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Yul Brynner




Yul Brynner ( July 7 , 1915October 10 , 1985 ) was a Academy Award -winning and Hollywood and Broadway Actor who held French citizenship. 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 '' as well as Ramesses II in '' The Ten Commandments ''.


BIOGRAPHY

He was born Yul Borisovich Brynner (, Russia . His mother, Marousia Blagоvidova, was the daughter of a Russia n 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.

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.

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 . 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 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.

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).

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, which he opens by looking straight into the camera and intoning, "I'm dead."

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

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


TRIVIA

  • Brynner loved taking photographs. 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 0810931443)

  • He published two books in his lifetime. ''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 0812828828) in 1983.

  • He had an affair with Marlene Dietrich in the early 1950s and appeared on the Cafe Istanbul radio program.

  • His first wife, Virginia Gilmore, was an actress.

  • His second wife, Doris Kleiner, was a Chilean model, whom he married on the set during shooting of '' The Magnificent Seven '' in 1960. {Link without Title}

  • His third wife, Jacqueline de Croisset, was a French socialite, the third wife and widow of Philippe de Croisset, a publishing executive who was a half-brother of the arts patron Marie-Laure De Noailles .

  • His fourth wife, Kathy Lee, was an Asian dancer in '' The King And I '' shows. {Link without Title}

  • He adopted two daughters from Vietnam .

  • He is referenced in a boots and doesn't have any Tattoo s.

  • Brynner's appearance in Westworld is noted in former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus ' song "Jo Jo's Jacket." The song appears on Malkmus' first solo album, Self Titled.

  • :Yul is referenced in "Stormtrooper", a song by Ooberman released as a secret track on their debut album '' The Magic Treehouse ''.

  • He is also referenced in Murray Head 's song - One Night in Bangkok (1984).

  • One of the main characters in the 1993 Disney movie Cool Runnings goes by the name Yul Brynner.



SPOUSES

  • Virginia Gilmore ( 19441960 ) (divorced) 1 child

  • Doris Kleiner ( 19601967 ) (divorced) 1 child

  • Jacqueline de Croisset ( 19711981 ) (divorced) 2 children

  • Kathy Lee ( 1983October 10 , 1985 ) (his death)



CHILDREN

  • 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 {Link without Title} . His mother was Virginia Gilmore.

  • Lark Brynner was born out of wedlock and raised by her mother (b. 1958)

  • Victoria Brynner (b. November of 1962 ), with his second wife Doris Kleiner.

  • Mia Brynner (adopted 1974 , born in Vietnam), with his third wife Jacqueline de Croisset.

  • Melody Brynner (adopted 1975 , born in Vietnam), with his third wife Jacqueline de Croisset.



FILMOGRAPHY



  Title Academy Award For Best Actor
  Years 1956<br>'''for '' The King And I '' '''
  Before Ernest Borgnine <br>for '' Marty ''