Date: 17th April 2003

$100m Lawsuit Against Brando


A $US100m (£63.5 million) lawsuit brought against movie legend Marlon Brando by his former maid and mother of three of his children will be dismissed, lawyers said today.
Attorneys for both the Oscar-winning screen icon and Hollywood recluse and for his ex-housekeeper Maria Cristina Ruiz, 44, told a Los Angeles judge that a request would be made to dismiss the civil suit during an upcoming hearing over the custody of the couple's children.

However, it was unclear if the pair had reached a settlement in the one-year-old breach of contract lawsuit. Brando was not in court for the hearing.

Ruiz sued the star of Godfather, The (1972), On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire last April, claiming she had a 13-year relationship with him and gave birth to children who are aged 14, 11 and 9.

She alleged that the 79-year-old star had "promised to take care of her and their children until the relationship ended", then to "divide equally any income and property acquired" during the relationship.

According to papers filed with Los Angeles Superior Court, she "devoted all aspects of her life to Brando's needs, the interests of their children, (and) his personal interests and well-being, to the exclusion of her own".


Agence France-Presse

Source: Press Release