'The Godfather' actor Marlon Brando's breakup letter to fetch $15K at auction
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A letter written by Hollywood actor Marlon Brando, popular for playing Vito Corleone in the iconic film The Godfather, is being auctioned and it is expected to fetch at least $15,000.
A CNN report said it is a breakup letter written to Solange Podell, a French dancer and aspiring Broadway performer in the 1940s. Brando was romantically involved with her. The three-page letter is an attempt to end the relationship and is written with a pencil. They met in 1947 when Podell was invited backstage during a production of A Streetcar Named Desire.
The auction house said Brando and Podeel quickly formed a relationship but were taken on different paths by their ambitions and careers.
Boston's RR Auction is handling the sale and a statement from the house said the letter has a lot of spelling errors. "In order that you won't think me a complete boor, I am writing you this letter to explain that because of an erratic, flighty, fly-by-night, temperament, I wish not to humiliate and degrade your sentiments by seeing you only at my mood's convenience," read the letter.
"Please accept this letter with an open heart as it is written with forthright sincerity. I'm sorry I could not have tried harder to be less self-indulgent and therewith, a little more compatible. My intuitions were flawlessly scrupulous, but my emotions, unfortunately, unstable. I will remember you with fondness, regard, and appreciation. When we meet in France (perhaps in October) I trust my behavior will be a trifle more adult," wrote the Oscar-winning actor.
In the postscript, he sent regards to the woman's mother and signed it as "with warmest Marlon". "Please give my kind acknowledgements to your mother, if she'll accept them."
Marlon Brando is considered to be one of the most successful actors of the 20th century. He won two Oscars, two Golden Globes, and three British Academy Film Awards. He was married thrice and all three of them ended in divorce. He has eight biological children and three adopted children. He died in 2004 at the age of 2004.
Solange Podell worked as a dancer in Parisian cabarets in the early 1940s and did minor roles in several French movies. She was discovered by a US talent scout who suggested Hollywood to her. She stayed in California for a year before moving to New York for the next 10 years during which she worked for CBS Television broadcasting company.
She later took up photography and trained under Richard Avedon, an influential American fashion and fine art photographer. She became a postwar and contemporary artist. Her artworks have been auctioned multiple times. She died in March 2020.
