Юлий Борисович Бринер
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Awards
Yul Brynner won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as King Mongkut in the 1956 film adaptation of The King and I, a role he originated on Broadway in 1951. He shaved his head for the role and kept the look for the rest of his life. Brynner died of lung cancer in 1985, after filming an anti-smoking commercial that aired posthumously.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Yul Brynner — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Yul Brynner by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Yul Brynner — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
After his father abandoned the family, Brynner’s mother moved Yuli and his sister Vera to Harbin, Manchuria. Born Yuli Borisovich Bryner on July 11, 1920, in Vladivostok, Russia, he attended a YMCA school there. In 1934, the family relocated to Paris. He dropped out of school and became a musician, playing guitar in nightclubs. He also worked as a trapeze artist with the Cirque d’Hiver company and met figures including Jean Cocteau.
Brynner made his film debut in Port of New York 1949. In 1951, he was cast as the King of Siam in Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Broadway musical The King and I. He reprised the role in the 1956 film adaptation and won the Academy Award for Best Actor. In the 1950s and 1960s, he starred in films including The Ten Commandments 1956 as Pharaoh Rameses II, The Magnificent Seven 1960 as Chris Adams, and Westworld 1973 as the Gunslinger. He also directed television for CBS and worked as a producer.
Brynner married four times: to actress Virginia Gilmore 1944–1960, Doris Kleiner 1960–1967, Jacqueline Thion de La Chaume 1971–1983, and Kathy Lee 1983–1985. He had five children: Yul Rock Brynner II with Gilmore, Victoria Brynner with Kleiner, Lark Brynner born out of wedlock in 1958, and adopted daughters Mia and Melody Brynner. Audrey Hepburn was the godmother of his daughter Victoria.
Brynner’s portrayal of King Mongkut in The King and I endures, and he performed the role 4,633 times on stage. His shaved head became his distinctive look and inspired Professor X in X-Men comics. He was one of only ten actors to win both a Tony and an Oscar for the same role. His anti-smoking commercial, filmed in 1985 while he was ill with lung cancer, aired after his death.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Yul Brynner — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Yul Brynner — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
People Don’t Know My Real Self, and They’re Not About to Find Out.
Girls Have an Unfair Advantage Over Boys: If They Can’t Get What They Want by Being Smart, They Can Get It by Being Dumb.
I’m Not of the Can-kicking, Shovel-carrying, Ear-scratching, Torn T-shirt School of Acting. There Are Very Few Real Men in the Movies These Days. yet Being a Real Man Is the Most Important Quality an Actor Can Offer on the Screen.
Little-known facts about Yul Brynner — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
While ill with lung cancer in January 1985, Brynner filmed a television commercial urging viewers not to smoke. The ad aired after his death and had an impact.
A photographer, Brynner took many photos on the sets of his projects.
For his role as Pharaoh Rameses II in The Ten Commandments 1956, Brynner began a weightlifting program to avoid being physically overshadowed by co-star Charlton Heston.
He spoke 11 languages fluently.
His Broadway debut in Twelfth Night occurred on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, and the show closed after 15 performances.
Jack Kirby used Brynner’s bald head and intense stare as the visual inspiration for Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men comics.
Brynner married Doris Kleiner on the set of The Magnificent Seven 1960.
He sought the title role in Spartacus 1960 and the role of Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra 1971.
His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was dedicated on February 8, 1960, at 6162 Hollywood Blvd.
At age 16, a circus trapeze fall left him unable to move for eight months, but he recovered.
He is one of only ten actors to win both a Tony and an Oscar for portraying the same role on stage and screen, for The King and I.
He died on the same day as his The Battle of Neretva 1969 co-star Orson Welles: October 10, 1985.
Audrey Hepburn was the godmother of his daughter Victoria.
He prepared breakfast while wearing a silk kimono.
Began his acting career in France and spoke French.
Won the 1952 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for The King and I and a Special Tony Award in 1985 for his 4,525 performances.
His third wife, Jacqueline de Croisset, had two adopted daughters with him: Mia and Melody Brynner, both born in Vietnam in 1974.
He played King Mongkut of Siam on stage, in the film, and in a short-lived television series.
Before The King and I, he was a CBS television director, working on shows including Danger and Studio One.
Three of his films were remade as animated features in the late 1990s: The King and I 1999, Anastasia 1997, and The Prince of Egypt 1998.
His daughter Victoria Brynner founded Stardust Visions and Stardust Celebrities in Los Angeles in 1992.
After seeing him in Lute Song with Mary Martin, Judy Garland requested a screen test with him, which led to his film debut in Port of New York 1949.
He was the godfather of Charlotte Gainsbourg.
In the 1950s, he worked with the United Nations to help refugees worldwide.
During the Odyssey play tour in the 1970s, he insisted on hotel suites painted a specific shade of tan and stocked with brown eggs.
In 1950, he directed a children’s puppet show on CBS called Life with Snarky Parker.
He performed the role of the King in The King and I a total of 4,633 times.
He was buried in the Orthodox cemetery Saint-Michel-du-Bois-Aubry in Luzé, France.
After his disappointment with Taras Bulba 1962, he rarely invested himself in his remaining screen work, according to his son.
His likeness also inspired the original illustrations of Green Lantern/Abin Sur in 1959.
He left the bulk of his estate to his fourth wife Kathy Brynner, including their New York co-op and a French chateau.
His out-of-wedlock daughter Lark Brynner was born in 1958 to German actress Frances Martin.
He appeared in both The Magnificent Seven 1960 and its sequel Return of the Seven 1966, but not in later sequels.
A recording of him discussing being bald is sampled in Stephen Malkmus’s song Jo Jo’s Jacket.
His paternal grandfather was Swiss-German, and his maternal grandparents were Russian.
He appeared in three films with Eli Wallach: The Magnificent Seven, The Poppy Is Also a Flower, and Romance of a Horsethief.
He is mentioned in the song One Night in Bangkok from the musical Chess.
He was an apprentice of acting teacher Michael Chekhov.
He believed in rituals.
He is one of 13 actors nominated for an Oscar for portraying a real-life king.
He is the only actor to win an Oscar for a role in a Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II musical.
He commissioned Jean Cocteau to design the logo for his production company, Alciona.
He met his fourth wife Kathy Lee during the London run of The King and I musical.
Two of his films, The Ten Commandments and The Magnificent Seven, are in the National Film Registry.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Yul Brynner.
Celebrities similar to Yul Brynner — same craft, ranked by reach.
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