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4.2.12 WC: 191694 Marlon Brando I have a small apartment in New York, which my wife and I use for weekend trips to the Opera and other Manhattan events. On this particular weekend, I lent it out to my cousin and doctor, Harold Solomon. He called me from the apartment and said that while he was out, a message was left on the machine from a guy who did a pretty good imitation of Marlon Brando. He told me that the caller, spoofing the great actor, had criticized my diction on the outgoing message. I called my machine and immediately realized that it was Marlon Brando. I called him back and he asked me if I would help get his son Christian, who was charged with having shot and killed his half sister’s lover, out of jail. Christian Brando was originally charged with murder, after he shot his half sister Cheyenne’s boyfriend. He claimed that Cheyenne had told him that the boyfriend, Dag Drollet, had physically abused her. Christian apparently confronted Drollet. Christian claimed that they struggled over his gun and that he never intended to kill him. The prosecution claimed that it was a cold- blooded, premeditated murder fueled by Christian’s drunken state. Marlon Brando asked me to work with Robert Shapiro to get his son out of prison as soon as possible. Brando blamed himself for his family problems and wanted to help as much as he could. He said he heard that I “could perform miracles” and he wanted my input. I tried to disabuse him of the notion that I could free his son immediately but promised to work as hard as I could with Shapiro. Eventually a plea bargain was struck and Christian pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was released from prison after serving only five years, much to the chagrin of many in the public and the media. The story did not, however, have a happy ending. Cheyenne committed suicide in 1995 at age 25 and Christian died of pneumonia in 2008 at age 49. Marlon Brando, who stage and screen presence was electric, was kind of boring and predictable when I met him. He had stereotypically “Hollywood” political views, conventional ideas and no sense of humor. He was accustomed to “yes men” agreeing with his every idea and didn’t take criticism or disagreement easily. He loved his children but didn’t seem to have any notion of how to relate to them. All in all he struck me as a rather pathetic figure, totally at odds with his public persona. 369 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017456