterly over custody of their son Christian Brando. Anna's brief Hollywood career was cut short by drug and alcohol problems. She died, aged 80, in August 2015.
Among her movies are The Mountain (1956) with Spencer Tracy and Robert Wagner and Battle Hymn with Rock Hudson. In Night of the Quarter Moon (1959) she plays the African-American wife of the renowned singer Nat 'King' Cole.
Throughout her life she insisted that William O'Callaghan (who worked in the Indian Railways) was her stepfather, that her real parents were a Devi Kashfi and Selma Ghose. Some reports suggest she had decided the best way to succeed in Hollywood was to hitch on to a big star...and that's how she met Brando in the commissary (restaurant) of a Hollywood studio.
Marlon Brando had made the big time with A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. He came from Lee Strasberg's Method School of Acting in New York. (James Dean and Al Pacino are among notable alumni of the School) which taught students to act out emotions without getting emotional, underplaying roles to create a powerful effect.
Marlon fell for Anna's dusky, exotic looks. She became his first wife. But their marriage was shortlived, tempestuous. They fought bitterly over custody of their son Christian Brando. Anna's brief Hollywood career was cut short by drug and alcohol problems. She died, aged 80, in August 2015.
Among her movies are The Mountain (1956) with Spencer Tracy and Robert Wagner and Battle Hymn with Rock Hudson. In Night of the Quarter Moon (1959) she plays the African-American wife of the renowned singer Nat 'King' Cole.
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Dreamy Tail-Lights:
New India Theme
A Revolutionary Theme, the people's inspired March to an Ek Desh India, lights up Dreams of One Country by Jagjit (and John Daniel). You can easily check it out on Amazon.com. If a transforming India theme appeals to you, venture to download the novel on any device - I-phone, pad or computer.
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