Christian Devi Brando was born on May 11, 1958, in Los Angeles, California. He was the son of famous actor Marlon Brando and actress Anna Kashfi. Anna was of British descent and had been born in colonial India. Marlon and Anna met in 1955. After Anna became pregnant, they married in 1958 but divorced just a year later.

Christian had a difficult childhood. After his parents separated, he moved back and forth between his mother and father. There was a lot of tension between Marlon and Anna. Their conflicts resulted in a long custody battle that lasted twelve years. Anna struggled with drug and alcohol issues, which made things harder for Christian. Eventually, Marlon gained custody of him when Christian was 13 years old. During that time, Marlon described his son as having many emotional problems.

Growing up, Marlon was not very present in Christian's life. Christian was mostly raised by nannies and staff. His life included moves between Hollywood and Tetiaroa, Marlon's private island in Tahiti. Marlon also had many relationships with different women and fathered other children. Christian later said that his family felt unstable, and he often did not know who relatives were when he sat down for meals.

In 1972, a significant event occurred. While Marlon was in France for a film, Christian's mother kidnapped him. She took him from school and brought him to friends in Mexico. She had promised them money to hide Christian. After she refused to pay, they ended up hiding Christian instead. Marlon hired private detectives, who eventually found and rescued him while he was living in a tent. He was sick with pneumonia at the time. His mother was later arrested near the Mexican border for drunk driving.

During his teenage years, Christian dropped out of high school. He began drinking and using drugs like LSD. Though he acted occasionally in movies, he did not seek fame. At one point, he ran away to Washington state to live with family friends. Marlon supported this move. Later, he bought a remote cabin there for Christian, where he loved to practice artistic welding.

As a child, Christian appeared in a few movies. He had small roles in "The Secret Life of an American Wife" and "I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!" released in 1968. He acted in a few other films and television shows under the name "Gary Brown" in the 1980s and 1990s.

On May 16, 1990, Christian Brando fatally shot Dag Drollet in the living room of his father's house in Beverly Hills, California. Dag Drollet was the boyfriend of Christian's half-sister, Cheyenne, who was eight months pregnant at the time. Drollet had flown in from Tahiti to visit Cheyenne, who was staying with her family. Christian and Dag had just met for the first time hours before the shooting.

That evening, Christian and Cheyenne had dinner where she expressed concerns about Drollet's behavior, claiming he had been abusive towards her. Later that night, around 11 p.m., Christian, who admitted to being drunk, confronted Dag and shot him. Christian claimed he did not intend to kill Dag, saying he only wanted to scare him. He stated that the gun went off during a struggle over it. Cheyenne was in a separate room at the time of the shooting.

After the shooting, Christian was charged with murder, but the prosecution struggled to proceed with the case due to the absence of Cheyenne as a witness. Marlon Brando, Christian's father, had Cheyenne admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Tahiti, which complicated the prosecution's efforts. Without her testimony, they could not prove the shooting was premeditated.

Christian eventually accepted a plea deal for manslaughter. He spent five years in prison and was released in 1996. During the trial, Cheyenne faced severe mental health issues and attempted suicide twice. In 1995, she died by suicide after losing custody of her son.

In 2001, Christian was connected to the murder of Bonny Lee Bakley, the wife of actor Robert Blake. Testimony suggested that Christian might have had a motive for her murder. However, he did not take the stand in the civil trial related to the case.

Throughout his life, Christian faced various legal challenges, including charges of spousal abuse against his second wife, Deborah Presley. He was placed on probation for those charges and underwent rehabilitation.

Christian Brando died of pneumonia on January 26, 2008, at the age of 49. He was buried in Kalama, Washington.