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Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Yul Brynner's Statue, Grave & Anti-Smoking Video - Russia, France, the USA and Thailand



Yul Brynner as King Ramsses in The Ten Commandments.

Yul Brynner starred in The Ten Commandments, The King and I, and a remake version of the Seven Samurai called The Magnificent Seven.
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I found Yul Brynner's gravestone by accident when I was reading his life story on Wikipedia. He has long been one of my favourite actors.


French flag.

His grave is in France. You can see a picture of it on Find A Grave.


Yul Brynner's memorial carved on the gravestone with the name of his wife Juliet.

The grave is not particularly exciting, disappointingly plain, a little cross and weatherbeaten lettering. And there's no body to talk to. His cremated remains are in the Abby pasture. turned to ash, like the cigarettes which killed him.

However, you might notice something about the cross. The protestants, the majority in the UK, have plain crosses. The Roman Catholics, the majority in France, have more elaborate churches and have a figure crucified on the cross. The Greek and Russian Orthodox have a more elaborate cross.Yul Brynner came from Russia, hence the different cross.

I am more interested in the statue set up in Brynner's Russian birthplace.

RUSSIA
The statue is Vladivostok. Where is the city? It's on the East coast. That's what the name  In fact the name means East.


Yul Brynner statue. Yul Brynner park. Vladivostok. Russia. Photo in Wikipedia.

(Vladivostok, not to be confused with Moscow, St Petersburg, Leningrad, Volgograd (was Stalingrad), Stalingrad, Ekaterinaburg, Odessa on the Black sea and Ukraine).

Tripadvisor reviews alerted me to the facts that the statue has bare feet, it stands in front of the house where he was born which is not open to the public, but the city's main museum has pictures of Yul Brynner's films.

USA
A third place to pay homage to Yul Brynner is in the USA in the walk of fame. His star is 6162 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA.


Flag of the USA.



Hollywood Walk of Fame showing the brass five-pointed stars.

Meanwhile, before taking your next trip, you might like to check out his films on YouTube.

Thailand
Incidentally, his famous film, The King and I, which put Thailand on the map and promoted the Thai silk industry, is more than unpopular in Thailand, the film and book are banned, or they were when I visited the country and I was warned not to talk about it or mention it.

The Thai royal family were apparently outraged by the implication and demonstration in the film of their revered king dancing with a mere commoner,

So, if you plan on reading the book before your next trip to Thailand, read it first back home and leave it at home. Yul Brynner's film is not revered in Thailand.

RUSSIA
No problems if you visit his statue in Russia. His birthplace. He is a hero, a tourist draw.

Anti-smoking Video
On you tube you can see the video he left to be shown after his death, of himself saying that cigarettes killed him and telling the viewer to give up smoking. Both spooky and worthy. Some might consider that this is his most memorable and admirable performance.

Useful Websites
France



Thailand
https://www.tourismthailand.org/home

RUSSIA
https://www.visitrussia.org.uk/
https://wikitravel.org/en/Vladivostok
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/ShowUserReviews-g298496-d6429337-r400214069-Yul_Brynner_Monument-Vladivostok_Primorsky_Krai_Far_Eastern_District.html

Yul Brynner
Brief anti smoking video made by Yul Brynner in association with the American Cancer Society
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNjunlWUJJI

USA
vistitheusa.co.uk

Yul Brynner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yul_Brynner
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yul-Brynner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_on_the_Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_and_I_(1956_film)
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2015/05/19/thailands-banned-king-and-i/

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

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