Yuliy "Yul" Borisovich Brynner (Russian: Юлий Борисович Бринер, Ûlij Borisovič Briner; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985) was a Russian-born actor of stage and film, best known for his portrayal of the Mongkut, 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,...
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Yuliy "Yul" Borisovich Brynner (Russian: Юлий Борисович Бринер, Ûlij Borisovič Briner; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985) was a Russian-born actor of stage and film, best known for his portrayal of the Mongkut, 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.
Yul Brynner was born 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. In reality, he was born at home in a 4 story residence at...
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