(Originally posted Monday, February 16, 2009)

Los Angeles, Calif. (API) Now that she has finished using him for mating purposes, Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie has begun consuming film star Brad Pitt, the father of her children, it was reported Thursday. The couple's last two children were born in July 2008, and following a hectic season of movie releases, Jolie began the oft-observed natural phenomenon of sexual cannibalism that brought a swift end to Pitt's life and career.

Jolie, the internationally renowned film star, multiple-Golden Globe winner and goodwill ambassador to the U.N. Refugee Agency, started eating Pitt, star of 2008's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, sometime last week on the couple's giant bed, and it is not certain whether she has quite finished gorging on him.

"It's a sad day," said Pitt's friend George Clooney. "But that's the miracle of life. It happens."

Pitt and Jolie first encountered each other on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 2005, sparking an international scandal when tabloid rumors swirled that she had broken up Pitt's marriage to Jennifer Aniston. Jolie soon became pregnant with Pitt's child, Shiloh Nouvel-Jolie Pitt, and Pitt has since sired two other biological children by Jolie, the twins Knox and Vivienne, which they've added to a brood of three other adopted children, Maddox, Pax and Zahara.

"This is true Hollywood royalty, and a truly new kind of American family," said former Vanity Fair Tina Brown. "It was sad that it had to end this way, but nature took its course, and we humbly regard its mysteries."

Susan Sarandon, Pitt's co-star in Thelma & Louise, remembered him as a dynamic movie star whose presence and sexual charisma were so appealing, she joked, that he could arouse the mating instincts of almost anybody--no matter what their gender, sexual persuasion, breed, order, class or phylum.

"He was one of the bright lights of our industry," said Julia Roberts. "I can't tell you what a loss this is. But of course, he knew what he was doing."

Sexual cannibalism is often found in cases of sexual dimorphism, when the female is much larger than the male. Biologists have noted that there are many reproductive advantages to the behavior, such as the female's ability to root out inferior DNA by eating males before reproduction, and of course the male's nutritional value, which can lead to a more rugged brood.

Jolie has been married to two other mates, Billy Bob Thornton and Jonny Lee Miller, but many observers said that these men were inferior specimens who were unable to supply Jolie with the superior genetic material she required. Neither man was consumed by Jolie.

"I guess I dodged a bullet there," said Thornton. "Really, I wish Angie all the best."

Pitt, an Oklahoma native, rose to meteoric international fame with the films A River Runs Through It, Legends of the Fall, Interview With the Vampire, Seven and 12 Monkeys.

Jolie, who at first tried to downplay their affair on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, eventually admitted that she had immediately seen Pitt's biological advantages, his statuesque features, his strong square jaw, high forehead, facial symmetry, erect posture and good waist-to-shoulder ratio.

"And of course People magazine said he was the sexiest man alive, which confirmed these genetic traits," said Jolie. "It was fairly clear we would mate."

Jolie, star of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, is one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, and she's now up for another Academy Award for best actress for her role in The Changeling. She will likely accept the award for Pitt if he wins the Oscar for Benjamin Button, though she was still unavailable for comment while she finished eating the father of her children. In advance of the Oscar presentation, it is likely she is incubating many eggs now, say scientists, though it is unclear how many of them will survive the first molt.