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Yul Brynner was a notoriously proud and prickly man, obsessed with always coming out on top, whether in billing or screen presence. He had infamously cried when his King and I Broadway co-star Gertrude Lawrence died – not out of grief but because it meant he would finally get top billing outside the theatre. Unfortunately, his physical stature did not match his famous ego. Charlton Heston, meanwhile, towered over everyone in the business at almost 6’3 and was always in impressive physical shape. Brynner was very proud of his physique and had posed naked for photographs earlier in his career. However, the 5’7 star would notoriously scuff up mounds of dirt to stand on in The Magnificent Seven so that he appeared taller than Steve McQueen.
These days it is common for action stars to be magnificently muscle-bound, but in the Golden Age of Hollywood, most male leads were simply fit and trim – unless they were ex-athletes like Tarzan’s Johnny Weissmuller.
Before he came to Hollywood, Brynner actually had a background as a circus acrobat and trapeze artist in Paris – before a horrifying fall broke many of the bones in his body. He still kept himself in prime shape and was one of the first Hollywood stars to (officially) pose for nude photographs with gay photographer George Platt Lynes. (WARNING: Yul Brynner naked photograph shown below)
Arriving in LA in 1940, during this first decade in Hollywood Brynner survived on bit parts and some nude modelling, while he had a long-term relationship with heartthrob actor Hurd Hatfield.
His 1951 starring role on The King and I on Broadway catapulted him to stardom and 1956’s The Ten Commandments would cement his position as a major A-list film actor.
About from his tears over Lawrence’s death, tales were already spreading about Brynner’s extraordinary demands. He had insisted a special lift was installed at the Broadway theatre where The King and I was playing. Not just for him, but big enough for his while limousine – so he could drive in and out without being bothered by fans.
So, his pride and vanity would not permit him to be overshadowed by Heston when they were cast as Moses and his brother Ramses in the Biblical epic.
Brynner’s iron will and dedication to his work and stardom were evident in the fact that he spent much of the Ten Commandments film shoot on set in California but flying across the country in the evenings to perform The King and I on tour. The show had closed on Broadway on March 20, 1954 and immediately started a national tour two days later which ran through to December 1945.
Along with Heston, Brynner was also one of the few leading actors who also got to travel on location to Egypt, Mount Sinai and the Sinai Peninsula.
All his hard work and sacrifice paid off, with Heston later commenting he thought Brynner gave the best performance in the entire movie. Brynner’s son, Rock, said his father “was proud of his performance, and very proud of being in the film. He regarded it as the biggest film ever made, forever.”
