Yul Brynner

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Yul Brynner in Sarajevo in 1969

Yul Brynner ( Russian Юл Бринер , actually Juli Borissowitsch Briner ; born July 11, 1920 in Vladivostok , Far Eastern Republic ; † October 10, 1985 in New York City , New York , USA ) was an American actor of Russian-Buryat-Swiss origin . In the 1950s, the bald actor was one of the most popular Hollywood stars. As King of Siam in The King and I , he made his international breakthrough. He was particularly known for the role of the protagonist Chris Adams in the cult western The Magnificent Seven .

life and work

Yul Brynner was born as the son of the Swiss- Buryat inventor and Swiss consul in Russia, Boris Juljewitsch Brynner, and the Russian doctor's daughter Marussia (Maria) Blagowidowa in the Brynner's house in Vladivostok. He was a citizen of the Swiss community of Möriken-Wildegg , Aargau . Because of his Buryat roots, he occasionally called himself Taidje Khan . One parent, according to him, was of Roma origin . He was honorary president of the International Romani Union and played an active role in the efforts of the Roma in the 1970s to unite internationally and gain international recognition.

Memorial plaque for Brynner on the house where he was born in Vladivostok

After his father left the family in the 1930s, Brynner's mother moved with him first to China , later to Paris , where he attended an elite boarding school (Moncelle grammar school), which he soon had to leave. Brynner made his way as a circus performer, member of an orchestra and singer in the following years. From 1940 he lived in the United States . During the Second World War , Brynner worked because of his knowledge of French for the United States Office of War Information on the radio for occupied France as an announcer and commentator.

For the title role of the musical The King and I on Broadway , which he played for five years, the then unknown actor had his bald head shaved. Also in the film adaptation of the play from 1956, for which he received an Oscar and the NBR Award , he appeared without head of hair. After that, baldness became his trademark. He played his most successful roles in the 1950s: the mysterious king in The King and I , the pharaoh Ramses in The Ten Commandments , and King Solomon in Solomon and the Queen of Sheba . 1960 followed the heroic and also mysterious Chris in the cult film The Magnificent Seven , 1973 the gunslinger in Westworld .

Brynner has also directed several television series: Studio One (1948), Life with Snarky (1950), Sure As Fate (1950) and Danger (1950).

Brynner was also an avid photographer who often took pictures on the set.

In addition to his appearances in musicals, Brynner also worked on other musical projects: together with Serge Camps , he played a record of Russian folk songs as a guitarist and singer . His voice can also be heard in the 1956 film Anastasia .

In 1960 Brynner published his book Bring Forth the Children .

In 1985 Brynner died of lung cancer . Before that, he had been treated at the Paracelsus Clinic on Silbersee in Langenhagen , among other places . Shortly before his death, he appeared in a commercial in which he appealed to the audience not to smoke . The film was only shown after his death. He also set up the Yul Brynner Foundation , a charity to fight smoking. He died on the same day as his colleague Orson Welles . Yul Brynner was in France at the Russian Orthodox cemetery of Saint-Michel-de-Bois-Aubry (municipality Luzé , Indre-et-Loire buried).

In June 2014, the Aargau municipality of Möriken-Wildegg honored its citizen Yul Brynner by naming the new village square after him.

family

Brynner was married four times:

  • Virginia Gilmore (September 6, 1944 - March 26, 1960, divorced), son Yul "Rock" Brynner Jr. (* 1946);
  • Doris Kleiner (March 31, 1960-1967, divorced), daughter Victoria Brynner (* 1962);
  • Jacqueline de Croisset (September 23, 1971-1981, divorced), they adopted two children from Vietnam : Mia Brynner (adopted 1974) and Melody Brynner (adopted 1975);
  • Kathy Lee (April 4, 1983 - October 10, 1985, marriage ended on his death).

He had three children and he adopted two more children. He had an extramarital relationship with the Austrian actress Franziska Tilden , daughter of Jane Tilden , from which his eldest daughter Lark (* 1958) emerged. In addition, Brynner is said to have had extramarital relations with actresses Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland , who remained childless in the 1950s .

One of his closest Hollywood friends was his colleague Deborah Kerr , who was also his partner in the film version of The King and I.

Brynner was the godfather of the French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg and the writer Nathalie Rheims .

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Discography (excerpt)

  • 1956: The King And I (Soundtrack - Yul sings 2 songs)
  • 1967: The Gypsy And I - Yul Brynner sings Gypsy Songs (with Aliocha Dimitrievich)
  • 2001: The Gypsy And I / Vera Brynner - Russian Gypsy Folk Songs

literature

Web links

Commons : Yul Brynner  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kay Less : The large personal dictionary of films , Volume 1, p. 592. Berlin 2001
  2. ↑ Entry Yul Brynner, SSN 108-18-2984, in the Social Security Death Index rootsweb.com ( memento of the original from December 14, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ssdi.rootsweb.com
  3. ↑ wsulibs.wsu.edu at archive.org ( Memento from February 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) VLADIVOSTOK: A HISTORIC WALKING TOUR
  4. ↑ Donald Kenrick, Grattan Puxon: Sinti and Roma. The annihilation of a people in the Nazi state. Göttingen 1981, p. 155.
  5. ↑ Rock Brynner: Yul: The Man Who Would Be King. P. 30, Berkeley Books, 1991, ISBN 0-425-12547-5 .
  6. ↑ Tim Hill: Movie Stars. Parragon, Bath 2006, ISBN 1-4054-7888-8 .
  7. ↑ a b c IMDb "Internet Movie Database"
  8. ↑ Yul Brunner, prisma.de
  9. ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Yul Brynner
  10. ↑ Sources: http://www.watson.ch/Front/articles/941569699-Aargauer-Gemeinde-M%C3%B6riken-Wildegg-nennt-Dorfplatz-nach-Hollywood-Legende and http://www.aargauerzeitung.ch / aargau / lenzburg / a-bit-oscar-glanz-falls-on-the-community-moeriken-wildegg-128107680
personal data
SURNAME Brynner, Yul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Taidje Khan; Brinner, July Borissowitsch (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian-Mongolian-Swiss-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Vladivostok , Far Eastern Republic
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1985
Place of death New York City , New York , United States