History Creator / YulBrynner

Yul Brynner remains one of the most distinctive-looking (and ''sounding'') Hollywood actors, and to this day his image is shorthand for badass. Among his influences is that he inspired the look of ComicBook/ProfessorX of the ''Franchise/XMen'' comics.

* PlaysGreatEthnics: As he was believed in life to be of ambiguous ethnicity,[[note]]Brynner enjoyed telling tall tales and exaggerating his background and early life for the press, claiming that he was born "Taidje Khan" of part-Mongol parentage, on the Russian island of Sakhalin, when in reality he was mostly of Swiss-German and Russian ancestry, though he had some small Buryat ancestry[[/note]] Brynner played Thai, Egyptian, Russian, Zaporhozian Cossack, Native American, Cajun, Mexican, and other "ethnic" roles.

* BaldOfAuthority: He shaved his head for ''Film/TheKingAndI'' and he kept it shaved afterwards, quickly becoming his trademark look.

* LongTitle: His books, ''Bring Forth the Children: A Journey to the Forgotten People of Europe and the Middle East'' and ''The Yul Brynner Cookbook: Food Fit for the King and You''.

Yul Brynner (born Yuliy Borisovich Briner, Russian: Юлий Борисович Бринер, July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985) was a UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n-born American actor.

Yul Brynner remains one of the most distinctive-looking (and ''[[BadassBaritone sounding]]'') Hollywood actors, and to this day his image is shorthand for badass. Among his influences is that he inspired the look of ComicBook/ProfessorX of the ''Franchise/XMen'' comics.

%%* BadassBaritone: Was this to an extent.

He also starred in 1956 as Pharaoh Ramses in ''Film/{{The Ten Commandments|1956}}''. As Creator/CharltonHeston was much taller than him, Brynner decided to bulk up for the role, and delivered an imposing performance as the Pharaoh. He would continue to star in epics through the [[TheFifties 1950s]], [[TheSixties 1960s]], and early [[TheSeventies 1970s]].

* ''Solomon and Sheba'' (1959 film) as King Solomon [[note]]Solomon and Sheba was originally filmed with Creator/TyronePower as Solomon, until two-thirds of the movie was filmed, and he collapsed during a dueling scene with Creator/GeorgeSanders, dying sometime afterwards. The production staff decided to re-film Brynner as Solomon.[[/note]]

* ''Film/{{The Ten Commandments|1956}}'' (1956) as Pharaoh Ramses II

* FakeNationality: Brynner was of Swiss German and Russian descent with a small amount of Buryat (Mongolic) ancestry which gave him a lot of casting appeal to play numerous nationalities. His most notable roles included Siamese (Thai), Egyptian, American (including Native American and Cajun), and Mexican. In fact, he only played his real nationality a few times (at least three).

* PlaysGreatEthnics: As he was believed in life to be of ambiguous ethnicity,[[note]]Brynner enjoyed telling tall tales and exaggerating his background and early life for the press, claiming that he was born "Taidje Khan" of part-Mongol parentage, on the Russian island of Sakhalin, when in reality he was mostly of Swiss-German and Russian ancestry, though he had some small Buryat ancestry[[/note]] Brynner played Thai, Egyptian, Russian, Cossack, Native American, Cajun, Mexican, and other "ethnic" roles.

* ''Film/{{Westworld}}'' (1973) as the Gunslinger

* BaldOfEvil: Whenever he villainous roles, most notably ''Film/Westworld (1973)'', his characters were this by default.

* FakeNationality: Brynner was of Swiss German and Russian descent with a small amount of Buryat (Mongolic) ancestry which gave him a lot of casting appeal to play numerous nationalities. His most notable roles included Siamese (Thai), Egyptian, American (including Native American and Cajun), and Mexican. In fact, he's only played his real nationality at least three times.

%%* BaldOfEvil: In villainous roles.

Yul Brynner remains one of the most distinctive-looking (and ''sounding'') Hollywood actors, and to this day his image is shorthand for badass. Among his influences is that he inspired the look of ComicBook/ProfessorX of the ''Franchise/XMen'' comics.

Yul Brynner (born Yuliy Borisovich Briner, Russian: Юлий Борисович Бринер, July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985) was a Russian-born American actor. He was born in Vladivostok, though after his father left the family, his mother took him to Manchuria and Paris before they moved to the USA in 1940. During UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Brynner used his French-language skills to broadcast American propaganda to occupied France. He became an American citizen in the [[TheForties 1940s]] and began working as an actor and model.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brynner_91988.jpg]]

* ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' (1956) as Pharaoh Ramses II

He also starred in 1956 as Pharaoh Ramses in ''Film/TheTenCommandments''. As Creator/CharltonHeston was much taller than him, Brynner decided to bulk up for the role, and delivered an imposing performance as the Pharaoh. He would continue to star in epics through the [[TheFifties 1950s]], [[TheSixties 1960s]], and early [[TheSeventies 1970s]].

* BadassBaritone: Was this to an extent.
* BaldOfAwesome: In heroic roles
* BaldOfEvil: In villainous roles.

* PlaysGreatEthnics: As he was believed in life to be AmbiguouslyBrown,[[note]]Brynner enjoyed telling tall tales and exaggerating his background and early life for the press, claiming that he was born "Taidje Khan" of part-Mongol parentage, on the Russian island of Sakhalin, when in reality he was mostly of Swiss-German and Russian ancestry, though he had some small Buryat ancestry[[/note]] Brynner played Thai, Egyptian, Russian, Cossack, Native American, Cajun, Mexican, and other "ethnic" roles.

His first major film role was Pharaoh Ramses in the 1956 film ''Film/TheTenCommandments''. As Creator/CharltonHeston was much taller than him, Brynner decided to bulk up for the role, and delivered an imposing performance as the Pharaoh. He would continue to star in epics through the [[TheFifties 1950s]], [[TheSixties 1960s]], and early [[TheSeventies 1970s]].

* FakeNationality: Brynner was of Swiss German and Russian desecent with a small amount of Buryat (Mongolic) ancestry which gave him a lot of casting appeal to play numerous nationalities. His most notable roles included Siamese (Thai), Egyptian, American (including Native American) and Mexican. In fact, he's only played his real nationality at least three times.

* FakeNationality: Brynner was of Swiss German, Russian and Buryat (Mongolic) descent which gave him a lot of casting appeal to play numerous nationalities. His most notable roles included Siamese (Thai), Egyptian, American (including Native American) and Mexican. In fact, he's only played his real nationality at least three times.

* FakeNationality: Brynner was of Swiss German, Russian and Buryat (Mongolic) descent which gave him a lot of casting appeal to play numerous nationalities. His most notable roles included Siamese (Thai), Egyptian, American (including Native American) and Mexican. In fact, he's only played his real nationality twice in ''Anastasia'' and ''the Brothers Karamazov''.

Yul Brynner remains one of the most distinctive-looking (and ''sounding'') Hollywood actors, and to this day his image is shorthand for badass. Among his influences is that he inspired the look of ComicBook/ProfessorX of the ''Franchise/XMen''.