Yul Brynner Biography

Fast Facts

• When interviewed, gave differing information about his life, including that he was born Taidje Khan on Sakhalin Island to a Mongol father and a Gypsy mother
• His grandfather Julius Bryner was a Swiss immigrant who was a "founder" of the city of Vladivostok
• Was once a trapeze artist with the French circus Cirque d'Hiver
• Played his most famous role, the King of Siam in The King and I, in over 4,000 stage performances
• One of few people to win an Oscar and a Tony for the same role
• Was a talented photographer whose work was used in major magazines and as official studio production stills
• Died the same day as Orson Welles
• Appeared in a posthumously released public-service announcement in which he linked his fatal lung cancer to his smoking habit