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| spouse = [[Virginia Gilmore]] (1944-1960) (divorced)<br>Doris Kleiner (1960-1967) (divorced)<br>Jacqueline Thion de la Chaume (1971-1981) (divorced)<br>Kathy Lee (1983-1985) (his death)}}
| spouse = [[Virginia Gilmore]] (1944-1960) (divorced)<br>Doris Kleiner (1960-1967) (divorced)<br>Jacqueline Thion de la Chaume (1971-1981) (divorced)<br>Kathy Lee (1983-1985) (his death)}}


'''Yul Brynner''' ({{lang-ru|Юлий Борисович Бринер}}, ''Ûlij Borisovič Briner''; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985)<ref name="Social Security Death Index">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.</ref> was a [[Russia|Russian]]-born actor of [[stage (theatre)|stage]] and [[Big screen|film]], best known for his portrayal of [[Mongkut]], king of [[Thailand|Siam]], in the [[Rodgers & Hammerstein]] musical ''[[The King and I]]'' on both stage and screen, as well as [[Rameses II]] in the 1956 [[Cecil B. DeMille]] film ''[[The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments]]'' and Chris Adams in ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]''. Yul Brynner was noted for his deep, rich voice and for his shaven head, which he maintained as a personal trademark after adopting it for his role in ''[[The King and I]]''. Brynner was also a photographer and the author of two books.
'''Yul Brynner''' (July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985)<ref name="Social Security Death Index">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.</ref> was a [[Russia|Russian]]-born actor of [[stage (theatre)|stage]] and [[Big screen|film]], best known for his portrayal of [[Mongkut]], king of [[Thailand|Siam]], in the [[Rodgers & Hammerstein]] musical ''[[The King and I]]'' on both stage and screen, as well as [[Rameses II]] in the 1956 [[Cecil B. DeMille]] film ''[[The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments]]'' and Chris Adams in ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]''. Yul Brynner was noted for his deep, rich voice and for his shaven head, which he maintained as a personal trademark after adopting it for his role in ''[[The King and I]]''. Brynner was also a photographer and the author of two books.


==Early life==
==Early life==
Yul Brynner was born '''Yuliy Borisovich Bryner''' in 1920,<ref>Some sources cite 1915 as his year of birth</ref> in [[Vladivostok]],[[Russian Far East]], [[Russian Empire]] . His father, Boris Julievich Bryner ({{lang-ru|Борис Бринер}}), was a mining [[engineer]] whose father, Jules Bryner, was [[Swiss]and whose mother, Natalya Iosiphovna Kurkutova, was a native of [[Irkutsk]] and was partly of [[Buryats|Buryat]] ancestry.<ref name="bookref1"/>
Yul Brynner was born '''Yuliy Borisovich Bryner''' in 1920,<ref>Some sources cite 1915 as his year of birth</ref> in [[Vladivostok]],[[Russian Far East]], [[Russian Empire]] . His father, Boris Julievich Bryner, was a mining [[engineer]] whose father, Jules Bryner, was [[Swiss]and whose mother, Natalya Iosiphovna Kurkutova, was a native of [[Irkutsk]] and was partly of [[Buryats|Buryat]] ancestry.<ref name="bookref1"/>


Brynner's mother, Maria Dimitrievna (née Blagovidova), came from the [[intelligentsia]] and studied to be an actress and singer; she was the granddaughter of a doctor who had converted from [[Judaism]] to the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].<ref name="bookref1">{{cite book|last=Brynner|first=Rock|authorlink=|coauthors=|title=Empire & odyssey: the Brynners in Far East Russia and beyond|publisher=Steerforth Press|date=2006|location=|pages=20-30, 80-82|month=|url=|id=ISBN1586421026}}</ref>
Brynner's mother, Maria Dimitrievna (née Blagovidova), came from the [[intelligentsia]] and studied to be an actress and singer; she was the granddaughter of a doctor who had converted from [[Judaism]] to the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].<ref name="bookref1">{{cite book|last=Brynner|first=Rock|authorlink=|coauthors=|title=Empire & odyssey: the Brynners in Far East Russia and beyond|publisher=Steerforth Press|date=2006|location=|pages=20-30, 80-82|month=|url=|id=ISBN1586421026}}</ref>
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]]. In reality, he was born at home in a 4 storey residence at #15 Aleutskaya Street, [[Vladivostok]].<ref>[http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/Vladivostok/Bryner.htm Bryner Residence]</ref> A [[biography]] written by his son Rock Brynner in 1989 clarified these issues. He also claimed to be a quarter [[Romani people|Romany]] and in 1983 was elected to the position of Honorary President of the Roma, an office that he kept until he died. He also infrequently referred to himself as '''Julius Briner'''.<ref name="Social Security Death Index" />
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]]. In reality, he was born at home in a 4 storey residence at #15 Aleutskaya Street, [[Vladivostok]].<ref>[http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/Vladivostok/Bryner.htm Bryner Residence]</ref> A [[biography]] written by his son Rock Brynner in 1989 clarified these issues. He also claimed to be a quarter [[Romani people|Romany]] and in 1983 was elected to the position of Honorary President of the Roma, an office that he kept until he died. He also infrequently referred to himself as '''Julius Briner'''.<ref name="Social Security Death Index" />


After Boris Brynner abandoned his family, his mother took Yul and his sister, Vera Bryner ({{lang-ru|Вера Бринер}}), to [[Harbin]], [[China]], where they attended a school run by the [[YMCA]], and in 1934 she took them to [[Paris]]. During [[World War II]], Brynner worked as a French-speaking radio announcer and commentator for the U.S. [[Office of War Information]], broadcasting propaganda to occupied France.
After Boris Brynner abandoned his family, his mother took Yul and his sister, Vera Bryner, to [[Harbin]], [[China]], where they attended a school run by the [[YMCA]], and in 1934 she took them to [[Paris]]. During [[World War II]], Brynner worked as a French-speaking radio announcer and commentator for the U.S. [[Office of War Information]], broadcasting propaganda to occupied France.


==Career==
==Career==

Revision as of 00:59, 11 April 2010

Yul Brynner
from the trailer for The Ten Commandments (1956)
Born
Yuliy Borisovich Bryner
OccupationActor
Years active1941–1985
Spouse(s)Virginia Gilmore (1944-1960) (divorced)
Doris Kleiner (1960-1967) (divorced)
Jacqueline Thion de la Chaume (1971-1981) (divorced)
Kathy Lee (1983-1985) (his death)

Yul Brynner (July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985)[1] was a Russian-born actor of stage and film, best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The King and I on both stage and screen, as well as Rameses II in the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille film The Ten Commandments and Chris Adams in The Magnificent Seven. Yul Brynner was noted for his deep, rich voice and for his shaven head, which he maintained as a personal trademark after adopting it for his role in The King and I. Brynner was also a photographer and the author of two books.

Early life

Yul Brynner was born Yuliy Borisovich Bryner in 1920,[2] in Vladivostok,Russian Far East, Russian Empire . His father, Boris Julievich Bryner, was a mining engineer whose father, Jules Bryner, was [[Swiss]and whose mother, Natalya Iosiphovna Kurkutova, was a native of Irkutsk and was partly of Buryat ancestry.[3]

Brynner's mother, Maria Dimitrievna (née Blagovidova), came from the intelligentsia and studied to be an actress and singer; she was the granddaughter of a doctor who had converted from Judaism to the Russian Orthodox Church.[3] 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. In reality, he was born at home in a 4 storey residence at #15 Aleutskaya Street, Vladivostok.[4] A biography written by his son Rock Brynner in 1989 clarified these issues. He also claimed to be a quarter Romany and in 1983 was elected to the position of Honorary President of the Roma, an office that he kept until he died. He also infrequently referred to himself as Julius Briner.[1]

After Boris Brynner abandoned his family, his mother took Yul and his sister, Vera Bryner, to Harbin, China, where they attended a school run by the YMCA, and in 1934 she took them to Paris. During World War II, Brynner worked as a French-speaking radio announcer and commentator for the U.S. 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.[5]

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 4,525 times on stage over the span of his career. He appeared in the original production and later touring productions, as well as a 1977 Broadway revival, London Production in 1979 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 with Charlton Heston and Anastasia with Ingrid Bergman. Brynner, at 5'10", was reportedly concerned about being overshadowed by Charlton Heston's height and physical presence in 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), The Magnificent Seven (1960), and Kings of the Sun (1963). He co-starred with Marlon Brando in Morituri; Katharine Hepburn in The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) and William Shatner in a film version of The Brothers Karamazov (1958). He starred with Barbara Bouchet in Death Rage, 1976. Among his final feature film appearances were in Michael Crichton's Westworld (1973) and its sequel Futureworld (1976). Brynner also appeared in drag (as a torch singer), in an unbilled role in the Peter Sellers comedy The Magic Christian (1969).

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 Yul Brynner: Photographer (ISBN 0-8109-3144-3) a collection of his photographs of family, friends, and fellow actors, as well as those he took while serving as a UN special consultant on refugees. Brynner wrote Bring Forth the Children: A Journey to the Forgotten People of Europe and the Middle East (1960) and The Yul Brynner Cookbook: Food Fit for the King and You (1983 ISBN 0-8128-2882-8).

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

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

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. Rock is a historian, novelist, and university history lecturer at Marist College in Poughkeepsie (town), New York and Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut. 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.

His daughter Lark Brynner (born 1958) was born out of wedlock and raised by her mother, Frankie Tilden, who was 20 years old at the time of the birth. Brynner supported her financially . 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.[6] They had one child, Victoria Brynner (born November 1962), whose godmother was Audrey Hepburn.

His third wife, Jacqueline Thion de la Chaume[7] (1971-1981), was a French socialite, the widow of Philippe de Croisset (son of French playwright Francis de Croisset), a publishing executive, the victim of a car accident. Brynner and Jacqueline adopted two Vietnamese children: Mia (1974), and Melody (1975). The first house that he ever owned was the Manoir de Cricqueboeuf, a sixteenth-century manor house that he and Jacqueline purchased.[7]

He married his fourth wife, Kathy Lee, a 24 year old ballerina from a small town in Malaysia whom he had met in a production of The King and I, in which she had a small dancing role. The marriage lasted for 2 years (1983-1985) until Brynner's death.[8]

According to Marlene Dietrich's daughter Maria Riva (as she wrote in her memoir Marlene Dietrich, 1994), he had a passionate affair with the famous actress during the first production of The King and I.

Death

Brynner died of lung cancer on October 10, 1985 in New York City, the same day as Orson Welles.

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, with Mary Beth Peil.

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.[9] 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. Whatever you do, just don't smoke. If I could take back that smoking, we wouldn't be talking about any cancer. I'm convinced of that." [10] This advertisement is now featured in the Body Worlds exhibition.

Brynner is interred on the grounds of the Saint-Michel-de-Bois-Aubry Russian Orthodox 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 won the 1956 Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the King of Siam in The King and I and made the "Top 10 Stars of the Year" list in both 1957 and 1958.

In 1985, he received a Special Tony Award honoring his 4,525 performances in The King and I.[11]

Filmography

Features:

Short subjects:

  • On Location with Westworld (1973)
  • Lost to the Revolution (1980) (narrator)

Stage work

  • Twelfth Night (December 2 - December 13, 1941) (Broadway)
  • The Moon Vine (February 11 - February 27, 1943) (Broadway)
  • Lute Song (February 6 - June 8, 1946) (Broadway)
  • The King and I (March 29, 1951 - March 20, 1954) (Broadway and national tour)
  • Home Sweet Homer (January 4, 1976) (Broadway)
  • The King and I (Revival) (May 2, 1977 - December 30, 1978) (Broadway and national tour)
  • The King and I (Revival) (January 7 - June 30, 1985) (Broadway)

References

  1. ^ a b Record of Yul Brynner, #108-18-2984. Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index (Death Master File). Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2006.
  2. ^ Some sources cite 1915 as his year of birth
  3. ^ a b Brynner, Rock (2006). Empire & odyssey: the Brynners in Far East Russia and beyond. Steerforth Press. pp. 20–30, 80–82. ISBN1586421026. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
  4. ^ Bryner Residence
  5. ^ Leddick, David. George Platt Lynes. New York: Taschen, 2000
  6. ^ http://www.elsur.cl/archivo/marzo2000/22marzo2000/elsur/despacho/opinion4.htm
  7. ^ a b Capua, Michelangelo (2006). Yul Brynner, A Biography. McFarland. ISBN 0786424613. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ tv.com. "Yul Brynner: Biography".
  9. ^ Anti-smoking PSA
  10. ^ YouTube of PSA
  11. ^ IBDB
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