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Quick Facts
- NAME: Yul Brynner
- OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Theater Actor
- BIRTH DATE: July 11, 1920
- DEATH DATE: October 10, 1985
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Vladivostok, Russia
- PLACE OF DEATH: New York, New York
- Originally: Yuliy Borisovich Bryner
- AKA: Taidje Khan
- AKA: Yul Borisovich Bryner
- AKA: Yul Bryner
- AKA: Yul Brynner
Best Known For
Yul Brynner was an actor of stage and screen most famous for portraying King Mongkut of Siam in The King and I.
Videos see all videos
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Yul Brynner - The King and I (1:13)
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Audrey Hepburn - Preview (3:00)
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Yul Brynner - The King and I
Watch a short video about actor Yul Brynner and discover how he got his most famous role.
Audrey Hepburn - A Life in Full Circle
Watch a short video about the life of Audrey Hepburn—her childhood struggles during WWII, her life as an Oscar-winning Hollywood actress, and later, her role as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.
Audrey Hepburn - Preview
Born in Brussels, she studied dance at a young age before starring on Broadway in "Gigi" at the age of 22. Her performance caught the attention of Hollywood, and two years later she starred in "Roman Holiday."
Cecil B. DeMille - Mini Biography
A short biography of Cecil B. DeMille, whose name was synonymous with "biblical epic" and "director." Having directed over fifty films, he was called the "King of Hollywood," thanks to films like "Cleopatra" and "The Ten Commandments."
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Play NowYul Brynner. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:37, May 20, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/yul-brynner-9542628.
Yul Brynner. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/yul-brynner-9542628 [Accessed 20 May 2013].
"Yul Brynner." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 20 2013, 02:37 http://www.biography.com/people/yul-brynner-9542628.
"Yul Brynner," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/yul-brynner-9542628 [accessed May 20, 2013].
"Yul Brynner," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/yul-brynner-9542628 (accessed May 20, 2013).
Yul Brynner [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 20] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/yul-brynner-9542628.
Yul Brynner, http://www.biography.com/people/yul-brynner-9542628 (last visited May 20, 2013).
Yul Brynner. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/yul-brynner-9542628. Accessed May 20, 2013.
Synopsis
Quotes
"When I am dead and buried, on my tombstone I would like to have it written, 'I have arrived.' Because when you feel that you have arrived, you are dead."
"I have been offered a lot for my work, but never everything."
Early Life and Career
Yul Brynner was born Yuliy Borisovich Bryner on July 11, 1920, in Vladivostok, Russia, to father Boris Bryner, a Swiss-Mongolian engineer, and mother Marousia Blagavidova. While Brynner is best known for his acting career, and, more specifically, for his baldpate, rich voice and compelling screen presence, he was also a musician in his early years. After his father abandoned the family, Brynner's mother took him and his sister to China, then to Paris, where he played guitar and sang gypsy songs in Parisian nightclubs.
After a brief career as a trapeze artist in France, Brynner moved to the United States in 1941 and began acting with a touring company. He made his Broadway debut in Lute Sang in 1946.
'The King and I'
In 1949, Yul Brynner made his film debut in Port of New York, co-starring with Scott Brady and Richard Rober. Not long after, he landed his most famous role, playing King Mongkut of Siam in Oscar and Hammerstein's production of The King and I in 1951. Actress Mary Martin had recommended Brynner for the role in the Broadway musical, and the actor garnered wide critical and commercial acclaim for his performance.
Acclaimed Actor
After more than three years and 1,246 performances, Brynner reprised the role of King Mongkut for the screen version of The King and I in 1956, winning an Academy Award for best actor for his performance in the film. The dazzling, Academy Award-winning success that might have become a trap for a lesser star became the ongoing glory of Brynner's career, from the peak of his stardom to his untimely death. But it was by no means his only role or his only achievement.
Following the release of 1956's The King and I, Brynner returned to the stage for an additional 3,379 stage performances, the last of which occurred in 1985. Along the way, the actor also starred in such classic films as The Ten Commandments (1956), Anastasia (1956), The Brothers Karamazov (1958) and The Magnificent Seven (1960).
In honor of his prominent acting career, Brynner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6162 Hollywood Boulevard).
Outside of his performing career, Brynner worked as a photographer and authored two books, Bring Forth the Children: A Journey to the Forgotten People of Europe and the Middle East and The Yul Brynner Cookbook: Food Fit for the King and You.
Personal Life and Legacy
Brynner's romantic life included four wives, actress Viriginia Gilmor, Chilean model Doris Kleiner, Jacqueline Thion de la Chaume and ballerina Kathy Lee, as well as numerous love affairs with such stars as Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford and Ingrid Bergman.
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