Marlon Brando Ate This Steak Dinner Paired With An Unexpected Drink

He was the star of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Godfather," but those close to Marlon Brando also knew he was a man with a prodigious appetite for food. He may not have been among the famous patrons of this L.A. steakhouse favored by Walt Disney, but Brando did enjoy chowing down on a hunk of beef from time to time. When he did, it wasn't accompanied by his preferred cocktail (that would be a blend of Scotch whisky and amaretto later named The Godfather). It was, in fact, a glass of milk.

According to actor Karl Malden, who starred alongside Brando in the 1961 movie "One-Eyed Jacks," his co-star's evening meal consisted of a couple of steaks served with potatoes, followed by two servings of apple pie with ice cream, all washed down with a quart of milk (per "Hollywood Hellraisers"). If you're surprised that a man of Brando's stature drank milk with his dinner, he's not the only one. Bruce Springsteen also sips milk while chowing down on his favorite sando, the classic PB&J.

As lovers of an ice-cold glass of milk, we can see the appeal of drinking it while eating a thick, juicy steak, because the creaminess pairs nicely with the silky meat. The wrong wine or beer can clash with the flavor of the beef, while milk will quench our thirst and let that steak shine.

Brando had been a fan of milk since his teenage years, when he would devour peanut butter-slathered bread with the stuff. Even after he hit the big time in the 1950s, the quart of milk would help him scarf lots of cinnamon buns or Mallomars, though his breakfast cornflakes would be served with cream. 

Brando wasn't the only Hollywood star to have a huge appetite. The whopping Fool's Gold Loaf was one of Elvis Presley's faves when he ate out, and Orson Welles was a known gastronome. While Brando's palate ran to perhaps humbler foods than Welles', his taste for milk could be traced back to his childhood in Libertyville and the time he spent caring for the family's dairy cow, Violet, who provided the Brandos with milk.

In fact, the actor had a penchant for all things dairy, famously breaking the lock his second wife put on their refrigerator (presumably to curtail his eating) and leaving toothmarks in a wheel of Brie cheese. Brando was also a prodigious consumer of ice cream, and legend has it the sweet frozen treat was partly responsible for him tearing more than 50 pairs of pants while filming "Mutiny on the Bounty." We wonder if, as the man who played Jor-El in the 1978 "Superman" film, Brando happened to like the flavor of the ice cream that shares the movie's name?