Keep Your Shirt On, Moses — 11 Facts About Yul Brynner

He was a king and a gunfighter.

Creative Commons: by Anefo

When you see the image associated with this story, I know what you are thinking. “There’s a cowboy.’ Well, maybe not. While Yul Brenner may not look like the typical western star, that’s what I remember him as. While others may think of him as the king, in “The King and I” that’s not how I remember him. Possibly because I never saw the play or movie.

I had read a little bit about Yul before writing the piece but didn’t know a whole lot about him. I did know he was enormously talented and had an ego to match. So, with that foundation, here are some things you didn’t know about Yul Brenner.

1: Yul reportedly spoke 11 languages.

Included were Gibberish, Bull, Jive, and Pig Latin. Wait, being told that’s not true. Well, I’ve been accused of being fluent in Bull myself.

2: He was the visual inspiration for Prof. Charles Xavier of X-Men fame.

Patrick Stewart now carries the “Bald is beautiful “mantle.

3: Yul went on an extreme weightlifting program when he found out he would be shirtless for most of his screen time in “The Ten Commandments.”

He didn’t want to be overshadowed by Charlton Heston. That also led to the ab lib, “Keep your shirt on” when Moses told Rameses to, “Let my people go.” Hold on, being told that’s also not accurate.

4: Early in his life, Yul was a circus acrobat. He suffered a fall and was unable to move for eight months.

Of course he suffered a fall. Who enjoys a fall?

5: For a period of time, he was a TV director at CBS.

One of the shows he directed was, Life with Snarky Parker. I didn’t know they had snark back in the 50s.

6: In addition to being married four times, Yul also had had a long affair with Marlene Dietrich.

She was 19 years older than him at the time. And every other time for that matter.

7: Brynner shaved his head for his role as King Mongkut in “The King and I.”

That was in 1951 and he kept it shaved for the rest of his life. Fortunately for Yul, he had a really smooth head.

8: In addition to playing Rameses II in “The Ten Commandments,” he also played King Solomon in “Solomon and Sheba.”

So, he played both sides of that Egypt -Israel ball.

9: When he was young, he did some nude modeling.

So, his head wasn’t the only thing he bared.

10: He thought he would concentrate of TV directing until he was offered the role of King Mongkut in, “The King and I.”

Brynner ultimately decided it was better to be king than director.

11: Brynner smoked from the time he was 12 and ultimately died of cancer. He did make an anti-smoking public service commercial.

It aired after he died. And I’ve got nothing to add to that.

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