Marlon Brando, the iconic Hollywood actor, had a complex family life that carried its share of triumphs and tragedies. He was a father to several children, each with their own unique path and, in some cases, unfortunate destinies.
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One of the most influential actors of the 20th century, Marlon Brando is known for his performances in movies like A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Viva Zapata! (1952), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) and Apocalypse Now (1979).
Most famously, the celebrated actor is remembered for his stellar portrayal of the ruthless yet warm mafia don, Vito Corleone, in the 1972 film, The Godfather, which earned him a second Academy Award.
As I and many others see it, he’s the best actor to ever grace the silver screen.
But Brando is known for more than being one of the greatest actors of all time. The charming Casanova was also a bit of a stud. In a 90-minute documentary Listen To Me Marlon, made from 200 hours of the star’s personal tapes, Brando said his sex drive was so high he was like a “beast.”
He was married three times, had multiple affairs and fathered 11 known children.
His children and grandchildren are now all grown up, and many of them have walked in Brando’s footsteps, pursuing careers in the entertainment industry.
One of them is Tuki Brando.
Though he inherited his grandfather’s sizzling features, the brooding and exotic Tuki Brando was dealt a tough blow when Marlon Brando removed him from his will – an estate valued at about $21 million US.
Carrying the legacy of his grandfather with his smoldering eyes, chiseled cheekbones and pouting lips, the now 33-year-old Tahitian-born heartthrob is the living replica of the legendary Brando, who died from pneumonia in 2004.
He’s a successful model with high-profile fashion designers like Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and Versace.
Tuki was born in June of 1990 and is the son of the famous actor’s daughter, Cheyenne Brando, the biological daughter of Brando and his third wife Tarita Teriʻipaia, a Tahitian actor who he met in 1962 while filming Mutiny on the Bounty.
Brando’s relationship with his daughter, who lived in Tahiti, was tumultuous to say the least. Brando’s daughter Cheyenne, who struggled with mental health issues and took her own life at a young age.
People reports that in 1990, Cheyenne said: “I have come to despise my father for the way he ignored me when I was a child. He came to the island maybe once a year but really didn’t seem to care whether he saw me or not. He wanted us but he didn’t want us.”
Sadly, Cheyenne, ended her life in 1995 aged 25.
It would seem like tragedy runs deep in the Brando family.
Tuki’s biological father, Dag Drollet, was shot by Cheyenne’s half-brother Christian, one of Brando’s 11 children. When he was killed, Dag and Cheyenne–at the time 8 months pregnant with Tuki–were visiting from their home in Tahiti and staying with Brando and Teriʻipaia at the Mulholland Drive estate.
While Brando was supported Christian, who was charged, he admitted Cheyenne to a behavioral health hospital in Tahiti. Cheyenne took her own life before Christian was released after serving only six of a 10-year sentence.
Like his father, Christian died of pneumonia in January 2008
Orphaned as a 5-year-old boy, little Tuki was raised by Teriʻipaia, Brando’s last wife.
Just why the legendary actor stripped Tuki from his will remains a mystery. But he was not the only one cut from the inheritance.
The will reads: “I intentionally and with full knowledge of the consequences do not provide in my will or in my living trust for Cheyenne’s issue or for Petra Brando-Corval, or for any of Petra’s issue.”
It continues: “All provisions of my will shall be interpreted as though Petra had predeceased me”.
Petra Brando-Corval is the daughter of James Clavell–writer of Shogun and The Great Escape– and Caroline Barrett, who was Brando’s paramour and personal assistant from 1976 to 2001.
The Evening Standard reports that Brando adopted Petra when she was 14. “She was said to refer to the actor as her father and was there to comfort him when Cheyenne, his real daughter, killed herself in 1995.”
In a 2004 article, The New York Post called Brando’s estate “heir-splitting.”
Indeed, the division of property was dividing and puzzling.
The story says: “Documents showed that Brando had real estate worth $18.6 million and about $3 million in other, personal belongings. The estate includes his Beverly Hills home on Mulholland Drive, property on 11 islands in Tahiti, paintings, sketches and rare scripts.”
It then lists his living children and includes the troubled Christian, the only son of Brando’s first wife Anna Kashfi.
Tuki has been quiet about his exclusion in the will, but in a 2012 interview with luxury designer MR PORTER, he reflected on his memories with his grandfather.
“My earliest memory of my grandfather is when we were together swimming in the pool, and he was talking about everything he saw in his life, and he told me how to work my abs in the swimming pool,” Tuki said, adding that Brando told him that “being comfortable is the best thing in style.”
Petra, meanwhile, seemingly very tight with Brando, fondly reminisced of the man whom she called “dad.”
In 2019, at the 40th anniversary of the award-winning film Apocalypse Now, Petra said to the Golden Globes: “It’s been an emotional ride remembering all the special moments my dad and I shared together. It’s also a really wonderful opportunity to see so many people celebrating him. It’s heartwarming. I didn’t know it would be as emotional as it’s been.”
Despite being cut from the will, both Petra, now a lawyer at a London firm, and Tuki, modeling for global fashion brands, found their own successes.
Tell us what you think of Marlon Brando, his Casanova ways, and him cutting his lookalike grandson from his will!
