Brando, Marlon

Fresh Air marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Puzo's novel by listening back to our '96 interview with Puzo, and our '16 interview with Coppola, who adapted the novel into the film.

Francis Ford Coppola was 29 years old and broke when he was asked to direct The Godfather, based on the bestselling novel by Mario Puzo. The notes he kept for himself during the making of The Godfather have been collected into a new book.

At this year's Toronto International Film Festival, the director of Apocalypse Now and the iconic Godfather films shared memories and anecdotes with a sold-out crowd.

Biographer Peter Manso has written "Brando: The Biography," the result of seven years of research and over 700 interviews. It tells the story of Brando as a man with a hidden troubled life. Mans is also the author of an oral biography of Norman Mailer.

Novelist and theater and film director Elia Kazan. He directed Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront," and James Dean in "East of Eden." He was a member of the Group Theater and co-founded the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg.