Reno Evening Gazette
Brando: ‘Something obscene’
November 27, 1974
NEW YORK (AP) – Marlon Brando said he thought there was “something obscene” in getting all dressed up to talk about a suffering people “but how else are we going to raise money and call attention to the Indian cause?”
And so, dressed in a blue velvet jacket, red turtle neck with a turquoise necklace, Brando was host to a gathering of 300 guests who paid up to $250 to aid the American Indian Development Association.
It was called the First Americans Gala held at the Waldorf Astoria where Indian chiefs in magnificent headdresses mingled with celebrities like guest of honor Ethel Kennedy, her sister-in-law, Mrs. Stephen Smith, pop singer Bette Midler, artist Larry Rivers, writer George Plimpton and talk show host Dick Cavett, who said he was an adopted Crow and an adopted Sioux.
Brando’s date was Lucy Saroyan, actress and daughter of writer William Saroyan
