How the Russian King of Hollywood conquered the Queen of the World: Yul Brynner and Marlene Dietrich
How the Russian King of Hollywood conquered the Queen of the World: Yul Brynner and Marlene Dietrich

Video: How the Russian King of Hollywood conquered the Queen of the World: Yul Brynner and Marlene Dietrich

Video: How the Russian King of Hollywood conquered the Queen of the World: Yul Brynner and Marlene Dietrich
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35 years ago, on October 10, 1985, the famous American actor from Russia Yul Brynner passed away. He became the most famous Russian émigré in Hollywood, an Oscar winner. During his lifetime and after his departure, there were legends about him - he was prone to hoaxes and himself mythologized his biography. But there were facts in it that were beyond doubt: Yul Brynner possessed natural magnetism and enjoyed incredible success with women. He was credited with dozens of novels with the stars of world cinema, and there was no point in denying one of them, because the incomparable Marlene Dietrich remained with him for several years …

Actor in his youth
Actor in his youth

The same year marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Yul Brynner: he was born on July 11, 1920 in Vladivostok. His real name is Yuliy Borisovich Briner (later he added a second "n" to his last name so that he would not be called Brainer in the United States). He had Russian, Swiss and Buryat roots - probably, thanks to such a mixture of blood, his beauty in the West seemed exotic, which gave him the opportunity to present himself as a Mongol khan, or as the son of a gypsy woman and a grand duke. When he was 4 years old, his parents divorced, and his mother with him and his sister Vera moved to Harbin, and then emigrated to France.

Russian King of Hollywood Yul Brynner
Russian King of Hollywood Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner and Alexey Dimitrievich working on a joint disc
Yul Brynner and Alexey Dimitrievich working on a joint disc

Now it is difficult to judge which facts of his biography were real and which were fictional. He loved to boggle the imagination of the interlocutor, telling stories about himself. It worked flawlessly on women. In Paris, he was considered a purebred gypsy - he performed in a Russian restaurant with the Dimitrievich gypsy ensemble. For them, Yul Brynner really quickly became their own. His son Rock later wrote in his book of memoirs about his father: "". They say that the youngest daughter of the Dimitrievichs Marusya, in love with Yula, once guessed to him that in the future he would become king.

Russian King of Hollywood Yul Brynner
Russian King of Hollywood Yul Brynner

When World War II broke out, Yul moved with his mother to the United States, where he met a young American actress Virginia Gilmore. He introduced himself to her as a Mongol khan who came to America to learn English and find a bride for himself. The girl believed in this legend, unaware that her eastern prince actually sings gypsy romances in the Blue Angel nightclub. At first, he invited her to luxury hotels and treated her to expensive champagne, and then moved in with her, announcing that his father no longer sends him money because he did not approve of his choice. Virginia was not embarrassed, and soon she became his wife. True, almost immediately after the wedding, he lost interest in his wife, thanks to whom he got his first role on Broadway.

Marlene Dietrich and Yul Brynner
Marlene Dietrich and Yul Brynner

His mother was seriously ill, and in order to hire a nurse for her, Yul took any job, and in the early years in the United States he was both a doorman and a waiter. But as soon as he started performing on Broadway, he was immediately talked about as one of the most talented and promising actors. The Blue Angel nightclub, where Yul Brynner performed, was named after the film with the participation of Marlene Dietrich, she herself was a visitor to this institution. About the time and place of their meeting, testimonies differ - whether it happened in the "Blue Angel", or on Broadway. Only one fact is known for sure: the young actor easily won the heart of the film star, who by that time was so popular that she was called the "Queen of the World."

Famous German and American actress Marlene Dietrich
Famous German and American actress Marlene Dietrich
World cinema legend Marlene Dietrich
World cinema legend Marlene Dietrich

She was 20 years older than him, she was credited with novels with both men and women, she was called the fatal beauty and the main heartbreaker of Hollywood, but none of these facts embarrassed Yul Brynner. Marlene Dietrich became for him not only his beloved, but also the main adviser and mentor in the profession. It was she who advised him to change his image, shaving his head bald early. He recalled: "". This is how he was seen in Hollywood, where he soon became the most famous, successful and sought-after Russian actor.

Russian King of Hollywood Yul Brynner
Russian King of Hollywood Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner in The Ten Commandments, 1956
Yul Brynner in The Ten Commandments, 1956

The "Queen of the World", the daughter of a Prussian officer, had no Russian roots, but she never tired of confessing her love to Yul Brynner's compatriots: "".

Famous German and American actress Marlene Dietrich
Famous German and American actress Marlene Dietrich
Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven, 1960
Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven, 1960

Yul Brynner later wrote about Marlene Dietrich: "".

World cinema legend Marlene Dietrich
World cinema legend Marlene Dietrich
Yul Brynner in The King and I, 1956
Yul Brynner in The King and I, 1956

Their romance lasted several years, and later their paths diverged - according to one version, Yul Brynner left Marlene Dietrich because of the beginning relationship with Ingrid Bergman, according to the other, she left him because of constant outbursts of jealousy, scandals and drunkenness. After that, they both had many novels, the first beauties of Hollywood fell at his feet, but Yul remembered Marlene all his life and called meeting her one of the most significant events in his life.

Shot from the movie The King and I, 1956
Shot from the movie The King and I, 1956
Russian King of Hollywood Yul Brynner
Russian King of Hollywood Yul Brynner

He managed to prove that he was her equal - she was the queen, and he became the king, as the gypsy predicted to him. Yul Brynner's most famous role was the King of Siam in the Broadway musical The King and I. In this image, the actor went on stage about 5 thousand times over the course of 14 years. After this musical was filmed, Yul Brynner received an Oscar in the Best Actor nomination and proved to everyone that he is absolutely deservedly known as the “Russian King of Hollywood”.

Still from the movie The Double, 1967
Still from the movie The Double, 1967
Yul Brynner in The King and I, 1977
Yul Brynner in The King and I, 1977

And the Queen of the World spent her last years all alone: Why Marlene Dietrich became a recluse in her declining years.

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