Marlon Brando’s Family Couldn’t Stop Arguing After the Tragic Death of His ‘No. 1 Son’

People may remember Marlon Brando for his role in iconic films like The Godfather. He played Vito Corleone, and the part won him an Oscar.

The legendary actor has met multiple celebrities like Marilyn Monroe. Brando once mentioned that he got to know Charlie Chaplin, whom he stated was a cruel person on set. 

Brando had multiple affairs and numerous children. After a difficult life, his eldest son, Christian Brando, died at a young age. 

Marlon Brando had a lot of money and children

Brando made a major breakthrough in his acting career in the ’50s. After his performance in A Streetcar Named Desire, he started to earn $100,000 per film. His paychecks would only increase over the years. The actor got paid $1 million (about $8.5 million today) for his role in The Fugitive Kind. 

With the large sum of money that he had made, Brando bought 11 islands north of Tahiti. He received numerous award nominations and won several of them.

Throughout his life, Brando has had a series of relationships. He had been married three times, with his last wife being French actor Tarita Teriipaia. Legendary actor Rita Moreno had an on-again-off-again relationship with Brando. She became pregnant with his child and almost died due to a botched abortion. 

When it comes to celebrity friendships, some people thought Brando once made Michael Jackson cry. The actor’s youngest son argued against that claim. Speaking of kids, Brando had 11 children in total.

Christian Brando killed his sister’s boyfriend

Christian Brando is Brando’s oldest son, and he had a troubled life. His mother, Anna Kashfi, had him kidnapped as a child, according to The Guardian. The event left him traumatized, and he bought multiple guns out of fear of it happening again. 

At the age of 16, Christian Brando dropped out of school. He showed signs of suffering from substance abuse at an early age. His issues with drugs and alcohol worsened after the shooting and his time in prison.

Christian Brando went to prison because he shot Cheyenne Brando’s boyfriend. She claimed that her boyfriend, Dag Drollet, was abusing her. Christian Brando took a handgun and accidentally shot Drollet. He later learned that his sister’s claims were false and received a five-year prison sentence. 

During his lifetime, Christian Brando had gotten married twice. His first wife was Mary McKenna, a makeup artist. They divorced six years later, and he eventually married Deborah Presley. The two of them would separate in 2005. 

Marlon Brando’s No. 1 son died at a young age

Brando and Christian Brando had their fair share of arguments and estrangements. Despite their relationship being complicated, Brando cared about the well-being of his oldest son. Even after his death, the actor wanted to make sure that Christian Brando had health insurance and a roof over his head. Brando reportedly considered his child to be his No. 1 son. 

Unfortunately, Christian Brando died in a hospital without health insurance. According to Reuters, he had gotten pneumonia. Some of his family members and ex-wives went to visit him while he was hospitalized. They argued about the details of his funeral and over money. Christian Brando died at the age of 49. 

Christian Brando was not the only Brando child to die tragically. In 1995, Cheyenne Brando died by suicide at the age of 25. It happened five years after the Dag Drollet incident. 

[Correction: An earlier version misspelled Marlon.]