Yul Brynner

Yul Brynner

Infobox actor
name = Yul Brynner


caption = from the film "Anastasia" (1956)
birthname = Yuliy Borisovich Brynner
birthdate = birth date|mf=yes|1920|7|11
birthplace = Vladivostok, Far Eastern Republic
deathdate = death date and age|mf=yes|1985|10|10|1920|7|11
deathplace = city-state|New York City|New York, U.S.
occupation = Film, stage actor
yearsactive = 1944-1980
spouse = Virginia Gilmore (1944-1960)
Doris Kleiner (1960-1967)
Jacqueline de Croisset (1971-1981)
Kathy Lee (1983-1985)
academyawards = Best Actor
1956 "The King and I"
tonyawards = Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1952 "King and I"
Special Tony Award
1985 Lifetime Achievement
awards = NBR Award for Best Actor
1956 "The King and I"
1956 "Anastasia"
1956 "The Ten Commandments"
Hollywood Walk of Fame
6162 Hollywood Boulevard

Yul Brynner (July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985) [Record of Yul Brynner, #108-18-2984. Social Security Administration. [http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ Social Security Death Index] (Death Master File). Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2006.] was a Russian-born actor of stage and film, perhaps best known for his portrayal of the Siamese king in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "The King and I" on the stage and on the screen, as well as Rameses II in the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille film "The Ten Commandments" and as Chris Adams in "The Magnificent Seven".

He was noted for his deep, rich voice and for his shaved head, which he kept as a personal trademark since adopting it in his role in "The King and I".

Biography

Early life

He was born Yuliy Borisovich Brynner ( _ru. Юлий Бори́сович Бри́нер) in Vladivostok, Russia. His mother, Marusya Blagovidova ( _ru. Маруся Благовидова), was the granddaughter of a Russian Jewish doctor and his father, Boris Brynner ( _ru. Борис Бринер), was a mining engineer of Swiss and Mongolian ancestry. [http://www.thejewishlife.com/yul-brynner-actor/ Yul Brynner: Actor | Jewish,Synagogue,Torah,Judaism,Kosher ] ] Dubious|date=July 2008

Brynner exaggerated his background and early life for the press, claiming that he was born Taidje Khan of part-Mongol parentage, on the Russian island of Sakhalin. A biography published by his son Rock Brynner in 1989 clarified these issues.

Yul falsely claimed to be a quarter Romany Dubious|date=July 2008 and in 1983 was elected to the position of Honorary President of the Roma, an office that he kept until his death.

After Boris Brynner abandoned his family, his mother took Yul and his sister, Vera Bryner ( _ru. Вера Бринер), to Harbin, China, where they attended a school run by the YMCA, and in 1934 she took them to Paris.

During WWII (1941-D-Day) Brynner worked as a French speaking radio announcer and commentator for the US Office of War Information, broadcasting propaganda to occupied France.

Career

He began acting and modeling in his twenties, and early in his career he was photographed nude by George Platt Lynes.

Brynner's best-known role was that of King Mongkut of Siam in the Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "The King and I" which he played 4,626 times onstage over the span of his career. He appeared in the original production and subsequent touring productions, as well as a 1977 Broadway revival, and another Broadway revival in 1985. He also appeared in the film version for which he won an Academy Award as Best Actor, and in a short-lived TV version ("Anna and the King") on CBS in 1972. Brynner is one of only nine people who have won both a Tony Award and an Academy Award for the same role.

He made an immediate impact upon launching his film career in 1956, appearing not only in "The King and I" that year, but also in major roles in "The Ten Commandments" opposite Charlton Heston and "Anastasia" opposite Ingrid Bergman. Brynner, at 5'10", was reportedly concerned about being overshadowed by Charlton Heston's physical presence in the film "The Ten Commandments", and prepared with an intensive weight-lifting program.

He later starred in such films as the Biblical epic "Solomon and Sheba" (1959), as Solomon, "The Magnificent Seven" (1960), and "Westworld" (1973). He co-starred with Marlon Brando in "Morituri"; Katharine Hepburn in "The Madwoman of Chaillot" and William Shatner in a film version of "The Brothers Karamazov". He starred with Barbara Bouchet in "Death Rage", 1976. His final feature film appearance was in the sequel to "Westworld", titled "Futureworld" with Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner, in 1976.

Brynner also appeared in drag in an unbilled role in the Peter Sellers comedy "The Magic Christian" (1969).

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.

Photographer, author, and musician

In addition to his work as a performer, Brynner was an active photographer, and wrote two books. 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 0-8109-3144-3). Brynner also published "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 0-8128-2882-8) in 1983.

A student of music from childhood, Brynner was an accomplished guitarist and singer. In his early period in Europe he often played and sang gypsy songs in Parisian nightclubs with Aliosha Dimitrievitch. He sang some of those same songs in the film "The Brothers Karamazov". In 1967, he and Dimitrievitch released a record album, "The Gypsy and I: Yul Brynner Sings Gypsy Songs" (Vanguard VSD 79265).

Personal life

Yul Brynner was married four times, the first three ending in divorce. He fathered three children and adopted two others.

He and his first wife, actress Virginia Gilmore (1944 – 1960), had one child, Yul Brynner II, who was born on December 23, 1946). His father nicknamed him "Rock" when he was six in honor of boxer Rocky Graziano, who won the middleweight title in 1947, but it did not turn out to be prophetic. Rock is a historian, novelist and university history lecturer at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT. [ [http://mosnews.com/interview/2004/06/25/brynner.shtml Mosnews.com ] ] In 2006, Rock wrote a book about his father and his family history titled "Empire and Odyssey: The Brynners in Far East Russia and Beyond."

Brynner reportedly had an affair with Marlene Dietrich in the early 1950s and, allegedly, another with Judy Garland in the mid-1950s.Fact|date=February 2007 His daughter Lark Brynner (born 1958) was born out of wedlock and raised by her mother.

Brynner's second wife, Doris Kleiner (1960 – 1967), was a Chilean model, whom he married on the set during shooting of "The Magnificent Seven" in 1960. [http://www.elsur.cl/archivo/marzo2000/22marzo2000/elsur/despacho/opinion4.htm] They had one child, Victoria Brynner (born November 1962), whose godmother was Audrey Hepburn.

His third wife, Jacqueline de Croisset (1971 – 1981), was a French socialite, the widow of Philippe de Croisset, a publishing executive. Brynner and Jacqueline adopted two Vietnamese children: Mia (1974), and Melody (1975).

Malaysian born Kathy Lee was a dancer in "The King and I" shows before marrying Brynner in 1983. [ [http://www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s1040 ITDb: Show Query: The King and I ] ]

Death

Brynner died of lung cancer on October 10, 1985 (the same day as Orson Welles, his co star in "The Battle of Neretva") in New York City.

Knowing he was dying of cancer, Brynner starred in a run of farewell performances of his most famous role, "The King and I", on Broadway from January 7 to June 30, 1985, opposite Mary Beth Peil. He received the 1985 Special Tony award honoring his 4,525 performances in "The King and I" [http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=4357 ]

Throughout his life, Brynner was often seen with a cigarette in his hand. 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. [http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/musc/ybpsa2.wvx] A clip from that interview was made into just such a public service announcement by the American Cancer Society, and released after his death; it includes the warning "Now that I'm gone, I tell you, don't smoke." [http://youtube.com/watch?v=JNjunlWUJJI] This advertisement is now featured in the Body Worlds exhibition.

Yul Brynner is interred on the grounds of the Saint-Michel-de-Bois-Aubry monastery not far from Luzé, between Tours and Poitiers, Vienne, France.

Honors and awards

Brynner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6162 Hollywood Blvd, and his childhood home, in Vladivostok, is now a museum. He made "Top 10 stars of the year", in both 1957 and 1958.

Work

Filmography

* "Port of New York" (1949)
* "Mr. I-Magination" (director, 1950-1953 (ca.))
* "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)
* "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 Seven" (1966)
* "Triple Cross" (1966)
* "The Double Man" (1967)
* "The Long Duel" (1967)
* "Villa Rides" (1968)
* "The Picasso Summer" (1969)
* "The File of the Golden Goose" (1969)
* "The Battle of Neretva" (1969)
* "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1969)
* "The Magic Christian" (1969)
* "Adiós, Sabata" (1971)
* "The Light at the Edge of the World" (1971)
* "Romance of a Horsethief" (1971)
* "Catlow" (1971)
* "Fuzz" (1972)
* "Night Flight from Moscow" (1973)
* "On Location with Westworld" (1973)
* "Westworld" (1973)
* "The Ultimate Warrior" (1975)
* "Death Rage" (1976)
* "Futureworld" (1976)
* "Lost to the Revolution" (1980)

tage

* "Twelfth Night" (December 2 - December 13, 1941)
* "The Moon Vine" (February 11 - February 27, 1943)
* "Lute Song" (February 6 - June 8, 1946)
* "The King and I" (March 29, 1951 - March 20, 1954)
* "Home Sweet Homer" (January 4, 1976)
* "The King and I" (Revival) (May 2, 1977 - December 30, 1978)
* "The King and I" (Revival) (January 2 - June 30, 1985)

Radio

* "Cafe Istanbul"

References

External links

*ibdb|33507
*imdb|989
*tcmdb name|24425
*amg name|2:9264
*tv.com person|18963
*findagrave|2966

Persondata
NAME= Brynner, Yul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Brynner, Yuliy Borisovich
SHORT DESCRIPTION=actor
DATE OF BIRTH= July 11, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH= Vladivostok, Russian SFSR
DATE OF DEATH= October 10, 1985
PLACE OF DEATH= New York, New York, U.S.


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