Brando's Rebel audition unearthed

A little-known audition by Marlon Brando for the lead role in Rebel Without a Cause, which later went to James Dean, has come to light.

Brando did a screen test for the role of teenager Jim Stark in 1947 for an unmade version of the film, eight years before Dean's version was released.

Biographers are unsure why the actor, who did not make his film debut until 1950, did not progress with the role.

The test is included in a new DVD of A Streetcar Named Desire, due out in May.

Cultural icon

Warner Brothers, which is releasing the DVD, says the audition came from an earlier attempt to make Rebel Without a Cause.

After several versions failed to get Rebel Without a Cause off the ground, director Nicholas Ray's version was released in 1955, with Dean in the lead role.

The film was released after Dean died in a car crash in September 1955.

The actor made only two other films, but the roles as angry outsiders ensured he remained a hugely popular cultural icon.

Brando's stage career began in 1944, and three years later, at the age of 23, he won the role of Stanley Kowalski in the Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

The role brought him great acclaim and the attention of Hollywood, but Brando turned down many film roles despite taking auditions.

The actor, who died in 2004, eventually made his screen debut as a disabled war veteran in The Men.

Other screen highlights in a career spanning more than 40 films included The Wild One, On the Waterfront and Guys and Dolls.