Yul Brynner
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| Yul Brynner | |
 Yul Brynner in Anastasia. |
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| Birth name | Yuliy Borisovich Brynner |
| Born | July 11, 1920 Vladivostok, Russian SFSR |
| Died | October 10, 1985 aged 65 New York, New York, USA |
| Years active | 1944 - 1980 |
| Spouse(s) | Kathy Lee (1983 - October 10, 1985) (his death) Jacqueline de Croisset (1971 - 1981) (divorced) 2 children Doris Kleiner (1960 - 1967) (divorced) 1 child Virginia Gilmore (1944 - 1960) (divorced) 1 child |
| Notable roles | Chris Adams in The Magnificent Seven (1960) |
| Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
| Best Actor 1956 The King and I |
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| Tony Awards | |
| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical 1952 King and I 1985 Special Award |
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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 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.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
He was born Yuliy Borisovich Brynner (Russian: Юлий Бори́сович Бри́ннер) in Vladivostok, Russia. His mother, Marusya Blagоvidova (Russian: Маруся Благовидова), was the daughter of a Russian doctor and his father, Boris Brynner (Russian: Борис Бриннер), was an engineer and inventor, who was of Swiss and 1/16th Mongolian ancestry. He was named Yul after his paternal grandfather, Jules Brynner.
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-Mongol parentage on the Russian island of Sakhalin. A biography published by his son Rock Brynner in 1989 clarified these issues.
After Boris Brynner abandoned his family, his mother took Yul and his sister, Vera Bryner (Russian: Вера Бриннер), to Harbin, China, where they attended a school run by the YMCA, and in 1934 she took them to Paris, France.
During WWII (1942-D-Day) Brynner worked as a French speaking radio announcer and commentator for the US Office of War Information, broadcasting propaganda to occupied France.
[edit] Career
He began acting and modeling in his 20s, 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 4626 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. He is one of only seven people who have won both a Tony Award and an Academy Award (Oscar) for the same role.
He made an immediate impact upon launching his film career in 1956, appearing not only in the film version of The King and I that year, but also in major roles in The Ten Commandments opposite Charlton Heston and Anastasia opposite Ingrid Bergman. Brynner, only 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.
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.
[edit] Photographer and author
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.
[edit] Personal life
Yul Brynner was married four times, of which the first three ended in divorce. He had three 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 – 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), whose godmother is Audrey Hepburn.
- His third wife, Jacqueline de Croisset (1971 – 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.
Brynner also had an affair with Marlene Dietrich in the early 1950s.[citation needed]
[edit] Death
Brynner died on October 10, 1985 (the same day as Orson Welles, his costar in The Battle of Neretva) in New York City. The cause of death was lung cancer brought on by smoking. Throughout his life, Brynner was always 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.[5] 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." This advertisement now features in the Body Worlds exhibition.
Yul Brynner is interred in the cemetery at the Saint-Michel-de-Bois-Aubry monastery in Luzé, near Poitiers, Vienne, France.
[edit] Credits
[edit] Filmography
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[edit] Theater credits
- Twelfth Night
- The Moon Vine
- Lute Song
- The King and I
- Home Sweet Homer
[edit] Radio credits
- Cafe Istanbul radio program.
[edit] Honors and Awards
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ernest Borgnine for Marty |
Academy Award for Best Actor 1956 for The King and I |
Succeeded by Sir Alec Guinness for The Bridge on the River Kwai |
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 was made "Top 10 stars of the year", in both 1957 and 1958.
[edit] Popular culture references
- 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 appearances in Westworld and The King and I are noted in former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus's song "Jo Jo's Jacket." It features a clip of Brynner's voice and the lyrics "I have a bald head, my name is Yul Brynner, and I am a famous movie star!". The song appears on Malkmus's first solo album, Stephen Malkmus.
- One of the main characters in the 1993 Disney movie Cool Runnings goes by the name Yul Brenner.
- Brynner is shown photographed nude in "Naked Men: Pioneering Male Nudes 1935-1955".
- In the 2005 movie The Dukes of Hazard Bo Duke refers to one of the police officers in the Atlanta jail as Yul Brenner.
- Nothing more than a drawn circle is a "Lazy Artist" picture of Yul Brynner as seen by an airplane.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Record of Yul Brynner, #108-18-2984. Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index (Death Master File). Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2006.
- ^ http://mosnews.com/interview/2004/06/25/brynner.shtml
- ^ http://www.elsur.cl/archivo/marzo2000/22marzo2000/elsur/despacho/opinion4.htm
- ^ http://www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s1040
- ^ http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/musc/ybpsa2.wvx
[edit] External links
- Yul Brynner at the Internet Movie Database
- Yul Brynner at the TCM Movie Database
- Yul Brynner at the Internet Broadway Database
| 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, USA |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | American film actors | Spaghetti Western actors | Best Actor Academy Award winners | American stage actors | American musical theatre actors | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Eurasian actors | Russian-Americans | Tony Award winners | Lung cancer deaths | 1920 births | 1985 deaths
