Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner (
July 11,
1920[
1] –
October 10,
1985) was a
Russian-born
Broadway and
Academy Award-winning
Hollywood actor. He appeared in many
movies and
stage productions in the
United States. He is best known for his portrayal of the
Siamese king in the
Rodgers & Hammerstein musical
The King and I as well as
Ramesses II in
The Ten Commandments.
He was born
Yul Borisovich Brynner () in
Vladivostok,
Russia. His mother, Marousia Blagоvidova, was the daughter of a
Russian doctor of
Jewish heritage and his father, Boris Bryner, was an engineer and inventor of
Swiss and
Mongolian ancestry. He was named Yul after his paternal grandfather, Jules Bryner.
Brynner's early life was exotic, but he made it out to be even more exotic than it actually was, claiming that he was born Taidje Khan of part-
Japanese parentage on the Russian island of
Sakhalin. A biography published by his son
Rock Brynner in
1989 clarified these issues.
After Boris Bryner abandoned his family, his mother took Yul and his sister, Vera Brynner, to
Harbin,
China, where they attended a school run by the
YMCA, and in
1934 she took them to
Paris, France. Early in his career he was photographed nude by
George Platt Lynes.
Brynner's best-known role was that of King
Mongkut of
Siam which he played 4626 times in both the stage and film versions of the
musical The King and I, for which he won an
Academy Award as
Best Actor. He is one of only seven people who have won both a
Tony Award and an
Academy Award (Oscar) for the same role.
|
Brynner was noted for his deep, rich voice and his trademarked shaved head. |
He made an immediate impact upon first starring in films in
1956, appearing not only in
The King and I that year, but also in major roles in
The Ten Commandments and
Anastasia. He later starred in such films as
Solomon and Sheba (1959),
The Magnificent Seven (1960), and
Westworld (1973).
Brynner died on
October 10,
1985 (the same day as
Orson Welles) in
New York City at the age of 70. The cause of death was
lung cancer brought on by smoking. In January 1985, nine months before his death, he gave an interview on
Good Morning America, expressing his desire to make an anti-smoking commercial. A clip from that interview was made into just such a commercial by the
American Cancer Society, and released after his death, which he opens by looking straight into the camera and intoning, "I'm dead."
Yul Brynner is interred in the cemetery at the Saint-Michel-de-Bois-Aubry monastery in
Luzé, near
Poitiers,
Vienne,
France.
He has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6162 Hollywood Blvd, and his childhood home is now a museum in Vladivostok.
Yul Brynner was married four times, of which the first three ended in divorce. He had three birth-children and adopted two others.
*His first wife,
Virginia Gilmore (
1944–
1960), was an actress. They had one child, Yul Brynner II (b.
December 23,
1946), nicknamed when he was six "Rock" by his father in honor of
boxer Rocky Graziano, who won the middleweight title in 1947. Rock is a historian, novelist and university history lecturer [
2].
* Lark Brynner (b. 1958) was born out of wedlock and raised by her mother.
*His second wife, Doris Kleiner (
1960 â€"
1967), was a
Chilean model, whom he married on the set during shooting of
The Magnificent Seven in 1960.[
3] They had one child Victoria Brynner (b. November
1962).
*His third wife, Jacqueline de Croisset (
1971 â€"
1981), was a French socialite. She was the widow of Philippe de Croisset, a publishing executive. Yul and Jacqueline adopted two Vietnamese children: Mia (
1974), and Melody (
1975).
*His fourth wife, Kathy Lee, was an
Asian dancer in
The King and I shows.[
4] They married in 1983.
*Towards the end of his life he contracted
trichinosis and subsequently sued
Trader Vic's restaurant in the
Plaza Hotel in
New York City for serving him undercooked pork, from which, allegedly, he caught the disease.
*He had an affair with
Marlene Dietrich in the early 1950s and appeared on the Cafe Istanbul radio program.
* Brynner loved taking photographs. His daughter Victoria put together a book of his photographs of family, friends, and fellow actors, as well as those he took while serving as a UN special consultant on refugees. The book is titled
Yul Brynner: Photographer (ISBN 0810931443)
* He published two books in his lifetime.
Bring forth the children: A journey to the forgotten people of Europe and the Middle East in 1960 and
The Yul Brynner Cookbook: Food Fit for the King and You (ISBN 0812828828) in 1983.
* He is referenced in a
Toy Dolls song entitled "Yul Brynner is a
Skinhead". The
lyrics, contrary to the title, humorously point out that Brynner can't be a skinhead since he's not wearing
Dr. Martens boots and doesn't have any
tattoos.
* Brynner's appearance in
Westworld is noted in former
Pavement frontman
Stephen Malkmus's song "Jo Jo's Jacket." The song appears on Malkmus's first solo album,
Stephen Malkmus.
* Yul is referenced in "Stormtrooper", a song by
Ooberman released as a secret track on their debut album
The Magic Treehouse.
* He is also referenced in
Murray Head's song, "One Night in Bangkok" (1984).
* One of the main characters in the
1993 Disney movie
Cool Runnings goes by the name Yul Brenner.
* Brynner's height was 5'10".
* Made "Top 10 stars of the year", twice. 1957, 1958.
* To prevent being overshadowed by
Charlton Heston's physical presence Brynner began to intensely lift weights for
The Ten Commandments (
1956).
Port of New York (1949)
The King and I (1956)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Anastasia (1956)
The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
The Buccaneer (1958)
The Journey (1959)
The Sound and the Fury (1959)
Solomon and Sheba (1959)
Once More, with Feeling! (1960)
The Testament of Orpheus (1960)
Surprise Package (1960)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Goodbye Again (1961)
Escape from Zahrain (1962)
Taras Bulba (1962)
Kings of the Sun (1963)
Flight from Ashiya (1964)
Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964)
Morituri (1965)
Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)
The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966)
Return of the Magnificent Seven (1966)
Triple Cross (1967)
The Double Man (1967)
The Long Duel (1967)
Villa Rides (1968)
The Battle of Neretva (1968)
The File of the Golden Goose (1969)
The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969)
The Magic Christian (1969) (Cameo)
Adios Sabata Part of
The Sabata Trilogy(1971)
The Light at the Edge of the World (1971)
Romance of a Horsethief (1971)
Catlow (1971)
Fuzz (1972)
On Location with Westworld (1973) (short subject)
Night Flight from Moscow (1973)
Westworld (1973)
The Ultimate Warrior (1975)
Death Rage (1976)
Futureworld (1976)
Lost in the Revolution (1980) (short subject) (narrator)
*
Twelfth Night [Revival, Play, Comedy] Dec 2, 1941 â€" Dec 13, 1941
*
The Moon Vine [Original, Play] Feb 11, 1943 â€" Feb 27, 1943
*
Lute Song [Original, Musical] Feb 6, 1946 â€" Jun 8, 1946
*
The King and I [Original, Musical, Comedy, Drama] Mar 29, 1951 â€" Mar 20, 1954
*
Home Sweet Homer Original, Musical, Romantic Comedy Jan 4, 1976 â€" Jan 4, 1976
*The King and I [Revival, Musical, Comedy, Drama] May 2, 1977 â€" Dec 30, 1978
*The King and I [Revival, Musical, Comedy, Drama] Jan 7, 1985 â€" Jun 30, 1985
*
Yul Brynner fan page - *
Yul Brynner - Quite Simply, The King
