Marlon Brando dropped this battered address book on the stage of New York's Barrymore Theatre while appearing in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1949.
The loss of the book must have been significant to the young actor. Brando scrawled on the flyleaf: "On bended knee I beg you to return this. I lost eight others already and if I lose this I'll just drop dead!" Underneath this plea, he wrote an address - "47 W. 47th N.Y.C." - which he then crossed out and updated with "37 W. 52."
Sadly for latter-day snoops, Brando mostly stuck to first names in recording his contacts ("Janice," "Sandra," "Kay"). Notables listed by both first and last name include Ellen Adler (famed acting teacher Stella's daughter and Brando's sometime girlfriend) and "Jimmy Baldwin" (the writer James Baldwin, who was Brando's longtime friend).
The play's production manager, Robert Downing, picked the book up off the stage and - for reasons lost to history - kept it, despite Brando's desperate note. The book ended up at the University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center with the rest of Downing's papers.
Thanks to Helen Baer and Jennifer Tisdale of the Harry Ransom Center.
Community News Network
Related Photos
-
Marlon Brando dropped this battered address book on the stage of New York's Barrymore Theatre while appearing in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1949. Despite his warning, he did not drop dead.
Discussion
When Marlon Brando lost his little black book
- Community News Network
-
-
Is it really possible to not know you're pregnant until the birth?
Trish Staine had just finished running 10 miles while training for a half-marathon when she started going into labor. The mother of three said she hadn't gained any weight or felt any fetal movement in the months before and had no idea she was pregnant. Is it possible for a woman not to know she's pregnant before she starts giving birth?
-
VIDEO: Amphibious bus filled with tourists sinks
In Liverpool, England, a "duck bus" -- which is supposed to be amphibious -- sank while full of tourists.
-
State photo-ID databases become troves for police
The faces of more than 120 million people are in searchable photo databases that state officials assembled to prevent driver's-license fraud but that increasingly are used by police to identify suspects, accomplices and even innocent bystanders in a wide range of criminal investigations.
-
VIDEO: Miss Utah flubs answer on income inequality
Responding to an interview question in Sunday's Miss USA Pageant, Miss Utah Marissa Powell says the country needs to "create education better."
-
When trust in Uncle Sam takes a beating, workers are bruised
The recent spate of controversies - revelations about the massive collection of electronic data by the National Security Agency, the Internal Revenue Service's political targeting and conference scandals, and the seizure of Associated Press telephone records - undermines confidence in government.
-
VIDEO: You won't believe how much Google interns are paid
Many interns work for free. Not at Google.
-
Purchases by dementia sufferers put stores in quandary
An increasing number of lawsuits have been filed across Japan against department stores that allowed unusual purchases to be made by elderly people with dementia.
-
VIDEO: Plane slams through hangar after wrong turn
A small passenger plane crashed through a hangar at the Chino, Calif. airport after the pilot apparently lost control during an engine test.
-
Lucky customers pay only 44 cents a gallon for gas
Due to a technical error that lasted nearly two hours, premium pumps at a Marathon station were priced roughly $4 below where they should have been.
-
VIDEO: National anthem singer gets hit with racial tweets
After 11-year-old Sebastian De La Cruz sang the national anthem at game three of the NBA finals, rascist tweets poured in. Some tweets questioned De La Cruz's right to be in the country, to which he said: "People don't know, they just assume that I'm just Mexican, but I'm not from Mexico, I'm from San Antonio, born and raised."
- More Community News Network Headlines
-
Obama: NSA Secret Data Gathering 'Transparent'
Man Who Disrupted Flight Ranted About CIA
Feds: 7-Eleven Stores Exploited Immigrants
Fla. Teen Catches Ride With Whale Shark
G8 Leaders Huddle on Syria
Raw: Obama, Putin Meet at G8
Iran's Rowhani Urges 'Path of Moderation'
Daughter: Mandela Doing 'Very Well'
Investigators Probe Origin of Colo. Wildfire
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
'Game of Thrones' Boosts N. Ireland
Raw: Prince Philip Leaves Hospital After Surgery
Zimmerman Jury Selection Turns to Media Exposure
Raw: FBI Meets Plane After Poison Threat
Family Tweets Say Kim Kardashian Gives Birth
US, EU Leaders Announce Free Trade Talks
