Why he should never be counted among the greatest actors

Never heard the earpiece story, but he did use cue cards, sometimes. It's irrelevant. He was an instinctive actor who shone like a laser in his early career, until Waterfront, after which he seemed to lose interest in acting. He even said a number of times, We're all actors, from childhood on. After Waterfront, he was in it for the money and took a lot of crappy parts, lost a lot of his money thru bad investments by his father, and had to keep going to earn more. Still, his instincts shone thru, even in the crappiest roles.

But to say he was a hack? No. Why do you think actors from his generation and later called him the greatest American actor.? Do you think he fooled them all?

That was late in his career, when he didn't give a shit anymore. Back when he was really acting, in good movies, he memorized his lines and put in a sincere effort.

Brando explained in his autobiography why he put Post-It notes nearby when he was performing a scene and, in his later days, used an earpiece:

He noticed that other actors blew all their energy BEFORE filming commenced, pacing the periphery of the sets while memorizing their lines word-for-word. By the time they got to shoot the scene they had lost their edge. Brando learned to build-up his mojo for the actual filming of the sequence, which is the most important moment of acting. Rather than rigidly memorizing scripted dialogue, he gave the gist of the line in a spontaneous manner, which made it seem more genuine when shot.

Say what you will, but this method worked in spades and it’s why he’s known as the greatest actor ever (or, at least, one of the greatest).

STELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

No need to slam him, but I was never a fan of Brando; and then when he got disgustingly obese there was no chance. There's movie he was in that I liked,
and those that I did not like. He was adequate even good.