Yul Brynner

Yul Brynner (July 7, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was a Russian actor born Yul Borisovich Bryner in Vladivostok, Russia who appeared in many movies and stage productions. His mother, Marousia Blagavidova, was the daughter of a Russian doctor of Jewish heritage (who had converted to Christianity) 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.

Related Topics:
July 7 - 1915 - October 10 - 1985 - Russian - Actor - Vladivostok - Russia - Movies - Stage - Jewish - Christianity - Swiss - Mongolian

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Brynner's early life was exotic, but he made it out to be even more exotic than it actually was, for example, claiming that he was born Taidje Khan of part-Japanese parentage on the Russian island of Sakhalin. A biography published by his son in 1989 clarified these issues.

Related Topics:
Japanese - Sakhalin - 1989

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After Boris Bryner 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, France.

Related Topics:
YMCA - 1934 - Paris, France

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Brynner's best-known role was that of King Mongkut of Siam 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.

Related Topics:
Mongkut - Siam - Musical - The King and I - Academy Award - Best Actor - Tony Award

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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).

Related Topics:
1956 - The Ten Commandments - Anastasia - Solomon and Sheba - The Magnificent Seven - Westworld

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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.

Related Topics:
October 10 - 1985 - Orson Welles - New York City - Lung cancer - Good Morning America - American Cancer Society

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Yul Brynner is interred in the cemetery at the Saint-Michel-de-Bois-Aubry monastery in Luze, near Poitiers, Vienne, France.

Related Topics:
Luze - Poitiers - Vienne - France

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He has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6162 Hollywood Blvd, and his childhood home is now a museum in Vladivostok.

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