40. He Settled Down
The home for Brynner, his wife, and two children was to be the first house for Brynner, so he wanted to go big or go home. Brynner and his wife settled on the Manoir de Criqueboeuf—you know a house is a big deal when it has a name. The princely abode is a 16th-century manor house in northwestern France.
Sounds like the perfect setting for familial bliss—then it all went so wrong.
41. He Wanted To Leave
It seems that living in his 16th-century manor wasn’t enough for Brynner. Clearly, he missed acting and the stage. In 1980, he announced to his wife and daughters that he would be going on an extended tour and Broadway run of The King and I. This decision put his marriage immediately on the rocks. Well, it wasn’t just the tour that did it.
42. It Wasn’t A Secret
Brynner was a master actor, but he wasn’t a master of monogamy. By this time he knew better than to have liaisons with fellow actors—those stories tended to get out. Lately, Brynner had been using a different pool to find his romantic shenanigans: his fans. His wife must’ve gotten wind of these not-so-secret affairs, and she wanted out. The two divorced in 1981.
43. He Married On The Road
Two years later—in true Brynner style—he was again walking down the wedding aisle. His fourth wife was Kathy Lee, a ballerina he’d met during the tour of The King and I. At this point, Brynner was 62 and his new wife was just 26. This would be Brynner’s both shortest and final marriage. Sadly, bad news was just around the corner for the newly married Brynner.
44. He Had A Lump
In 1983, during the tour of The King and I, Brynner received some shocking news from his doctors: They’d found a lump on his vocal cords. This could be a career-ending discovery, as Brynner very much needed his voice to perform—it was his passion and livelihood. The doctor did some tests, and Brynner and the cast of The King and I waited anxiously for the results.
They ended up being even worse than he'd thought.
45. It Was Something Worse
The test results of Brynner’s throat came back, and he learned that his throat was fine—it was his lungs he had to worry about. It turned out that Brynner had inoperable lung cancer. It was at this point that Brynner realized the mistake of being a heavy smoker for four decades. But there wasn’t time to dwell on past mistakes: He still had a tour to worry about.
46. He Received Treatment
With the tragic news of his lung cancer, Brynner halted the tour and immediately began radiation treatment. The invasive treatment made singing—and even simply talking—very difficult. The run of The King and I was put on hold, and the cast and crew were left wondering if they would ever see their star again—or continue the tour.
But they were seriously underestimating Yul Brynner.
47. Nothing Could Stop Him
Once his term of treatment was over—Brynner surprisingly jumped back on stage and continued playing the King. The final city of the tour, which ended in January of 1985, was New York City, where he'd gotten his start all those years ago. The Broadway run would last from January to June of the same year. Sadly, Brynner would barely survive that long.
Three months after the show closed, the curtain fell on Brynner’s life. He was 65 years old.
48. He Reached Out
Before his passing, Brynner had wanted to make a commercial to stop people from becoming smokers. He’d said so in an interview on Good Morning America. The American Cancer Society helped Brynner use the footage from the interview to get his message across. The public service announcement first aired a few days after his passing.
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49. He’s Not Forgotten
Popular culture can’t seem to forget about Brynner. His name appears in the lyrics to "One Night In Bangkok" for the musical Chess. And, more recently, Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus used a recorded interview with Brynner as the first few verses to his song "Jo Jo’s Jacket." And what was the topic of the interview? It was about how shaving his head had catapulted Brynner’s career.
50. He Returned Home
Brynner’s home country never forgot him. In the town where he grew up—Vladivostok, Russia—they named a park after him. On September 28, 2012, the city erected a lifelike statue of Brynner in Yul Brynner Park. Brynner’s son, Rock, attended the ceremony. The statue depicts Brynner as bald and looking a lot like the character he played 4,625 times: the King in The King and I.
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