We celebrate the life of actor Yul Brynner
Douglas Mcpherson remembers the legendary actor 100 years after he was born.
WHEN Yul Brynner was asked if he’d like to play the title role in the Rogers and Hammerstein musical “The King And I”, he said, “Yes – if you understand I will not have a complete performance until at least the fourth year of the run.”
After reading Act One, the young actor knew he’d found a role he’d never tire of exploring.
It was a part that brought him fame on stage and screen, and one which he’d end up playing for the rest of his life.
For many, Brynner will always be the brooding King of Siam, with his shaven head, piercing eyes and polka-dot shirt.
He created many other memorable performances, though, such as his menacing character in “The Magnificent Seven”, or as a rampaging robot gunslinger in “Westworld”.
He was born 100 years ago on July 11, 1920, in Vladivostok, Russia. His father abandoned his family when Yul was three, leaving his mother to bring up him and his sister, first in China, then in Paris.
His early travels led to confusion about where he hailed from. Some accounts said he’d been born on a Japanese island, others that he had Gypsy ancestry – and Yul knew the mystery served him well.
“I never said those things – and I never denied them!” he once told an interviewer with a twinkle in his eye.
At the age of twelve, Brynner joined a French circus and developed his powerful physique on the flying trapeze.
When a fall ended his acrobatic career, he studied the art of mime and found his vocation as an actor.
Moving to America in 1940, Brynner first found work as a director in the emerging world of TV.
His life changed when he auditioned for “The King And I”. The Broadway show was designed as vehicle for Gertrude Lawrence, who played the King’s governess, Anna.
Brynner had minor billing, but from opening night he owned the show.
Costume designer Irene Sharaff suggested he shave his head for the part, and the distinctive new look brought opportunities.
Film producer Cecil B. Demille needed a shavenheaded actor for his next blockbuster, “The Ten Commandments”, but wasn’t sure if any current leading men would be accepted without hair.
When he saw Brynner in “The King And I”, Demille knew he’d found his star.
“The Ten Commandments” came out in 1956, the same year as “The King And I”, and the twin hits made Brynner an overnight sensation.
To some extent, Brynner became typecast as an inscrutable tough guy, but when he played to type in “The Magnificent Seven” and “Westworld”, he lit up the screen.
Part of his presence came from his lithe, trapeze-artist posture, part from his knowledge of directing and part from his love of photography which gave him a natural relationship with the camera.
As his “The Magnificent Seven” co-star Eli Wallach observed, “He knew where to stand, how to move and how to be.”
Brynner’s first love, however, was the stage.
In 1976 he returned to the boards in a revival of “The King And I” and he stayed in the part until shortly before his death on October 10, 1985.
In his last two years of performing, he was battling lung cancer.
“‘The King And I’ was his corset,” his daughter said. “It held him together.”
Brynner’s final performance was in an anti-smoking advert aired days after he passed away.
Training his “Westworld” stare on the camera, the lifelong smoker warned, “Now that I’m gone, I tell you: don’t smoke.” ■