BRANDO: It happened to Marlon Brando, according...

BRANDO: It happened to Marlon Brando, according to his new autobiography. . . . Brando was doing research for “The Men,” a 1950 film about disabled war veterans. So he admitted himself to the old Birmingham Veterans Hospital in Van Nuys--now the site of Birmingham High. One evening, Brando, who had confined himself to a wheelchair, joined some disabled vets for dinner at an Italian restaurant on Ventura Boulevard. But they were confronted by a woman who took pity on them, reassuring them that God would save them. “I know you boys will be able to walk someday,” she insisted.

MORE BRANDO: This irritated the vets, who were only looking for a night out on the town. “They were really getting sick of her,” Brando writes, so in a stunt that cracked them up, he suddenly told the woman he did believe. “I got up and started tap dancing, then ran around the restaurant and sprinted out the door shouting, ‘Hallelujah!’ ”

QUAKE RIPPLES: These are good times for Valley contractors and laborers, such as Kristen Van Derck (above), repairing a Granada Hills home. Quake victims can finally pay for repairs. But the high demand causes homeowners to wait weeks or months to get work done. . . . Quake damage has also disrupted escrows and loans. See Valley Business, pages 10, 12.

HERE’S STEVE: Most people associate “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson or Jay Leno. But Encino’s Steve Allen actually hosted the first telecast, 40 years ago today. Allen, 72, will be Leno’s guest tonight. . . . Allen has no regrets over leaving the show in 1957. He did a comedy show on prime time, and, he said in an interview Monday, hasn’t “been out of work since.”

CHINESE GUESTS: The first day in a new school can be pretty scary. But what if home is in China? That was the task Monday for 75 sixth-graders visiting Hale Middle School in Woodland Hills (B1). . . . They have adjusted well, though one child tried to stuff a $50 bill into a Coke machine over the weekend.