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Yul Brynner: A Biography
Known as the bald cowboy in The Magnificent Seven and the sexy, charismatic male lead in The King and I , Yul Brynner was a Hollywood paragon of masculinity. Beyond his distinctive appearance and distinguished acting career was a life of intrigue and concocted tales surrounding his youth. Born Youl Bryner in Russia, he played gypsy guitar and worked as a trapeze clown until a severe injury motivated him to pursue his interest in theater. This biography takes readers through Brynner's formative years in Russia, France and China and describes his journey from sweeping stages in Parisian theaters to a versatile career in theater, television and film, reaching a stardom that began and ended with the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I. With accounts of his personal and professional successes and failures, the book includes his four marriages, his numerous and notorious affairs with such stars as Judy Garland, Joan Crawford and Ingrid Bergman, and his 1985 death from lung cancer. A filmography details his movies and plays, and appendices outline his work in documentaries, music and soundtracks, radio programs and television.
- GenresBiography
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 14, 2019
I don’t usually read a lot of biography but over the holidays I ended up binging on Yul Brynner’s old movies. I grew up knowing all the music from the King and I and was lucky to see Brynner twice on stage. The last time I saw him on stage was 1984, in Chicago and he was already ill. Never -the -less, he embodied the King and unless viewers had seen him in earlier performances, they wouldn’t have guessed at his disminished presence. He was a force, a consummate performer. I didn’t enjoy this biography. I don’t think it was very well written, and included a great deal of salacious gossip. The biography also includes a thorough listing of Brynner’s many, many affairs with leading ladies, which included both the much older Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford. He was an equal opportunity guy and had affairs with most of his leading ladies which he carried on throughout his four marriages. Brynner had plenty of flaws, but his tireless work for the United Nations on behalf of refugee children, and his insistence on hiring Ingrid Bergman for the film Anastasia is proof enough of his generosity of spirit. Bergman was black listed by Hollywood for her affair with Rossellini and Anastasia marked her triumphant return and she won her second Oscar. A quick read.
May 16, 2016
Yul enjoy this but......
An enjoyable easily read book, however it is vastly overpriced, and unfortunately contains multiple misspellings and wrongly accredited photographs. You won't learn anything new here if you have already read the much superior biography by his son Rock Brynner.
An enjoyable easily read book, however it is vastly overpriced, and unfortunately contains multiple misspellings and wrongly accredited photographs. You won't learn anything new here if you have already read the much superior biography by his son Rock Brynner.
December 26, 2010
I love film and there are few moments in screen history that have left indelible memories on my brain as a child: 1) Jaws rising out of the water for the first time at Chief Brody, 2) Vader entering into the hall of Leia's ship, and 3) Rameses II on his throne talking down to Moses. Youl Borosovitch Bryner captivated me with his penetrating stare, bald skull and thick accent and his words, "So let it be written; so let it be done." Such a commanding screen presence.
It was years later in my late teens that I would see this actor in a new light, still a huge screen presence but playing a character with more sensitivity behind the furrowed brow of strength and power. It would become my favorite film musical of that Golden Age. As the King of Siam, Yul Brynner, showed me his versatility and depth as an actor but who was the man behind the makeup?
Apparently, few knew as Yul would constantly make up stories about his past and upbringing perhaps to hide the uglier side of his family like his father abandoning the family for another woman, which is what Yul's grandfather did as well. His Hollywood personality wasn't a well-kept secret as an arrogant, perfectionist capable of on set tantrums and unwillingness to work with others. But isn't that the case of all actors and hollywood types?
The interesting things about Yul are the ones that didn't always reach tabloids including things that he may have hidden. At 14 his family moved to Paris and he became fascinated by a family of Russian gypsies who performed at a restaurant Youl visited. He learned to play guitar and sing in Parisian night clubs and they became a second family to him. This led to meeting circus performers and touring with them as part of the trapeze act until a fall gave him 49 fractures on his left side. Later on in his career he developed a passion for photography and always had a camera on set. I go back to watch scenes from the Ten Commandments in Rameses throne room to see if i can spy Yul's camera that he hid beneath the throne during filming.
The book is written well enough to move you through the stages of Yul's life in television, broadway and film. It is unfortunate that sometimes Yul was his own worst enemy that prevented him from solidifying a real solid film career as he was plagued with many flops. Some stemming from the fact that for a time he couldn't work in the United States because of tax issues. He has a few unquestionable film successes like The Ten Commandments, The King and I, The Brothers Karamasov and The Magnificent Seven.
He isn't unlike any other flawed human but stands out more because of his acting, producing and directing. But it was truly the role as the King of Siam that probably defined him best as a man always trying to show strength while hiding the sensitivity that he feared made him weak. He loved this role and performed it an incredible 4,633 times. After completing the book i was reminded of the lyrics to one of the songs in the musical that fits Yul best:
"This is a man who thinks with his heart,
His heart is not always wise.
This is a man who stumbles and falls,
But this is a man who tries.
This is a man you'll forgive and forgive,
And help protect, as long as you live...
He will not always say
What you would have him say,
But now and then he'll do
Something
Wonderful."
It was years later in my late teens that I would see this actor in a new light, still a huge screen presence but playing a character with more sensitivity behind the furrowed brow of strength and power. It would become my favorite film musical of that Golden Age. As the King of Siam, Yul Brynner, showed me his versatility and depth as an actor but who was the man behind the makeup?
Apparently, few knew as Yul would constantly make up stories about his past and upbringing perhaps to hide the uglier side of his family like his father abandoning the family for another woman, which is what Yul's grandfather did as well. His Hollywood personality wasn't a well-kept secret as an arrogant, perfectionist capable of on set tantrums and unwillingness to work with others. But isn't that the case of all actors and hollywood types?
The interesting things about Yul are the ones that didn't always reach tabloids including things that he may have hidden. At 14 his family moved to Paris and he became fascinated by a family of Russian gypsies who performed at a restaurant Youl visited. He learned to play guitar and sing in Parisian night clubs and they became a second family to him. This led to meeting circus performers and touring with them as part of the trapeze act until a fall gave him 49 fractures on his left side. Later on in his career he developed a passion for photography and always had a camera on set. I go back to watch scenes from the Ten Commandments in Rameses throne room to see if i can spy Yul's camera that he hid beneath the throne during filming.
The book is written well enough to move you through the stages of Yul's life in television, broadway and film. It is unfortunate that sometimes Yul was his own worst enemy that prevented him from solidifying a real solid film career as he was plagued with many flops. Some stemming from the fact that for a time he couldn't work in the United States because of tax issues. He has a few unquestionable film successes like The Ten Commandments, The King and I, The Brothers Karamasov and The Magnificent Seven.
He isn't unlike any other flawed human but stands out more because of his acting, producing and directing. But it was truly the role as the King of Siam that probably defined him best as a man always trying to show strength while hiding the sensitivity that he feared made him weak. He loved this role and performed it an incredible 4,633 times. After completing the book i was reminded of the lyrics to one of the songs in the musical that fits Yul best:
"This is a man who thinks with his heart,
His heart is not always wise.
This is a man who stumbles and falls,
But this is a man who tries.
This is a man you'll forgive and forgive,
And help protect, as long as you live...
He will not always say
What you would have him say,
But now and then he'll do
Something
Wonderful."
January 22, 2011
I can't decide if I liked how short it was - or disappointed that is was so choppy. All in all I'm glad I read it and since I don't have an interest in reading a longer biography about Mr. Brynner, then I guess it means that I am glad it was short.
January 3, 2020
A very well researched biography of actor Yul Brynner. Very enjoyable to read giving a well rounded characterisation of the movie star and of the man.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews