Yul Brynner (July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985) was a Russian-born actor of stage and film, best known for his portrayal of the King of Siam in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The King and I on both stage and screen, as well as Rameses II in the 1956 Cecil B.
DeMille film The Ten Commandments and as Chris Adams in The Magnificent Seven. He was noted for his deep, rich voice and for his shaven head, which he kept as a personal trademark after adopting it in his role in The King and I. He was born Yuliy Borisovich Brynner (Russian: Юлий Бори́сович Бри́нер) in Vladivostok, Far Eastern Republic. His father, Boris Brynner (Russian: Борис Бринер), was a mining engineer of Swiss and Mongolian ancestry and his mother Marusya was a housewife.
Brynner exaggerated his background and early life for the press, claiming that he was born Taidje Khan of part-Mongol parentage, on the Russian island of Sakhalin. A biography published by his son Rock Brynner in 1989 clarified these issues.
He claimed to be a quarter Romany and in 1983 was elected to the position of Honorary President of the Roma, an office that he kept until he died. He also infrequently referred to himself as Julius Briner[2]. In addition to his work as a performer, Brynner was an active photographer, and wrote two books. After Boris Brynner abandoned his family, his mother took Yul and his sister, Vera Bryner (Russian: Вера Бринер), to Harbin, China, where they attended a school run by the YMCA, and in 1934 she took them to Paris. 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.
Yul Brynner was married four times, the first three ending in divorce. He fathered three children and adopted two others. Brynner died of lung cancer on October 10, 1985 in New York City. Knowing he was dying of cancer, Brynner starred in a run of farewell performances of his most famous role, The King and I, on Broadway from January 7 to June 30, 1985, opposite Mary Beth Peil. He received the 1985 Special Tony award honoring his 4,525 performances in The King and I. He was buried in France.