Free Republic

HE WAS one of the most influential actors of his generation, a lion on stage and screen. But the ailing Marlon Brando now lives alone in a one-bedroom bungalow, surviving with the support of a state pension and relying on the taxpayer to help him to care for his autistic young son. The twilight existence of the Hollywood star is chronicled in a forthcoming biography that claims the 80-year-old actor owes banks nearly £11m and has grown so wary of debt collectors that he has hidden the Oscars he won for On the Waterfront and The Godfather. To make matters...

Decades After Brando, Waterfront Still Mobbed Up   BAYONNE, N.J.  — At the headquarters of New Jersey's most notorious union, the ornate front windows are etched with an anchor-and-rope motif. They're opaque, making it impossible to peer inside International Longshoremen's Association (search) Local 1588.That hasn't stopped law enforcement. Local 1588 was historically so corrupt that mob enforcers were unnecessary, according to one veteran investigator. Kickbacks, extortion and fraud became as routine as a Labor Day picnic at the local, long a lucrative outpost for the Genovese (search) crime family. In 1954, when Marlon Brando (search) starred in the Oscar-winning "On The Waterfront," one of 1588's delegates was...

Veteran actor Marlon Brando has been revealed as the unexpected grandfather of wild rocker Courtney Love in a new book. The singer's mother, psychologist Linda Carroll, claims she has taken DNA tests to confirm she is the Godfather star's daughter. Love, former wife of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, says, "I am incredibly shocked by this news. I have heard Mr. Brando has more than 30 children so I can't imagine how many cousins I have." The link is Linda's mother, novelist Paula Fox. She met Brando in the 1940's through famed drama teacher Stella Adler, and the two enjoyed a...

 PRO-AMERICAN FACTSFACT:America was attacked by Muslims on September 11. Muslims are supporters of the Democratic Party.FACT:Democrat Edward Kennedy is a well known communist and opponent of America's War on Terror.FACT:Democrat Robert Byrd is one of the leading anti-American fifth columnists who wants America to be defeated by Iraq and a "former" member of the Ku Klux Klan.FACT:Whether they be Muslims, communists, or white supremacists those who want to see America destroyed are Democrats.FACT:It is possible that Muslims, communists, and white supremacists have not formed an alliance to defeat America but even if they haven't, they are all working together to...

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - Some of the biggest stars in Hollywood are urging Gov. Gray Davis to sign a bill that would help farmworkers get union contracts by allowing binding arbitration of farm labor disputes.</p> <p>"Workers at 428 farming operations have selected the United Farm Workers as their collective bargaining agent. Unfortunately, out of those 428 growers, only 185 have chosen to sign contracts with the union," the celebrities said in an "open letter" to Davis.</p>