Marlon Brando.

As Sean Penn said on Charlie Rose last night, he gave us revolutionary truth.

I gasped when I heard the news yesterday; I knew he had been ill, but I guess I never thought of him as being mortal. Actually, I'd like to think now that I was right.

Any time you visit with Vito Corleone, or Terry Malloy, or Stanley Kowalski, or Ken Wilcheck, Johnny Strandler, Major Penderton, Col. Kurtz, Fletcher Christian, Christian Diestl, Sky Masterson, George Lincoln Rockwell, Paul, Marc Antony, Harrison Carter MacWhite -- or even any of his so-called throwaway performances -- you discover something new, something revealing and exciting. Marlon Brando was that vivid, that complex, that alive.

There is music, wonderful music, and then there is Beethoven. Who knows why; who cares; it's a gift. An affirmation of life.

Thank you for your gift, Mr. Brando.