There are many prominent actors in the entertainment industry that have gained a lot of popularity and critical acclamation for their extraordinary work. One such star is Tarita Teriipaia. She was born on December 29th, 1941 in Bora Bora, French Polynesia, France. She is popularly known in the world and society for being the 3rd wife of a highly popular American actor and film director Marlon Brando.
When Tarita Teriipaia started her journey as an actor in the 1960s, she got an opportunity to star against Marlon Brando in the critically acclaimed historical drama movie, ‘Mutiny on the Bounty. It was an American Technicolor movie and garnered a lot of love and admiration from all four corners. In fact, she also received a prestigious Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Princess Maimiti in the movie.
Tarita Teriipaia always wanted to make a career in the entertainment industry as an actress. After her hit role in the blockbuster movie, she had signed a big deal with MGM Studio. However, her love affair with Marlon Brando that started right after doing a movie together, created a problem in her career as an actress. He never wanted her to become a part of show business.
Hence, Tarita Teriipaia’s journey as an actress was very brief. However, she didn’t hesitate to feature in some meaningful documentaries and small TV movies such as Brando, Listen to Me Marlon, etc.
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How Tarita Teriipaia Started Her Career
Tarita Teriipaia had a very adventurous and thrilling start. In the beginning, she worked as a floor show dancer. At that time she was just a teenager.
When she was discovered by in the 1960s by Marlon Brando, she was employed as a dishwasher in a resort in Tahiti.
Right after the first movie with Marlon Brando, Tarita Teriipaia got instant fame. She got a role of a supporting actress wherein she played the character of Princess Maimiti in the historical period drama movie, Mutiny on the Bounty. Due to her exceptional performance for her role in the film, she also received a nomination in the most prestigious Golden Globe Awards.
Right after that, she signed a deal with MGM Studios to further pursue her career in acting. Simultaneously, she started doing TV shows, films, and documentaries.
However, her husband never wanted her to join the glamorous industry. Slowly and gradually, they started falling in deep love that led to their marriage. Their marriage became headlines in many newspapers and media houses. Due to her intense relationship and public appearances, she kept in the news for many years.
Personal Life of Tarita
As Tarita Teriipaia was born in a bamboo hut in the village Vaitape, Bora Bora, French Polynesia, she struggled a lot in her childhood. Her father was a fisherman and his name was Teriihira. She had a very big family. She used to live with six siblings and parents.
When Tarita Teriipaia was 18 years old, she happened to meet Marlon Brando during the time of the shooting of his movie. She got mesmerized by his charm and fell in love with him. However, she was not very happy with his lavish lifestyle. Due to her different and down-to-earth nature, Marlon had to make a lot of effort to convince her to marry.
However, he successfully convinced her and got married on August 10, 1962. With the marriage, she became his third wife right after Anna Kashfi and Movita Castaneda. But, after marriage, she didn’t move to Hollywood. In fact, she stayed back in Tahiti. Due to this, both used to spend only a couple of months together in a year. Tarita Teriipaia and Marlon Brando used to live very happily together in the initial years of marriage.
After marriage, Tarita Teriipaia gave birth to two kids named Simon Teihotu Brando and Tarita Cheyenne. The former was born in 1963 and the latter in 1970. Right after the birth of the first kid, Marlon purchased a lavish estate for her in Tahiti and used to visit regularly with his family. The whole family loved to do fishing there and spend a good time together.
After some time, Marlon Brando’s wife Tarita Teriipaia became a mother to another daughter from another man named Jean Claude. Right after that, she adopted her brother’s daughter named Raiatua because he left her. Tarita Teriipaia’s first daughter was very obedient and studious. However, her son became a spoilt brat and started doing drugs.
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Tarita Tariipaia Wrote a Memoir After Her Troubled Marriage
Due to Tarita Teriipaia’s husband’s frivolous and lavish lifestyle, she was not happy right from the beginning. Right after the death of Marlon Brando, she wrote a memoir, ‘Marlon, My Love and My Torment’ wherein she talked about her troubled marriage at a length. Tarita Teriipaia shared almost everything about her marriage life. Tarita Teriipaia had a troubled marriage of 43 years that came to an end in 2004. In 2004, Marlon left this world.
During her troubled marriage, she separated, divorced, and went through multiple family tragedies. She even suffered mental and physical abuse and cruelties. However, despite having such a bitter relationship, they never stopped loving each other.
Tarita Teriipaia also mentioned in her memoir that her husband never wanted the first child due to her previous bad relationships. He cheated on her many times and got caught red-handed. He has extramarital affairs with many women outside that brought a lot of pain and stress for her.
After a few years of a troubled marriage, Tarita Teriipaia started seeing a man and Marlon started spying on her. He used to keep an eye on her and destroy her relationships with other men. In the 1970s, things started to get normal and he started patching up the things. He started giving his time to her and the family. The romance started between them again that led to the birth of Cheyenne. However, after the birth of their daughter, he left her again.
Due to the separation, Tarita Teriipaia started dating a French man Jean Claude and gave birth to a daughter in 1976. Her daughter Cheyenne and Brando had a great bonding. However, when she adopted a daughter, he started making distance from her. After that, Cheyenne started dating Dagobert Drollet. However, he was brutally murdered by her half-brother Christian Brando. Due to her pregnancy, she gave birth to Tuki Brando who became a supermodel. But, she started suffering depression and eventually ended her life in 1995.
Where is Tarita Teriipaia now?
Tarita Teriipaia now turned 80 and living a low life. She is currently 80 years old. Currently, she is the only wife of Marlon Brando who is alive.