Yul Brynner

Took up acting after a serious accident curtailed his career as a circus acrobat. Brynner moved to America in 1940 and gave the first of 4,625 performances (over the course of many revivals) as the King of Siam in the hit Broadway musical "The King & I" in 1951.

Brynner recreated the role for the 1956 screen version, winning an Oscar as Best Actor, and subsequently began a successful starring career in films. Trading on his handsome looks and somewhat imperial manner, Brynner played a succession of royals, secret agents and gunslingers, notably in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) and "Westworld" (1973).