Brief obit: Actress Jocelyn Brando, 86, sister of Marlon Brando, died of natural causes on Sunday, Nov. 27, at her Santa Monica, Calif., home.
Following a good Broadway role as the head nurse in Mister Roberts in the late 1940s, the San Francisco native appeared in several motion pictures in the 1950s and 1960s, usually in minor roles.
Brando's best-remembered part is that of Glenn Ford's doomed wife in Fritz Lang's classic 1953 film noir The Big Heat. Additionally, she had roles in more than 50 television shows, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Virginian, and Little House on the Prairie, and had a recurring character in Dallas.
A couple of made-for-TV movies in which she can be spotted are A Question of Love (1978) and Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983).
Brando appeared in two films starring her brother, The Ugly American (1963) and The Chase (1966). Her last film role was in the 1981 campy melo Mommie Dearest, starring Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford.
Well, I remember her quite well in THE BIG HEAT. Can't say she was great in it, but she had a memorable role.
Brando wasn't a bad actress, but she usually didn't have much to do.
One of those faces you remember or recognize, but whose name doesn't quite ring a bell.