In 1946, Marlon Brando saw his “first hero” on Broadway. Francis Ford Coppola agreed and called him “the greatest” actor

Marlon Brando named Paul Muni the greatest actor he had seen, calling him his “first hero” after watching him on Broadway in 1946. Francis Ford Coppola shared Brando’s high regard, praising Muni as “the greatest actor of modern times”; their admiration reflects Muni’s influence on generations of performers.

Muni built his roles through intensive preparation, accents and makeup, drawing on his experience in Yiddish theatre and moving between stage and screen. In a career spanning 30 years, he appeared in fewer than two dozen films, earned five Best Actor Oscar nominations and won for The Story of Louis Pasteur in 1936. Al Pacino cited Muni as the blueprint for his performance in Scarface.