# Anna Kashfi
**Anna Kashfi** (born Joan O'Callaghan, September 30, 1934; died August 16, 2015) was a British-born actress who made a brief mark in 1950s Hollywood in ethnically cast roles and became widely known as the first wife of [Marlon Brando](https://www.edgepedia.org/marlon-brando). Her stated Indian heritage was disputed from the day her marriage was announced, and her origins remain contested.[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth name and date | Joan O'Callaghan, September 30, 1934; sources agree on the date but disagree on the place of birth[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html) |
| Film debut | The Hindu girl, the lone survivor of a plane crash, in *The Mountain* (1956), opposite Spencer Tracy[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/13586) |
| Signature roles | A Korean in *Battle Hymn* (1957), a Mexican in *Cowboy* (1958), a black woman in *Night of the Quarter Moon* (1959)[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/anna-kashfi) |
| Marriage to Brando | Married October 1957, divorced 1959; one son, Christian Devi Brando, born 1958[4](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/feb/24/familyandrelationships.marlonbrando) |
| Memoir | *Brando for Breakfast* (1979), an account of the marriage[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html) |
| Later marriage | James Hannaford, 1974; he died in 1987[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html) |
| Death | August 16, 2015, in Woodland, Washington, aged 80[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html) |
## Origins and the question of her background
The circumstances of Kashfi's birth are disputed. [The Boston Globe](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-boston-globe)'s obituary states that sources agree she was born on September 30, 1934, "but that is all they agree on regarding her background."[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html) Database listings give Cardiff, Wales; Calcutta; and [Darjeeling](https://www.edgepedia.org/darjeeling), British India, as her birthplace.[5](https://encyclopedia-loadbalancer-1-1782916326.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/kashfi-anna-1934) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/anna_kashfi)
What the accounts share is an Indian childhood and a Welsh adolescence. According to the Washington Post, even the O'Callaghans said the family lived in India until Kashfi was 13, when they moved to Cardiff; the Western Mail reported that she worked in a butcher shop and an ice cream parlor in Porthcawl and attended St. Joseph's Convent School in Cardiff.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/06/19/is-actress-and-former-wife-of-marlon-brando-anna-kashfi-indian-british-or-both-no-one-knows-for-sure/) Her father, William Patrick O'Callaghan, was a traffic superintendent for the Indian State Railway.[5](https://encyclopedia-loadbalancer-1-1782916326.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/kashfi-anna-1934)
**The stage name.** In London she worked as a model, presenting herself as of Indian heritage. She began modeling saris for an Indian fashion store in [Piccadilly](https://www.edgepedia.org/piccadilly) around 1952, and in 1955 answered a Paramount casting call in Paris for *The Mountain*. A flatmate suggested the surname "Kashfi" to suit her Indian screen image, and she reportedly shortened "Joanna," a variant of her birth name, to "Anna."[8](https://www.hazlitt.net/longreads/illegal-bride)
## Film career
Kashfi made her debut in *The Mountain* (1956), directed by Edward Dmytryk, playing a young Hindu woman carried to safety by [Spencer Tracy](https://www.edgepedia.org/spencer-tracy)'s character; she had no lines in English.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/13586) • [1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html) She then played a part-Korean character in [Douglas Sirk](https://www.edgepedia.org/douglas-sirk)'s Korean War drama *Battle Hymn* (1957) with [Rock Hudson](https://www.edgepedia.org/rock-hudson), a Mexican woman in the Western *Cowboy* (1958) with Glenn Ford and Jack Lemmon, and the African-American wife of Nat King Cole's character in *Night of the Quarter Moon* (1959).[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/anna-kashfi) In her four feature roles she played an Indian woman only once, in her debut; the others were Mexican, Korean, and black characters.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/06/19/is-actress-and-former-wife-of-marlon-brando-anna-kashfi-indian-british-or-both-no-one-knows-for-sure/)
She won a Best Supporting Actress award at the Cartagena Film Festival for *Night of the Quarter Moon*.[9](https://www.famouswelsh.com/our-icons/actors/287-anna-kashfi) Her television credits include *Adventures in Paradise*, *The Deputy*, *[Bronco](https://www.edgepedia.org/bronco-tv-series)*, and *Kraft Mystery Theater*.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/anna-kashfi) Her acting career wound down soon after her divorce amid well-publicized personal difficulties.[9](https://www.famouswelsh.com/our-icons/actors/287-anna-kashfi)
## Marriage to Marlon Brando
Kashfi met Brando in the commissary of Paramount Studios while making her first film; they married in October 1957, when he was 33 and she was ten years younger and pregnant.[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html) The day after the wedding, the Associated Press reported that a Cardiff man, William Patrick O'Callaghan, claimed he and his wife were Kashfi's parents and that her real name was Joan O'Callaghan; Kashfi maintained she was the daughter of an architect named Devi Kashfi and a woman named Selma Ghose.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/06/19/is-actress-and-former-wife-of-marlon-brando-anna-kashfi-indian-british-or-both-no-one-knows-for-sure/) In her 1979 memoir *Brando for Breakfast*, she repeated the claim, saying her mother gave birth to her in Calcutta after an "unregistered alliance" with Devi Kashfi, after which her mother married O'Callaghan.[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html) The New York Times, citing immigration records, reported that she gave her name as Joanna O'Callaghan when she entered the United States.[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html)
The couple separated after less than a year and divorced in 1959.[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html) Their son, Christian Devi Brando, was born in 1958; Kashfi called him Devi and Brando called him Christian.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/feb/24/familyandrelationships.marlonbrando) A custody battle that included numerous court appearances lasted nearly 15 years.[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html) [Christian Brando](https://www.edgepedia.org/christian-brando) was convicted in 1990 of killing Dag Drollet, the boyfriend of his half-sister [Cheyenne Brando](https://www.edgepedia.org/cheyenne-brando), and died in 2008.[9](https://www.famouswelsh.com/our-icons/actors/287-anna-kashfi)
## Later life
Kashfi married the Los Angeles businessman James Hannaford in 1974; he died in 1987. She lived in Kalama, Washington, and died on August 16, 2015, in Woodland, Washington, at age 80; the Cowlitz County coroner's office confirmed the death without specifying the cause. She was survived by her grandson Michael, Christian's son.[1](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html)
## References
1. [Anna Kashfi, 80; actress was Marlon Brando's first wife, The Boston Globe (2015)](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/08/25/anna-kashfi-actress-who-was-brando-first-wife-dies/lkQ9UjEAnuu2YqaAYVZB9J/story.html)
2. [Anna Kashfi filmography, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/13586)
3. [Anna Kashfi, Television Academy bios](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/anna-kashfi)
4. [The boy Brando lost, The Guardian (2008)](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/feb/24/familyandrelationships.marlonbrando)
5. [Kashfi, Anna (1934–), Dictionary of Women Worldwide via Encyclopedia.com](https://encyclopedia-loadbalancer-1-1782916326.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/kashfi-anna-1934)
6. [Anna Kashfi, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/anna_kashfi)
7. [Is actress and former wife of Marlon Brando Anna Kashfi Indian, British, or both? No one knows for sure, The Washington Post (2015)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/06/19/is-actress-and-former-wife-of-marlon-brando-anna-kashfi-indian-british-or-both-no-one-knows-for-sure/)
8. [Illegal Bride, Hazlitt](https://www.hazlitt.net/longreads/illegal-bride)
9. [Anna Kashfi, actress from Cardiff, Famous Welsh](https://www.famouswelsh.com/our-icons/actors/287-anna-kashfi)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames K to P*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license