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Drudge reports that Marlon Brando has died of unknown causes, citing this story from a local TV station in Phoenix. Brando. He was 80 years old. Brando recently settled a lawsuit with a former personal assistant. Brando was best known for his roles in The Godfather, On the Waterfront, and for refusing to wear pants on the set of The Score so that he would only be shot from the waist up.

But is he alive? The plot thickens...as we were typing this, Drudge updates: "KNBC has just learned that LA city fire department was called 2 times last night to respond to Brando's residence at 12900 Mulholland Drive - 1st time at 9:48pm and the 2nd at 11:03. Both calls were cancelled, thus the fire dept. considers it as a 'no call'.... "

The headline again changes: BRANDO DEAD to BRANDO DEAD OR ALIVE? to FAMILY: BRANDO DEAD. So we're going to go out on a limb and say he's probably dead. He was 80.

UPDATE: OK, it's hit the newswire. CNN: "Brando died in Los Angeles. The cause of death was not revealed, but he had suffered from congestive heart failure and was overweight." He was 80.