Yul Brynner was born in Vladivostok, Russia on July 7, 1915, to Boris Bryner and Marousia Blagovidova. His father eventually abandoned the family, and Marousia moved herself and her two children to China, and then later to Paris. Yul was sent to an excellent school, but he dropped out to play guitar in nightclubs, surrounded by gypsies. For a time, he was a trapeze artist at the Cirque d'Hiver company.

In 1941, he visited the United States and played his first New York theater role in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. He spent several years working in television and theater. With his wife, Virginia Gilmore, he was featured in the first television talk show, Mr. and Mrs.. His first movie was Port of New York in 1949.

In the early fifties, he became famous for playing the title role in the musical The King and I. From there, he went on to play the same role in the movie version, for which he won his Oscar. He also played the Pharaoh in Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments. His film career spanned another twenty years.

After years of illness, Yul Brynner died of lung cancer on October 10, 1985. He was only sixty-five. He recorded an anti-smoking public service message before his death, and The Yul Brynner Foundation was founded in his honor.

(adapted from the mini-biography at IMDB)