American Toby Jug Museum 

Marlon Brando character jug prototype version 1 designed by Eric Griffiths and produced by Royal Doulton of Burslem, England, in 1989 commissioned by UK International Ceramics for a proposed Great Film Stars Collection. Marlon Brando, Jr. (1924-2004) is considered by many the greatest actor of all time, rivaled only by the more theatrical Laurence Olivier in terms of esteem. Brando concentrated his talents on movies after bidding the Broadway stage adieu in 1949. Sixty years after he first scorched the screen in Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951), all American actors are still being measured by the yardstick that was Brando. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he honed acting as a child, play-acting to draw his intoxicated mother out of her stupor and to attract her attention and love. An incorrigible high-school dropout, he struck out for New York in 1943 to follow his sister Jocelyn into the acting profession. After becoming a magnetic presence on the stage, Brando was lured to Hollywood by director Elia Kazan for "Streetcar", for which he received the first of eight Academy Award nominations. He is best remembered for his early hit, "The Wild One" (1953), and for his Oscar winning movies "On The Waterfront" (1954) and "The Godfather" (1972), as well as his nominated performances in "Viva Zapata" (1952), "Julius Caesar" (1953) and "Last Tango in Paris" (1972). In later life Brando was an activist, supporting many issues, notably the American Civil Rights and various American Indian movements. Brando was the foremost example of the method acting style, and became notorious for his mumbling diction. But his mercurial performances elevated him to the top of all American film actors. Jack Nicholson once said, "When Marlon dies, everybody moves up one." A "The Wild One" filmstrip forms the handle of the jug.