Yul Brynner

He was born Yuliy Borisovich Brynner (Russian: Юлий Бори́сович Бри́ннер) in Vladivostok, Russia. His mother, Marusya Blagovidova (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, in 1915. 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.

During WWII (1941-D-Day) Brynner worked as a French speaking radio announcer and commentator for the US Office of War Information, broadcasting propaganda to occupied France.

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 4,626 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, and in a short-lived TV version (Anna and the King) on CBS in 1972. Brynner is one of only eight 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 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.

Photography, 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 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.

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).

Death

Brynner died on October 10, 1985 (the same day as Orson Welles, his co star 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 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.

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.

He is a good actor, his performance in the movie taras bulba and The Ten Commandments are absolutely Fantastic, he is a versatile, he can be supporting actor and a lead actor of a film, he can also author a movie and can sing, what a fantastic talent.

Rest in peace Yul, i'll give you a 95% for your performance