Biography of Yul Brynner

Synopsis

Yul Brynner, Academy Award winner, was a Russian stage and film actor. He has taken on a variety of film and stage roles throughout his career. He was not only an actor, but also a performer who impressed millions of viewers with his wide range of talents, lively energy, impeccable looks, and charming personality.

Brynner was married four times, with her first three marriages ending in divorce. She had four children from her marriages.

On October 10, 1985, Brynner died of lung cancer in New York City on the same day that actor-director Orson Welles died.

Early age and education

Yul Brynner was born as Yuliy Borisovich Briner on July 11, 1992 in Vladivostok, Far East of the Republic. He belonged to a mixed ethnicity; He is of Swiss-German, Russian, and partial Buryat ancestry, and he held Russian nationality.

Brynner was born to Boris Yuliyevich Briner, a mining engineer, and Marousia Dimitrievna. She had a younger sister, Vera Bryne.

Brynner’s father had an extramarital affair. His father’s extramarital affair brought him under the care and guidance of his mother, who took the children to Harbin, Manchuria. There, Brynner obtained a formal education at a school run by the YMCA.

Brynner’s mother moved to Paris in 1932 fearing a Sino-Japanese war. There, she turned to music and began playing the guitar in Russian nightclubs.

Brynner trained himself as a trapeze acrobat and worked in a French circus for three years. His back injury forced him to quit his job and start a new career. It was then that he dedicated himself to acting.

In 1940, along with her mother, Brynner immigrated to the United States and began living in New York City.

Race

During World War II, Yul Brynner began working as a French-language radio announcer and commentator at the Office of War Information in the United States, broadcasting propaganda to occupied France.

Brynner also trained himself in acting, learning under Russian acting coach, Michael Chekhov. He then toured the country with Chekhov’s theater company.

Brynner made her stage debut with a small role in The Shakespeares. Twelfth night . She then worked on the television series, Mr. Jones and His Neighbor, followed by the 1946 production of Lute Song with Mary Martin.

In addition to acting, Brynner also took on various modeling assignments. She turned to directing CBS’s new television studios, Studio One. She also appeared on the first television talk show, Mr. & Mrs. She made her big screen debut with the 1949 crime film, Port of New York.

With a successful career as a television director, Brynner resisted acting proposals. But, succumbing to pressure from Mary Martin, Brynner auditioned for the role of King in the American musical film The King & I in 1947.

The King & I brought him immense critical acclaim. He played King Mongkut for the film version in 1956 and a short-lived television version on CBS in 1972.

After the great success of The King & I, Brynner participated in other films. She gained superstar status with her roles in the movies, The Ten Commandments and Anastasia.

Brynner’s acting brilliance, exotic personality, and nondescript accent led him to land roles in a few other films, including Solomon and Sheba, Taras Bulba’s The Magnificent Seven, and Kings of the Sun.

Late in his acting career, Brynner played a leading role in movies, The Ultimate Warrior followed by Death Rage in 1976. His latest league of movies includes Michael Crichton’s Westworld and its sequel Futureworld.

Brynner not only limited his talents to acting and directing, but ventured as a photographer, author, and guitarist.

During her lifetime, Brynner wrote two books, The Yul Brynner Cookbook: Food Fit for the King and You and Bring Forth the Children: A Journey to the Forgotten People of Europe and the Middle East. Both books were made up of photos that Brynner had taken.

As a guitarist, Brynner recorded some songs in the movies, The Brothers Karamazov, which released in 1967 The Gypsy and I: Yul Brynner Sings Gypsy Songs.

Personal life

Yul Brynner had been married four times and had five children, two of whom were adopted.

In 1994, he married an actress, Virginia Gilmore, with whom he shared a son, Rock Yul Brynner (born December 23, 1946). He nicknamed his son Rock when he turned 6 in honor of boxer Rocky Graziano.

The couple tried their best to salvage their relationship, but failed in the end and divorced in 1960. Brynner was later romantically involved with Frankie Tilden, who was 20 years his senior. He fathered a daughter, Lark Brynner with Tilden.

In 1960, Brynner exchanged vows with Doris Kleiner, a Chilean model on the sets of The Magnificent Seven. They separated in 1967. They shared a daughter, Victoria Brynner (born November 1962).

Brynner had his third marriage to Jacqueline Thion de la Chaume, a French socialite, in 1971. He adopted two Vietnamese children: Mia (1974) and Melody (1975) with his then wife, Jacqueline.

The couple could not handle their relationship and divorced in 1981. However, the reason behind the divorce was reported to be Brynner’s neglect of his wife and children.

At the age of 62, Brynner married Kathy Lee, who is 28 years his junior.

The duo met on the sets of The King and I and married in 1983. They had been together for two years when Yul Brynner took his last breath.

Death

On October 10, 1985, Brynner died of lung cancer in New York City. He was a chain smoker.

Within days of his death, the anti-cigarette public service announcement was shown on all major television networks in the United States and in many other countries.

Net worth

Yul Brynner was one of the successful Hollywood actors of his time; he had a net worth of $10 million. His movies earned a lot at the box office, Port of New York earned $1748,000, Anastasia earned $1082,000 and The Journey earned $692,000 and among others.

Similarly, Brynner had an annual salary of $1,000,000 and daily income was $2,960.