Photos

Polls

Merchandise

Links

Various

Sponsors

Upcoming TV Shows / Movies

Videos: Entertainment News

New- Fan-Tan by Brando (Book)

NEWS

Marlon Brando estate sues Harley-Davidson over boots

Brando Enterprises says in a lawsuit filed in California that the "Brando" boots misappropriate the late actor's likeness. It wants an injunction to stop the motorcycle giant from continuing to sell and marketing the footwear.

We've heard of all sorts of claims by celebrities over their publicity rights: image, name, voice, etc. Last year, the estate of Humphrey Bogart went to war over a couch called the "Bogart" that was said to confuse the public. So it's probably not a shocker that boots have now made the list of alleged infringements.

According to the lawsuit, the boots look similar to a pair that Brando wore in the 1953 classic, "The Wild One."

In announcing the lawsuit, Jeffrey Abrams, the lawyer for the estate, pointed out that Harley-Davidson has been aggressive in its own right on the trademark front.

"It is interesting that Harley-Davidson -- a company that is vigorously protective of its own brand -- would seek to exploit an iconic property without benefit of a licensing agreement," said Abrams. "The flagrant disregard for the law by Harley-Davidson cannot be tolerated. It is our mission to protect the Marlon Brando name and we will pursue any company or individual who infringes on these rights meant to benefit the Brando family."

Harley Davidson hasn't yet responded to a request for comment.

Which Hollywood Legend's Grandson Is a Male Model?

Not only does this young man share the same last name as that of arguably the greatest actor to ever have walked the planet, but he also seems to have inherited his chiseled good looks as well.

And he's definitely working the latter in this new ad for TechnoMarine watches.

So who is the guy behind the creatively-placed timepiece?

It's Marlon Brando's 20-year-old grandson, Tuki Brando!

But despite his famous lineage, Tuki's life growing up was anything but a streetcar named desire. His uncle, Christian Brando, killed Tuki's father before he was born; and his mother later took her own life when he was only five. What's more, Tuki was completely left out of his grandfather's will when he died in 2004.

As for modeling, this isn't Tuki's first gig, having already done some work for Versace.

Whether he continues to strike a pose remains to be seen, especially given the fact that he's currently studying medicine. Guess, er, time, will tell!

Belafonte: Brando helped inspire documentary film

The 83-year-old Belafonte presented the film, "Sing Your Song," at the Berlin film festival on Saturday. It is directed by Susanne Rostock and co-produced by his daughter, Gina.

Belafonte was close in his youth to Brando, who died in 2004.

He says that little is known about the actor's work as a social activist, and when Brando died he was saddened not just at losing a friend and a great artist "but that also the history books had lost a story."

Belafonte says his daughter also was pressing him to make a film about his life and document the people with whom he has shared it.

'Godfather' house up for sale

The eight-bedroom, four-bathroom property on Staten Island, New York featured in Francis Ford Coppola's gangster epic as the base of mob boss Corleone.

Its grounds were used for the 1972 movie's famous wedding scene, and interior shots of the crime dynasty eating meals and holding family meetings were filmed inside the property.

The home is set in 7,000 square metres (24,000 square feet) of land and includes a swimming pool and a garage big enough for four cars. It even has a bar in the basement.

The elderly owner of the house died last month, and the property has since been put on the market for $2.9 million.

A neighbour, Elaine Albert, tells the New York Daily News, "I remember when they filmed the wedding in the backyard. People know it. Japanese tourists come here to take pictures."

Legal fight over Brando's ashes

The Wild One star's remains were divided up among members of his family following his death from respiratory failure in 2004.

Brando's son Christian received some of the ashes, and following his death in 2008 they were allegedly kept by his then-girlfriend Donna Lopez Geon.

Now Christian's mother Kashfi, who divorced Brando in 1959, wants them back - she's filed legal papers at Los Angeles County Superior Court demanding Geon returns "a portion of the cremated remains of Marlon Brando."

Kashfi also claims Geon has her son's St. Christopher's medal, but Geon tells TMZ.com, "Christian wasn't close with his family and wouldn't have wanted his mother or anyone else to have his property when he died... When I found out they were coming after the property, I took some of the ashes I have and spread them in Franklin Canyon (Los Angeles)... Marlon loved that place."

Brando's 1973 Oscar stand-in recounts fallout

Littlefeather, who was sent by Marlon Brando to decline his best-actor award for "The Godfather," says her high-profile advocacy put her life at risk and cut her acting career short.

She says when she visited Brando after the ceremony, bullets were fired at his front door. No one was injured.

Littlefeather, who went on to appear in just a handful of films, also claims the U.S. government encouraged the entertainment industry to avoid hiring her as part of its effort to quash American Indian activism.

She spoke Thursday during a presentation to TV critics on "Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian," a documentary airing in November on the "Independent Lens" series.

Brando, Quinn exhibit to tour world

Officials of the estate of photographer Sam Shaw have teamed up with Brando Enterprises and the Anthony Quinn Foundation to present The Rebels: Marlon Brando and Anthony Quinn at the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin, Italy.

The exhibition will feature over 100 images of the iconic film actors captured by Shaw.

Brando Enterprises boss Larry Dressler says, "We are delighted to join the Shaw and Quinn families to present this stunning collection of work. Mr. Shaw's contribution to Hollywood's golden era and Marlon's legacy is one that we are truly thankful for."

The show opens in Turin later this month and runs until Sept. 19, when it will then begin a tour.

Brando's ex sues over son's death

Kashfi, who was married to the late Hollywood star for two years until 1959, has filed suit against bosses at the CHA Health System, the company which runs the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, where Christian died in 2008 following a battle with pneumonia.

The suit alleges the doctor who treated the 49 year old was "reckless in providing medical care and monitoring Christian," according to papers obtained by TMZ.com.

Brando's former wife is also suing two of the star's other children, Teihotu and Rebecca, who he had with previous partners, for allegedly interfering with Kashfi's right to dispose of Christian's remains.

Kashfi filed the papers on Friday. She is suing for unspecified damages.

JACKIE ONASSIS SEDUCED MARLON BRANDO

In "Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story," which details a purported post-JFK assassination affair between Jackie and Robert F. Kennedy, C. David Heymann has obtained passages from Brando's account of how he hooked up with Jackie in 1964. They were in the first draft of the Oscar winner's 1994 memoir, "Songs My Mother Taught Me," until an editor friend of Jackie (by then also the widow of Aristotle Onassis) at Random House insisted they be cut, Heymann writes.

The first time, "according to Brando, [their] three-hour meal included a good deal of drinking . . . Jackie and the actor danced and drank. During their dance, Jackie, deeply attracted to Brando, 'pressed her thighs' suggestively into his. They danced again, then sat down and began to 'make out,' " according to Heymann.

He relates: "In Brando's words, 'From all I'd read and heard about her, Jacqueline Kennedy seemed coquettish and sensual but not particularly sexual. If anything, I pictured her as more voyeur than player. But that wasn't the case. She kept waiting for me to try to get her into bed. When I failed to make a move, she took matters into her own hands and popped the magic question. 'Would you like to spend the night?' And I said, 'I thought you'd never ask.' "

A week later, Jackie again hooked up with Brando at a Sutton Place apartment he borrowed from a friend. Commenting on Jackie's "boyish hips" and "muscular frame," Brando said, "I'm not sure she knew what she was doing sexually, but she did it well."

But Jackie then ended it. Heymann writes: "Having twice consummated her relationship with Brando, Jackie showed no interest in pursuing him further."

The book from Atria is due next month.

Brando 'daughter' Doubted

Son of Marlon Brando died of pneumonia -coroner

Brando, eldest son of the Oscar-winning actor, died at a Los Angeles hospital in January at the age of 49 and medical examiners investigated the death at his family's request. An autopsy was conducted at the time but results were held pending return of toxicology tests.

"He died of pneumonia," Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, told Reuters.

Winter said there were no drugs or medication of consequence found in Brando's system and that he was not aware of any other contributing factors.

Brando, son of Marlon Brando and Welsh actress Anna Kashfi, had been hospitalized at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center for about two weeks before his death. His ex-wife, Deborah, told People magazine he had been comatose and on a respirator.

Brando made international headlines when he fatally shot Dag Drollet, 26, on May 16, 1990, after his sister Cheyenne told him that Drollet, her boyfriend, had been beating her.

His arrest and the subsequent legal proceedings fueled Marlon Brando's tearful plea for leniency on his son's behalf in a California courtroom. Christian Brando pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and spent nearly five years in prison.

Christian Brando also figured in the murder trial of actor Robert Blake, who was acquitted in the May 4, 2001, shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

He had briefly dated Bakley, and the defense suggested he could have been the killer. He was never arrested or charged in the case and police cleared him of involvement.

Marlon Brando, considered one of the greatest actors of his generation, won Academy Awards for roles in "On the Waterfront" and "The Godfather." He died in 2004 at the age of 80.

Kin Battle Over Brando Body

Meanwhile, his ex-wife has teamed up with Kashfi to battle Christian's girlfriend and adopted siblings over who will get his remains and what will be done with them.

The ex, Debra Presley, married him in 2004 - for all of three months - and claims to be the illegitimate daughter of Elvis.

"These two want to take the remains to Washington and have him buried because he used to live there," said Keith Fink, a lawyer for Donna Geon, Brando's girlfriend of three years.

"They don't want his girlfriend or the siblings to even see the body, for no reason at all."

But Geon says Christian's wishes were to be cremated and have his ashes spread in Franklin Park in Los Angeles, the same place his father had some of his ashes spread.

Christian's half-sister, Rebecca Brando, and half-brother, Teihotu Brando, along with Geon, hired Fink to assist them in getting rights to the body.

Fink plans to file a motion in LA Superior Court on the trio's behalf to have the corpse released to them once it leaves the county coroner's office.

"Their grievance is that they're the ones who loved Christian. They want his remains to stay in California and they want to do what he wished," said Fink.

"Meanwhile, the mortuary complained to me that Anna ignored them when they explained how the body should be properly clothed and cared for. They are just being petty, vindictive, small people who border on loony toons."

A family spokeswoman for Kashfi and Presley did not return calls.

No immediate results in Brando autopsy

Christian Brando died Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital. The cause of death was listed as deferred, pending results of toxicology tests that may determine whether Brando had prescription or other drugs in his system and whether a medical condition was involved, Los Angeles County coroner's official Ed Winter said.

Results should be available in six to eight weeks.

The autopsy was requested "based on his past drug history," Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Fred Corral said Monday.

An attorney for Marlon Brando's estate said the 49-year-old died of pneumonia.

Lawyer David J. Seeley said that Christian Brando's mother, Anna Kashfi, requested the autopsy and that neither the estate nor its beneficiaries were involved in the decision.

"At this point, we have no reason to question the hospital's actions and the cause of death," Seeley said.

Christian Brando was one of nine children named as beneficiaries of Marlon Brando's trust. The Oscar winner noted in his will, released after his death in 2004, that he had 11 children, including daughter Cheyenne, who committed suicide in 1995, and an adopted daughter who was not a beneficiary.

Kashfi and Marlon Brando divorced after a year of marriage.

Christian Brando's former attorney, Benjamin Brin, said Tuesday that Brando's longtime girlfriend, Donna Goans, had been making funeral arrangements when the mother demanded the autopsy.

Mother and son were estranged for 20 years, Brin said. He called the situation "very sad" and dismissed the value of an autopsy.

"We all know 49-year-old people aren't supposed to die," Brin said. "We're going to find out what was different about him. There'll be some explanation. It may be his, you know, partying ways in the past. It may be even something more recent that some people will find pruriently interesting. It won't bring him back."

Christian Brando's ex-wife Deborah sued the executors of Marlon Brando's estate Monday, claiming she is a victim of professional negligence, fraud and deceit.

She claims that as part of a February 2007 settlement with Christian Brando in a domestic violence case, she would become assignee of her ex-husband's rights and claims in the estate.

Deborah Brando accused producer Mike Medavoy and fellow executors Larry J. Dressler and Avra Douglas of executing a forged codicil to Brando's will days before the actor's death on July 1, 2004.

"The will was forged ... designed to separate and alienate (Deborah Brando) from others in Marlon Brando's close and extended family, friends, and business acquaintances, and to keep them from challenging the will or trust," the lawsuit said.

The estate will "vigorously defend" against the lawsuit, Seeley said.

Brando's family asks for an autopsy

Brando, the troubled son of the late Marlon Brando, died Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital. An attorney representing Marlon Brando's estate said the 49-year-old died from pneumonia.

His family requested the autopsy "based on his past drug history," Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Fred Corral said Monday.

Corral said the autopsy would include a toxicology analysis.

Christian Brando's ex-wife Deborah sued the executors of Marlon Brando's estate Monday, claiming she is a victim of professional negligence, fraud and deceit.

She claims that as part of a February 2007 settlement with Christian Brando in a domestic violence case, she would become assignee of her ex-husband's rights and claims in the estate.

After-hours calls to David J. Seeley, an attorney representing Brando's estate, and Brando's personal attorney, Benjamin Brin, weren't immediately returned Monday.

Deborah Brando accused producer Mike Medavoy and fellow executors Larry J. Dressler and Avra Douglas of executing a forged codicil to Brando's will days before the actor's death July 1, 2004.

"The will was forged ... designed to separate and alienate (Deborah Brando) from others in Marlon Brando's close and extended family, friends, and business acquaintances, and to keep them from challenging the will or trust," the lawsuit said.

Brando Son Christian Dies

"This is a sad and difficult time for the family," said David Seeley, an attorney for Marlon Brando's estate.

Brando was hospitalized for pneumonia on Jan. 11, Seeley said. He was reportedly in a coma and on a ventilator at the time of his death early Saturday.

"His body was totally compromised," his ex-wife, Deborah Brando told People. "He'd lived hard...This is just so sad."

No funeral plans had been announced.

Born May 11, 1958, Brando was the result of an affair between his actor father and actress Anna Kashfi. The pair married in 1958 and divorced a year after their son's birth.

Marlon later won custody of Christian, but reportedly had very little to do with raising him, leaving his care in the hands of various household staffers.

In 1990, Brando was convicted of manslaughter for killing his sister's boyfriend, Dag Drollet. As a result of the crime, he spent five years in prison.

He was later implicated in the 2001 death of Robert Blake's wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley, with Blake claiming Brando had sufficient motive to want Bakley dead in the wake of an affair gone wrong. However, no link between Brando and the murder was ever established.

In October 2004, Brando tied the knot with Deborah Presley (who claims to be the illegitimate daughter of Elvis Presley) in Las Vegas.

The following year, he was charged with spousal abuse and pleaded guilty to two counts of battery. He was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to undergo drug and alcohol treatment.

The couple divorced in June 2005 and Deborah Brando sued her ex-husband for domestic violence. He countersued, alleging she broke into his home and beat him because he wanted to have their marriage annulled just weeks after they swapped vows.

The dueling lawsuits were settled last year. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Marlon Brando's son hospitalized with pneumonia

Brando, 49-year-old son of the late Hollywood icon and Welsh actress Anna Kashfi, was admitted to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on January 11, said the friend, who asked not to be identified.

"He's in the hospital, and he's not doing very well. He has pneumonia with complications," the friend said.

A hospital spokeswoman declined to comment.

Christian Brando, who lives in Los Angeles, made worldwide headlines in 1990 when he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter after shooting to death his half-sister Cheyenne's boyfriend, Dag Drollet, and served five years in prison.

He also figured in the murder trial of actor Robert Blake, who was acquitted in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, in 2001. Christian Brando had dated Bakley, and defense attorneys suggested that he could have been the killer.

Brando was called as a witness during Blake's subsequent civil trial but refused to testify and was ordered held in contempt of court.

In 2005, he pleaded guilty to spousal abuse charges involving his then-wife, Deborah, and was placed on probation.

Marlon Brando, considered one of the greatest actors of his generation, won Academy Awards for his acclaimed roles in "On the Waterfront" and "The Godfather." He died in 2004 at the age of 80.

News Archive