LOS ANGELES -- Christian Brando, the troubled son of actor Marlon Brando who made headlines in 1990 when he was arrested in the shooting death of his half sister's boyfriend, died early Saturday. He was 49.
Brando died from complications of pneumonia at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, said David J. Seeley, an attorney for Marlon Brando's estate.
The legal proceedings against Brando for the killing of Dag Drollet caused a firestorm of media attention. His legendary father used his estate to post the $2 million bond for his son and later offered rambling and emotional testimony pleading for leniency for the oldest of his nine children.
Christian Brando, then 32, eventually pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of the 26-year-old Drollet, the lover of Cheyenne Brando, who was then pregnant by Drollet. Christian Brando was given a 10-year prison sentence but served nearly five years at the California Men's Colony at San Luis Obispo. He also was sentenced to three years' probation.
Christian Brando was born in Los Angeles on May 11, 1958. His mother was Marlon Brando's first wife, the Calcutta, India-born actress Anna Kashfi. Christian was still a toddler when the couple separated and divorced. A protracted custody battle ensued.
Kashfi initially was awarded custody of her son, but that order was removed five years later when a judge declared that her "reliance on drugs and alcohol" contributed to an uncontrollable temper. The court ordered that Christian, then 6, live with the actor's older sister. By 1972, Marlon Brando -- who by that time had married twice more and had three more children -- was granted custody of Christian, who was raised by nannies and sent to boarding school.
Christian dropped out of school in 11th grade and began drinking and using LSD, and tried a variety of jobs. He tried his hand at acting but mostly lived for years with his father in Brando's hilltop Los Angeles estate. It was there that on May 16, 1990, Christian Brando confronted Drollet after Cheyenne confided that he had been beating her.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Brando said that later revelations about Cheyenne's mental health made him later question whether she was ever beaten by Drollet. "I feel like a complete chump for believing her," he said.
In 1995, Cheyenne hanged herself at her mother's home outside Papeete, the French Polynesian capital on the island of Tahiti. She was 25.
Marlon Brando died at 80 on July 1, 2004.
In 2005, Christian Brando was called to testify in Blake's civil trial. But Brando, who was briefly romantically involved with Bakley, invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions about his relationship with her. He was fined $1,000 for contempt of court. When Bakley had a baby girl in June 2000, she named her Christian Shannon Brando and led Brando to believe he was the father. A paternity test later established that Blake was the father and the baby's name was changed to Rose Sophia Lenore Blake.
Los Angeles police investigated and cleared Brando of any involvement in the May 4, 2001, killing of Bakley.
But Brando's troubles with the law continued.
(End optional trim) In 2005, he was charged with two counts of spousal abuse against his then-wife Deborah Brando. He pleaded no contest and was placed on three years probation and ordered to undergo drug and alcohol rehabilitation, as well as a spousal abuse prevention program.
He and his ex-wife also filed civil suits against each other but they were settled quietly in 2007.
In addition to his mother, Brando's survivors include six half-brothers and half-sisters.
AP-NY-01-26-08 1945EST
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