Yul Brynner
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| Yul Brynner | |
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Brynner in Sarajevo (1969)
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| Born | Yuliy Borisovich Briner July 11, 1920 Vladivostok, Far Eastern Republic (present-day Vladivostok, Russia) |
| Died | October 10, 1985 (aged 65) New York City, United States |
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Resting place
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Saint-Michel-de-Bois-Aubry Russian Orthodox Monastery near Luzé France |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1941–1985 |
| Religion | Russian Orthodox |
| Spouse(s) | Virginia Gilmore (m. 1944–60) (divorced) Doris Kleiner (m. 1960–67) (divorced) Jacqueline Thion de la Chaume (m. 1971–81) (divorced) Kathy Lee (m. 1983–85) (his death) |
Contents
Early life
His father, Boris Yuliyevich Briner, was a mining engineer whose father, Jules Briner, was a Swiss citizen who moved to Vladivostok in the 1870s and established a successful import/export company.[7] Brynner's paternal grandmother, Natalya Yosifovna Kurkutova, was a native of Irkutsk and a Eurasian of part Buryat ancestry. His mother, Marousia Dimitrievna (née Blagovidova), came from the intelligentsia and studied to be an actress and singer. He felt a strong personal connection to the Romani people; in 1977, Yul Brynner was named Honorary President of the International Romani Union, an office that he kept until his death.[8][9]
Boris Briner's work required extensive travel, and in 1923 he fell in love with an actress, Katya Kornukova, at the Moscow Art Theatre, and soon after abandoned his family. Yul's mother took him and his sister, Vera (born 1916), to Harbin, Manchuria (present day China), where they attended a school run by the YMCA. In 1932, fearing a war between China and Japan, she took them to Paris.[7] Brynner played his guitar in Russian nightclubs in Paris, sometimes accompanying his sister, playing Russian and gypsy songs. He trained as a trapeze acrobat and worked in a French circus troupe for three years, but after sustaining a back injury, he turned to acting.[7][10] In 1938, his mother was diagnosed with leukemia, and they briefly moved back to Harbin.[7]
In 1940, speaking very little English, Brynner and his mother emigrated to the US aboard the SS President Cleveland, arriving in New York City on October 25, 1940, where his sister already lived.[3][7] Vera, a singer, starred in The Consul on Broadway in 1950[11] and appeared at The Metropolitan Opera as Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and on television in the title role of Carmen. She later taught voice in New York.[12]
Career
During World War II, Brynner worked as a French-speaking radio announcer and commentator for the U.S. Office of War Information, broadcasting propaganda to occupied France.[13] At the same time, he studied acting in Connecticut with the Russian teacher Michael Chekhov. Brynner’s first Broadway performance was a small part in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in December 1941. Brynner found little acting work during the next few years,[7] but among other acting stints, he co-starred in a 1946 production of Lute Song with Mary Martin. He also did some modeling work and was photographed nude by George Platt Lynes.[14]Brynner's first marriage was to actress Virginia Gilmore in 1944, and soon after he began working as a director at the new CBS television studios, directing Studio One, among other shows. In 1949, he made his film debut in Port of New York. The next year, at the urging of Martin, he auditioned for Rodgers and Hammerstein's new musical in New York. He recalled that, as he was finding success as a director on television, he was reluctant to go back on the stage. Once he read the script, however, he was fascinated by the character of the King and was eager to perform in the project.[15]
In 1951, Brynner shaved his head for his role in The King and I.[17][18] Following the huge success of the Broadway production and subsequent film, Brynner continued to shave his head for the rest of his life, though he would sometimes wear a wig for certain roles. Brynner's shaved head was unusual at the time, and his striking appearance helped to give him an iconic appeal.[19] Some fans shaved off their hair to imitate him,[20] and a shaved head was often referred to as the "Yul Brynner look".[21][22][23] Brynner reprised his "Shall We Dance?" segment with Patricia Morison on the TV special General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein, broadcast March 28, 1954 on all four American TV networks of the time.
Brynner made an immediate impact upon launching his mainstream film career in 1956 and quickly gained superstar status after appearing not only in The King and I that year but also in starring roles in The Ten Commandments, and Anastasia with Ingrid Bergman. Brynner, at 5'8" was reportedly concerned about being overshadowed by co-star Charlton Heston's height and physical presence in The Ten Commandments and prepared his impressive physique seen in the film with an intensive weight-lifting program.[citation needed]
He appeared in more than 40 other films over the next two decades,[7] including the epic Solomon and Sheba (1959), The Magnificent Seven (1960), Taras Bulba (1962) and Kings of the Sun (1963). He co-starred with Marlon Brando in Morituri (1965), Katharine Hepburn in The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) and Lee J. Cobb in a film version of The Brothers Karamazov (1958). He played the titular role of The Ultimate Warrior (1975) and starred with Barbara Bouchet in Death Rage (1976). Among his final feature film appearances were in Michael Crichton's Westworld (1973) and its sequel Futureworld (1976). Brynner also appeared in drag (as a torch singer) in an unbilled role in the Peter Sellers comedy The Magic Christian (1969).[24]
Photographer, author, and musician
In addition to his work as a director and performer, Brynner was an active photographer and wrote two books. His daughter Victoria put together Yul Brynner: Photographer (ISBN 0-8109-3144-3) a collection of his photographs of family, friends, and fellow actors, as well as those he took while serving as a UN special consultant on refugees. Brynner wrote Bring Forth the Children: A Journey to the Forgotten People of Europe and the Middle East (1960), with photographs by himself and Magnum photographer Inge Morath, and The Yul Brynner Cookbook: Food Fit for the King and You (1983 ISBN 0-8128-2882-8). Brynner was an accomplished guitarist. 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).[citation needed]Personal life
Brynner married four times. The first three ended in divorce. He fathered three children and adopted two. He and his first wife, actress Virginia Gilmore (1944–1960), had one child, Rock Yul Brynner (born December 23, 1946). His father nicknamed him "Rock" when he was six years old in honor of boxer Rocky Graziano. Rock is a historian, novelist, and university history lecturer at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York and Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut. In 2006, Rock wrote a book about his father and his family history titled Empire and Odyssey: The Brynners in Far East Russia and Beyond. He regularly returns to Vladivostok, the city of his father's birth, for the "Pacific Meridian" Film Festival. Yul Brynner had a long affair with Marlene Dietrich, who was 19 years his senior, beginning during the first production of The King and I.[25]In 1959, Brynner fathered a daughter, Lark Brynner, with Frankie Tilden, who was 20 years old. Lark lived with her mother and Brynner supported her financially. His second wife, from 1960 to 1967, Doris Kleiner, was a Chilean model whom he married on the set during shooting of The Magnificent Seven in 1960. They had one child, Victoria Brynner (born November 1962), whose godmother was Audrey Hepburn.[26]
His third wife, Jacqueline Thion de la Chaume (1971–1981), a French socialite, was the widow of Philippe de Croisset (son of French playwright Francis de Croisset and a publishing executive). Brynner and Jacqueline adopted two Vietnamese children: Mia (1974) and Melody (1975). The first house Brynner owned was the Manoir de Criqueboeuf, a sixteenth-century manor house that he and Jacqueline purchased.[27] His 1980 announcement that he would continue in the role of the King for another long tour and Broadway run, together with his affairs with female fans and his neglect of his wife and children, purportedly broke up this marriage.[28]
On April 4, 1983, aged 62, Brynner married his fourth and last wife, Kathyyam Lee (born 1957/1958), a 24-year-old ballerina from Malaysia, whom he had met in a production of The King and I in which she had a small dancing role. They remained married for the last 2 years (1983–85) of Brynner's life.[29]
Citizenship
Brynner, a Swiss citizen, was naturalized as a U.S. citizen, but in June 1965, he renounced his US citizenship at the US Embassy in Berne, Switzerland for tax reasons. He had lost his tax exemption as an American resident abroad by working too long in the United States and would have been bankrupted by his tax and penalty debts.[27]Illness and death
Brynner began smoking heavily at age 12 and, although his promotional photos often showed him with a cigarette in hand, he quit the habit in 1971. In September 1983, Brynner found a lump on his vocal cords. In Los Angeles, only hours before his 4,000th performance in The King and I, he received the test results. His throat was fine, but he had inoperable lung cancer. Brynner and the national tour of the musical were forced to take a few months off while he underwent radiation therapy, which hurt his throat and made it impossible for him to sing or speak easily.[7] The tour then resumed.[30][31]In January 1985, nine months before his death, the tour reached New York for a farewell Broadway run. Aware he was dying, Brynner gave an interview on Good Morning America discussing the dangers of smoking and expressing his desire to make an anti-smoking commercial. The Broadway production of The King and I ran from January 7 to June 30 of that year, with Mary Beth Peil as Anna. His last performance marked the 4,625th time he had played the role of the King. Meanwhile, Brynner and the American Cancer Society created a public service announcement using a clip from the Good Morning America interview.
Brynner died of lung cancer on October 10, 1985 in New York City on the same day as his Battle of Neretva co-star Orson Welles.[32][33] Only a few days after his death, the public service announcement was showing on all the major US television networks and was shown in many other countries. The PSA showed him expressing his desire to make an anti-smoking commercial after discovering how sick he was, and that his death was imminent. He then looked directly into the camera for 30 seconds and said, "Now that I'm gone, I tell you: Don’t smoke. Whatever you do, just don’t smoke. If I could take back that smoking, we wouldn't be talking about any cancer. I'm convinced of that."
His remains are interred in France on the grounds of the Saint-Michel-de-Bois-Aubry Russian Orthodox monastery near Luzé between Tours and Poitiers.
Awards
- In 1952, he received the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of The King in The King and I. In 1985, he received a Special Tony Award honoring his 4,625 performances in The King and I.[34]
- He won the 1956 Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the King of Siam in the film version of The King and I and made the "Top 10 Stars of the Year" list in both 1957 and 1958.
- He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6162 Hollywood Blvd.
Honors
On September 28, 2012, an 2.4-metre (8-foot) tall statue was inaugurated at Yul Brynner Park, in front of the home where he was born at Aleutskaya St. No. 15 in Vladivostok, Russia. Created by local sculptor Alexei Bokiy, the monument was carved in granite from China. The grounds for the park were donated by the city of Vladivostok, which also paid additional costs. Vladivostok Mayor Igor Pushkariov, US Consul General Sylvia Curran, and Yul's son, Rock Brynner, participated in the ceremony, along with hundreds of local residents.[citation needed]Other
- The cottage at his childhood country home, at Sidimi, near Vladivostok, is a family museum.[citation needed]
- In a label-initiated publicity stunt, the 1960s surf group "The De-Fenders" shaved their heads and re-cast themselves as "The Brymers", inspired by Brynner.[35]
- The physical appearance of Marvel Comics character Professor X was based on Brynner.[36][37]
Filmography
- On Location with Westworld (1973)
- Lost to the Revolution (1980) (narrator)
Select stage work
- Twelfth Night (1941) (Broadway)
- Lute Song (1946) (Broadway and US national tour)
- The King and I (1951) (Broadway and US national tour)
- Home Sweet Homer (1976) (Broadway)
- The King and I (1977) (Broadway, London and US national tour)
- The King and I (1985) (Broadway)
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