Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra were known to have a tumultuous relationship, which reportedly began during the production of the 1955 musical “Guys and Dolls”.
Sinatra was initially offered the leading role in the film, but it ultimately went to Brando. This reportedly angered Sinatra, who believed that Brando had “stolen” the part from him.
Their feud reportedly intensified on set, with Sinatra allegedly calling Brando “Mumbles” in an attempt to provoke him.
Brando, in turn, is said to have responded by pretending to forget his lines during a scene, forcing Sinatra to repeatedly eat pieces of cake.
According to one report, Brando was initially hesitant to star in a musical comedy, but was persuaded by Cary Grant to take the role in order to “put Sinatra in his place”.
The production process was reportedly far from smooth, with many sources claiming that Sinatra could not stand the presence of Brando on set.
Press outlets at the time also reportedly made fun of Brando for taking part in the film, which went against his established on-screen persona.
Sinatra’s anger was reportedly further amplified by the fact that Brando had recently won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in “On the Waterfront”.
The two actors reportedly refused to speak to each other directly, and communicated through intermediaries instead.
One of Brando’s friends, Carlo Fiore, claimed that things took a turn for the worse when Sinatra’s wife Ava Gardner spent time in Brando’s dressing room while Sinatra was not present.
Fiore claimed that this led to Brando being abducted by possible mafia associates of Sinatra.
He was reportedly confronted by three men at a rest stop, who pulled a gun on him and forced him into a car.
They reportedly took him for a ride and made threats against him before leaving him in the Hollywood Hills in a distressed condition.
Fiore claimed that Brando told him: “One of the goons told me he was going to offer me a choice. He could kill me, a quick and easy death with a bullet in the heart. Or else he’d let me live. If he let me live, he’d castrate me and carve up my face so that no plastic surgeon could ever repair it… Marlon told me he had never been so frightened in all his life, ‘I was sweating blood. I also shit my pants.'”
Despite the feud, “Guys and Dolls” was a success, but the animosity between Brando and Sinatra did not dissipate easily.
Years later, Brando reportedly angered Sinatra once again by taking the role of the Godfather in Francis Ford Coppola’s film, despite Sinatra having personally requested the role for himself.
Brando’s performance in the film was reportedly brilliant, and earned him another Academy Award.
