Marlon Brando Once Called This Actor His “First Hero”: “The Best Acting I Ever Saw in My Life”

Marlon Brando may have been one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors, but even he had heroes. Among his favorite actors were James Cagney, John Barrymore, Fredric March, and Spencer Tracy. Yet, none of them impressed him as much as Paul Muni, the man who originally played Scarface.

Brando first met Muni when they worked together in 1946 on the stage production A Flag Is Born. Speaking about that experience, Brando said Muni’s performance was “the best acting I ever saw in my life.”

In a later interview with actor and comedian Alan King, Brando was asked who he thought was the greatest actor he had ever seen. He replied, “[Paul] Muni, my first hero. Probably because my parents had taken me to the Yiddish theatre to see him when his name was still Muni Weisenfreund. I got to know him toward the end of his life, when he was doing Inherit the Wind on Broadway.”

Paul Muni was born Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund on September 22, 1895, in Chicago. He began acting in Yiddish theatre before moving into film. In 1929, he signed with Fox, and his name was shortened to Paul Muni, taken from his nickname “Moony.”

His very first film, The Valiant (1929), earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, but despite the praise, the movie did poorly at the box office. His second film, Seven Faces, was also a financial failure. Disappointed with the roles Hollywood was offering, Muni returned to Broadway, where he found success with the hit play Counsellor at Law.

He returned to Hollywood in the early 1930s to star in a series of provocative films. In 1932, he played the lead in Scarface, directed by Howard Hawks and written by Ben Hecht. The movie became part of the golden age of gangster films.

Decades later, actor Al Pacino spoke about the impact Muni had on him, saying, “The film just stopped me in my tracks. All I wanted to do was imitate Paul Muni. His acting went beyond the boundaries of naturalism into another kind of expression. It was almost abstract what he did. It was almost uplifting.”

That same year, Muni starred in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, which told the story of a man wrongfully imprisoned and struggling to clear his name. His performance earned him another Oscar nomination and won him widespread praise. Warner Bros. signed him to a long-term contract, promoting him as “the screen’s greatest actor.”

In 1936, Muni convinced Warner Bros. to take a chance on a historical drama, The Story of Louis Pasteur. The film was a major success, and Muni won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the scientist who developed the rabies vaccine.

He continued his streak of acclaimed historical roles, playing writer Émile Zola in The Life of Emile Zola (1937), which won Best Picture, and Mexican president Benito Juárez in Juarez (1939).

Muni also starred in The Good Earth (1937), an adaptation of Pearl Buck’s novel, where he played a poor Chinese farmer. Aware of his lack of Chinese heritage, Muni reportedly told producer Irving Thalberg, “I’m about as Chinese as [President] Herbert Hoover.”

By the 1940s, Muni began stepping away from Hollywood, unhappy with the studio system. He appeared in only a few more films, including A Song to Remember (1945), where he played the teacher of Frédéric Chopin, and Angel on My Shoulder (1946), one of his rare comic roles.

Muni’s final stage work included Inherit the Wind on Broadway, where Brando visited him toward the end of his life. He died on August 25, 1967, leaving behind a legacy of powerful performances and an influence that reached generations of actors.

Brando never forgot the impact Muni had on him. Both men shared an ability to bring quiet strength and emotional truth to their work, whether on stage or in front of the camera. As Brando once put it, Muni wasn’t just great, he was unforgettable.

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