Claim: Marlon Brando is an actor.

A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams that received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948 . The play opened on Broadway on December 3 , 1947 , and closed on December 17 , 1949 , in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre . The Broadway production was directed by Elia Kazan and starred Jessica Tandy , Marlon Brando , Karl Malden , and Kim Hunter . The London production opened in 1949 with Bonar Colleano , Vivien Leigh , and Renee Asherson and was directed by Laurence Olivier . The drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often regarded as among the finest plays of the 20th century , and is considered by many to be one of Williams ' greatest .