Top 10 Unknown Facts about Tarita Teriipaia

Paris,France Photo sourced from Wikimedia

Top 10 Unknown Facts about Tarita Teriipaia

Tarita Teriipaia is a former French Polynesian actress of Chinese descent who is best known as the third wife of American actor, film director and political activist Marlon Brando, with whom she acted opposite of him as his love interest in American Technicolor epic historical drama film “Mutiny on the Bounty”in 1962.

Her role in the drama film as Princess Maimiti,earned her a ‘Golden Globe’ nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actress’.She also became one of the most renowned actress of this time because of her knowledge of the character she portrayed. Let’s take a look at some of the unknown facts about her;

1.Tarita was born in a bamboo hut and her father was a fisherman

A Bamboo Hut at Bananas Bungalows Photo sourced from Wikimedia

Tarita Teriipaia was born on December 29, 1941 in a bamboo hut in the small village of Vaitape, in Bora Bora, French Polynesia. Her father Teriichira was a fisherman.She was one of seven children of her parents and had five brothers and one sister.She could go on to become a star from this  simple beginning. 

Her troubled family background made her want to better the lives of her parents and siblings who suffered to make ends meet. She could go on into acting at a tender age because of the passion she had for acting and the obvious, which for monetary reasons to help her family. 

2.She started her career as a floor show dancer

Tarita Teriipaia started her career as a floor show dancer when she was only but a teenager, this is because she was working to help her poor parents in raising up her family which lived in abject poverty, so she started working to try and remedy the situation at her home. 

At the time she was discovered, she was working as a dishwasher at a resort near Papeete, Tahiti. She made her film debut opposite Marlon Brando in the 1962 film ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’. Marlon Brando could later become her lover and later husband when he married her as a third wife. 

3.Tarita’s husband made her quit acting

Marlon Brando Photo sourced from Wikimedia

Though she wanted to continue acting her husband made her end her acting career which had started blooming. She had signed a deal with MGM shortly before Brando decided against her career and because of the love she had for him she quit her career to focus on her marriage. 

During her short stint in the entertainment industry, she has often been billed as Tarita only. She has since been featured in documentaries and TV series like ‘Listen to Me Marlon’ and ‘Brando’. In 2004, a few months after Brando’s death, she published her memoirs in French with the title ‘Marlon, My Love and My Torment’.

4.She married fellow actor Marlon Brando who starred together with her in “Mutiny on the Bounty”

Marlon Brando Photo sourced from Wikimedia

On August 10, 1962, she got married to the love of her life and fellow actor Marlon Brando who she had starred with in ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’.The couple got married and she became his third wife with the actor already married twice. The couple moved to Tahiti where they could spend only a few months together each year.

The couple were blessed with two wonderful children, one son named Simon Teihotu Brando, who was born in 1963, and one daughter named Tarita Cheyenne Brando, born in 1970. Her husband bought an estate for her in Tahiti and regularly visited his family there. He also loved to go fishing with his son. 

5.Tarita also had other children, one adopted and another she had with another man 

Tarita also had other children, one adopted and another she had with another man. Her daughter Maimiti, was from her relationship with a French man named Jean Claude, with whom she dated for years during a period her husband was in and out of her life and was dating other women.

She also decided to play the same game her husband was playing and begot that child whom her husband later decided to adopt also.  In 1981,Tarita also adopted her brother’s daughter Raiatua after he abandoned her. Her son Teihotu reportedly gave in to smoking, drinking and even drugs, however, Cheyenne was very studious.

6.Her daughter Cheyenne became a model but later committed suicide

Her daughter Cheyenne became a model, though she was not as successful as her parents and career as a model did not last long. She got a car accident which effectively ended her modeling career. After the accident, she began experiencing bouts of depression and attempted suicide

On 16 April 1995, Cheyenne hanged herself at her mother’s house in Puna’auia, Tahiti. Neither her father nor her half-brother Christian were able to attend her funeral in Tahiti, because her half brother had caused the death of her husband and she had accused her father of molesting her. She was buried in the Roman Catholic Uranie Cemetery in Papeete in the family crypt of Dag Drollet’s family.

7.She is the only wife of Brando still alive 

Tarita being the third wife of Marlin Brandon faced a lot of difficulties and never saw eye to eye with her co-wives. Her husband also had several other women in his life which made Tarita a bad woman herself as she also started dating other men. She however claims the two loved each other in their own way. 

She is the only wife of Brando still alive, after Movita Castaneda the first wife and Anna Kashfi Brandon’s second died on 12 February and 16 August 2015, respectively. She survives though after her divorce we can say she is no longer Marlon Brandon’s wife. 

8.Her net worth is around $4million

Tarita Teriipaia has a net worth of around $4 million. Her professional career as a former actress of French Polynesian and Chinese descent earns her this million dollars. She earned most of her wealth through her profession as an actress and also from her inheritance from her former husband.

Tarita also owns a car and a house which her husband built for her in Tahiti and which she lives to date. She is considered one of the richest actresses of the 20th century, though she never really lived to her full potential and her career as an actress was disrupted by her husband. 

9.Her grandson is also a model and has won the race to be the new face Versace for Men’s collection

Tarita and Marlon Brando’s grandson Tuki Brando who was born in 1990,is also a model who has been recognized far and wide for his work. Tarita’s daughter’s Cheyenne’s only son, has even been once chosen by Donatella Versace to be the new face of Versace for Men’s collection in 2007.

Tuki was first discovered when he was photographed with his grandmother Tarita Teriipaia by iconic photographer Bruce Weber. Weber later shot Tuki for the cover of L’Uomo Vogue, which launched Tuki’s modeling career. Tuki has since modeled for Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, and TechnoMarine timepieces, among other notable brands. 

10.Her ex-husband Marlon Brando died on July 1st, 2004

Marlon Brando died on July 1, 2004, at the age of 80, in the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, USA. He died as a result of a rare respiratory disease. Marlon had diabetes, which affected his vision, as well as liver cancer.

He left behind three widows, Tarita included and several children including his son who was convicted of murdering his step sister’s husband after he reportedly beat her when she was pregnant. The two never really got to see eye to eye as they got to a court case and Cheyenne also never wanted anything tondo with her father who she believed was behind everything.