Yuliy Borisovich Briner, known professionally as Yul Brynner, was an actor and
singer born on July 11, 1920, in Vladivostok, Far Eastern Republic. He received
an acoustic guitar from his father in 1930 and studied music under the guidance
of his sister Vera. Brynner performed at the Hermitage cabaret in Paris in 1935,
where he played his guitar and sang in Russian and Roma languages. His musical
career included portraying King Mongkut in the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage
musical The King and I in 1951, for which he won a Tony Award in 1952, later
winning a Special Tony Award for ...