What Was Yul Brynner’s Net Worth?
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner, a Russian-born actor, director, and producer, had a net worth of $10 million at the time of his death in 1985, which is equivalent to $30 million today. He was best known for his role in “The King and I,” both on Broadway and in the film adaptation, for which he won two Tony Awards and an Academy Award, respectively.
Brynner had over 40 acting credits to his name, including roles in “The Ten Commandments,” “Anastasia,” “The Magnificent Seven,” and “Westworld.” He also directed a TV movie and several TV episodes, and produced a show called “The Robert Q. Lewis Show.” Brynner passed away from lung cancer in 1985 at the age of 65.
Early Life and Family
Yul Brynner was born in Vladivostok, Far Eastern Republic (now Primorsky Krai, Russia) in 1920 to a family of silver mining developers and landowners. After the Red Army occupied their city in 1922, most of their wealth was confiscated. Yul’s father, Boris Yuliyevich Briner, was an inventor and mining engineer of Russian and Swiss-German heritage, while his mother, Marousia Dimitrievna (née Blagovidova), trained to become a singer and actress and was reportedly of Russian Romani heritage. Yul, his parents, and his older sister, Vera, were made Soviet citizens after the Soviet Union formed in 1922.
In 1924, Boris divorced Marousia after falling in love with actress Katerina Ivanovna Kornakova, but he kept supporting the family. The family moved to Paris, France, in 1933, where Yul made his stage debut in 1935, singing and playing guitar at the “Hermitage” cabaret. He later joined a French circus troupe but left after injuring his back. His drug dependency led to Brynner becoming a drug addict before he turned 18, and his family sent him to a clinic for drug addicts in Switzerland.
Career and Personal Life
After a year of treatment in Switzerland, Yul refrained from using illicit drugs for the rest of his life. He took his mother to the U.S. in 1940 to get a special medical treatment that wasn’t available anywhere else, settling in New York City where his sister lived. During World War II, he worked as a French-speaking radio announcer for the US Office of War Information, broadcasting to occupied France as well as the Soviet Union in Russian for the Voice of America. Around this time, he studied acting with Michael Chekhov in Connecticut and worked as a stagehand and truck driver for Chekhov’s theatre company.
In 1941, Brynner met Marlene Dietrich while performing at New York’s Blue Angel, and he fell in love with the actress, who was nearly 20 years his senior. Yul’s sister Vera was a singer who starred in a 1950 Broadway production of “The Consul” and died of cancer in 1967 at the age of 51.
Yul Brynner’s Career Highlights
Yul made his Broadway debut in a 1941 production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” his TV debut as the title role on the 1944 series “Mr. Jones and His Neighbors,” and his film debut in 1949’s “Port of New York.”
Brynner got his big break when he was cast as The King of Siam in the new Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The King and I,” which premiered on Broadway in 1951. He reprised the role in touring productions, the 1977 Broadway revival, the 1956 film adaptation, and the 1972 TV series “Anna and the King.”
In the ’60s, Brynner appeared in more than 20 films, such as “Once More, with Feeling!” (1960), “Escape from Zahrain” (1962), “Taras Bulba” (1962), “Kings of the Sun” (1963), “Invitation to a Gunfighter” (1964), “Morituri” (1965), “Cast a Giant Shadow” (1966), “The Long Duel” (1967), “Villa Rides” (1968), and “The Madwoman of Chaillot” (1969).
Brynner played Chris Larabee Adams in the Western “The Magnificent Seven” alongside Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and Robert Vaughn. Yul reprised the role in 1966’s “Return of the Seven.” In the ’70s, Brynner starred in 10 films, including “The Light at the Edge of the World” (1971), “Catlow” (1971), “Fuzz” (1972), “Night Flight from Moscow” (1973), and “The Ultimate Warrior” (1975).
Yul’s final film was 1976’s “Death Rage.”
Yul Brynner’s Personal Life
Yul Brynner married Virginia Gilmore in 1944 and they had one son, Yul “Rock” Brynner II, before divorcing in 1960. He also fathered a daughter, Lark, with Frankie Tilden in the late ’50s. Brynner married Doris Kleiner on the set of “The Magnificent Seven” and they had one daughter together, Victoria. After their divorce in 1967, he married Jacqueline Simone Thion de la Chaume and they adopted two Vietnamese girls. Yul and Jacqueline divorced in 1983 and he married Kathy Lee the same year. They remained together until his death in 1985.
Yul became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1943 but renounced his citizenship in 1965 due to tax issues. He was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in 1983 and underwent radiation therapy. Brynner was also a photographer and published a book of his photos, as well as a cookbook.
Yul Brynner’s Death and Anti-Smoking PSA
Yul Brynner passed away on October 10, 1985, at the age of 65 due to lung cancer. After his cremation, his ashes were buried in France at the Orthodox monastery Abbaye royale Saint-Michel de Bois-Aubry.
Following his death, a public service announcement that Brynner had filmed for the American Cancer Society premiered, where he urged people not to smoke. In the PSA, he said, “Now that I’m gone, I tell you: Don’t smoke. Whatever you do, just don’t smoke. If I could take back that smoking, we wouldn’t be talking about any cancer. I’m convinced of that.”
Yul Brynner’s Will: Who Got What
Yul Brynner’s will divided his assets among his family members. His son Yul “Rock” Brynner II inherited his Hard Rock Cafe stock and $50,000. His daughter Lark received $25,000, and Victoria received $50,000 and a $100,000 trust fund. His adopted children were reportedly left out of the will, but an “inter vivos” trust was created for them.
Brynner’s widow, Kathy, inherited his United Nations Plaza apartment in New York City and his home in Cambremer, France. She also received his cars, artwork, and book collection.
Awards and Accolades
In 1957, Brynner won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “The King and I.” He also earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Comedy or Musical and a National Board of Review Award for Best Actor for “The King and I,” “Anastasia,” and “The Ten Commandments.” Additionally, he received a New York Film Critics Circle Award nomination and a Photoplay Award nomination for Most Popular Male Star for all three films.
Brynner won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1952 and the Special Award in 1985 for the stage version of “The King and I.” He also earned a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical in 1977. In 1961, he received Laurel Award nominations for Top Male Star and Top Action Performance for “The Magnificent Seven.” Furthermore, Yul received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
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