Marlon Brando was in a movie.
The Academy Awards , now known officially as the Oscars , is a set of twenty-four awards for artistic and technical merit in the American film industry , given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ( AMPAS ) , to recognize excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy 's voting membership . Marlon Brando . He is credited with bringing realism to film acting . On the Waterfront is a 1954 American crime drama film directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg . It stars Marlon Brando and features Karl Malden , Lee J. Cobb , Rod Steiger , Pat Henning , and , in her film debut , Eva Marie Saint . Superman (1978 film) . Superman stars Marlon Brando , Gene Hackman , Christopher Reeve , Margot Kidder , Glenn Ford , Phyllis Thaxter , Jackie Cooper , Trevor Howard , Marc McClure , Terence Stamp , Valerie Perrine , and Ned Beatty .