Remembering Marlon Brando

The ashes of legendary actor Marlon Brando were spread in Tahiti and Death Valley, according to a newspaper report.

A memorial service for Brando, who died of lung failure at age 80 on July 1, was held at the home of Hollywood producer Mike Medavoy and was attended by Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Sean Penn, the Los Angeles Times reported in Wednesday editions.

In the last months before his death, Brando had dropped 85 pounds from his once-large frame and needed a portable oxygen tank to aid his breathing, family members and friends said. But he sought to keep his condition quiet.

Some of Brando's ashes were scattered in Death Valley, a place that the actor cherished, his son Miko Brando told the newspaper. The ashes of Brando's late friend Wally Cox, who died in 1973, were also poured onto the desert landscape as part of the same ceremony; how Cox's ashes were in the possession of Brando's family was unknown.

Despite being known as a recluse, Brando ventured to Neverland Ranch more than a year before he died to visit pop star Michael Jackson, whom he'd first met through Quincy Jones in the 1980s. Jackson is the godfather of Brando's 9-year-old granddaughter Prudence.

"The last time my father left his house to go anywhere, to spend any kind of time, it was with Michael Jackson," Miko Brando, a longtime Jackson employee, told the newspaper.

Brando's son also spoke of how friends and family will try to preserve the actor's legacy. Most notable is a collection of DVDs based on unreleased footage shot within the past three years showing Brando teach acting to Jon Voight, Nick Nolte and Penn.

Also being discussed is cataloging hundreds of pencil drawings made by Brando and obtaining trademarks on the actor's name and likeness.