Yul Brynner

Yul Brynner

Yul Brynner (born Yuliy Borisovich Briner, Russian: Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985) was a Russian-American film and stage actor. Brynner first became widely known for his portrayal of King Mongkut of Siam in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won two Tony Awards and an Academy Award for the film version. He played the role 4,625 times on stage. He also starred as Ramesses II in the Cecil B. DeMille epic The Ten Commandments (1956). He played General Bounine in the film Anastasia (also 1956), the gunman Chris Adams in The Magnificent Seven (1960) and its first sequel Return of the Seven, and the android "The Gunslinger" in Westworld (1973) and its sequel Futureworld (1976). Brynner was known for his shaved head, which he maintained as a personal trademark long after adopting it in 1951 for his role in The King and I. Earlier, he was a model and television director, and later a photographer and the author of two books.

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