Johnny Carson’s tenure on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” produced many iconic moments.
In the new book, “Love Johnny Carson,” Carson’s superfan Mark Malkoff details some of the most legendary moments on the show, including a blowup between Hollywood juggernauts, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Marlon Brando.
According to the book, Brando and Gabor appeared on the show alongside one another in May 1963, when Carson filmed episodes of the show live from Burbank, California.
“Brando walked out drunk and sat down next to Johnny’s previous guest, socialite and actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, who had been promoting her new face cream,” Malkoff wrote.
While the two started off cordial, with Brando “calling Zsa Zsa fascinating and charming,” the love between them quickly faded, as Gabor began interrupting Brando constantly.
Things continued to spiral downward after Brando “told a weak knock-knock joke that garnered polite applause,” which Gabor pointed out, saying, “Only for Marlon Brando would they applaud for that.”
“Zsa Zsa changed the subject back to her face cream, rehashing the product’s incomparable benefits. ‘Are we going to have to sit here all night and listen to your crappy plugs?’ Brando asked,” according to the book.
Malkoff continues by saying that the conversation soon turned into an exchange of insults, after which “Zsa Zsa got up and stormed off the set,” while a still-drunk “Brando offered a sly smile.”
Brando is often regarded as one of the best actors of all-time. Throughout his career, the actor received eight Academy Award nominations, winning in 1955 and 1973 for his roles in “On the Waterfront” and “The Godfather,” respectively.
The actor worked in Hollywood for over 50 years and had over 40 credits to his name, including both feature films and television projects.
While he continued to act, Brando’s career slowed down in the 1980s and into the early 2000s, with his final on-screen performance being in the 2001 movie, “The Score.”
He died in July 2004 at the age of 80 from respiratory failure related to pulmonary fibrosis and congestive heart failure.
“Marlon Brando is one of the great men of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and we lesser mortals are obligated to cut through the s— and proclaim it,” Jack Nicholson told Rolling Stone in August 2004.
“This man has been my idol all of my professional life, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. The impact of movies is enormous, and his impact in the movies was bigger than anybody else’s – ever. Mr. Brando will be there forever – that’s all there is to it. He might not like that, but he’ll be there forever anyway.”
“To me, Marlon Brando was the greatest ever,” he later added. “That’s a truth I hold to be self-evident. But it’s like what Bum Phillips said once: ‘If he isn’t in a class by himself, it sure takes a very short time to call the roll.’”
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