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| Promotional shots given to mom as she researched this article. |
From mom's own pen:
Dr. Sisson invited me to be the Executive Director of the Yul Brynner Head and Neck Cancer Foundation in December 1993 as I was still recovering from the neutron radiation. This is an article I [Janet Trever] wrote for an October 1995 newsletter that best sums up my experience with the Foundation and my hopes for its future.
In 1982 a very important alliance began between head and neck cancer patients and Broadway/Hollywood celebrity Yul Brynner. Yul Brynner was diagnosed with a pre-cancerous larynx condition that had developed while he was starring in the King and I in Chicago. He was referred to otolaryngologist, Dr. George A. Sission, Sr. A strong friendship developed between the two men beyond the initial patient/physician relationship; it continued until Yul’s death from metastasized lung cancer in 1985. It was this friendship that led them to establish the Yul Brynner Head and Neck cancer Foundation.
Yul was a man for all seasons, a creative genius with versatility and adaptability to spare. Born to a white Russian mother and a Swiss father in 1920, he spent his early childhood in Peking and Paris. At the age of 12 he joined the circus as an aerialist. (He had to convince the owners of the circus that he was over 20 years old. Actually, they believed he was 25). Five years after his career as an aerialist began, it ended. He had a fall that left him “disabled” on one side of his body. Yul then went on to become a gypsy folk singer in Paris clubs until his immigration to the United States.
Upon his arrival in the States, Yul worked as a truck driver and a stagehand for Chekov in New York. He later became a director for “Studio One.” One of his early acting roles was that of the young prince in “Lute Song” where he met Mary Martin who was starring in the production. It was in 1950 that Mary introduced him to the first act of the script for a musical adaptation of Anna and the King of Siam. She was certain that he was the perfect person to play the role of the king.
The first production of The King and I was in 1951. Irene Sharaff was in charge of costuming for this production and suggested that Yul shave his head for the role of king. Her research had shown that historically this king of Siam had lived in a Buddhist monastery for 19 years and had his head shaved during that time. Yul followed her suggestion and shaved his head; this eventually became his trademark.
Originally, Gertrude Lawrence had asked Rogers and Hammerstein to adapt the story into a musical especially for her. She became the first “Mrs. Anna,” a role that has since been played by many actresses. The 1951 production was later adapted into a motion picture film in 1956 and went on to win 5 Academy Awards. Yul had the distinction of being nominated for best actor in two motion pictures in the same year. He received the Oscar for best actor in The King and I (In addition to the Oscar, he has also earned two Tony Awards for his portrayal of the king) and was nominated for best actor for Anastasia the same year.
Yul made three dozen movies over the years. Then in 1978 he launched a lavish production of King and I at the Palladium in London. This production ran until 1980. It was during this time that Yul met Kathy Lee, and aspiring dancer, who would become his wife the last years of his life. Kathy grew up in Malaysia, attended ballet boarding school in England, and landed the combined role of the lead royal dancer and Eliza in the Palladium production.
King and I played in 31 cities in the U.S. from 1980 to 1985. Yul performed the role 4,625 times during his career. People often asked if he was not bored playing the same role so many times, but he always responded that he felt he was telling a spellbinding story for 3 hours, 8 times a week, and that the king was such a marvelous character that he was constantly learning new things at each performance as he told the story. Yul felt that the issues of human rights, of a changing world, and of cultures colliding in the name of progress were very relevant issues in the play and in reality as well. He envisioned that King and I would be performed well into future centuries.
Yul was a very generous individual. Rita Morino recalls a wonderful story of his generosity as they prepared to film the movie in the mid 1950s. At that time, she was a young and inexperienced actress who had been cast in the role of Tuptim. Yul saw this young actress in a deeper portrayal of the role than proposed and consequently paid for her to have acting and coaching lessons. At the time Rita wondered why he was offering this gift, and later realized how much he cared about her strength as an actress and her attainment of the highest quality portrayal of the role.
He was also a man of great compassion, especially for children and for those less fortunate. During a 1981 televised Boston interview with Elliot Norton, Yul spoke of the significance of “The March of the Siamese Children.” He said it was symbolic for the king to bow to the children to show honor and respect for each individual. Indeed Yul was a man who possessed these qualities of honor and respect and later became Ambassador for Children to the United Nations. He was also awarded the United Nations Peace Medal for his projects with refugees. Together with Edward R. Murrow he hosted a television special entitled “RESCUE” dealing with the plight of eastern European refugees. Many were stranded in refugee camps indefinitely if a family member was found to have a spot on his/her lungs. Yul likened these people to the “Anne Franks of the Cold War.” In 1983 Yul became a spokesman for the Hollywood Red Cross blood drive giving interviews and urging people to donate blood despite the new fear of HIV transference. He assumed then that it was safe at that time and place to contribute, as he had just done.
Yul’s wife, Kathy, who serves as Chairman of the Foundation’s Honorary Board, describes Yul as an unbelievable funny man, with an incredible zest and appetite for life. “He made me laugh,” she says. “When two ladies put their hands on top of his head as they passed him going the opposite direction on department store escalators, he quietly muttered, “You could lose your hands that way.” Another incident that Kathy described was Yul’s evening drink during the last months of his life. Each evening he would ask Kathy to fix him a dry Manhattan and she would dutifully bring him his carrot juice.
A man of many contrasts and complexities, Yul like caviar on his scrambled eggs, spoke Georgina Russian, Chinese, Versailles French, and English: he personified the lyrics of his “Puzzlement” soliloquy. He received several academic degrees, and even attended classes at Northwestern University in Chicago during the day while performing the King and I at night. He said he was very lucky that he had no classes on Wednesday afternoons when he gave matinee performances.
Yul’s sojourn with cancer began in 1982. Following day surgery on Monday, he was told that his voice should be allowed to rest and not used for several days. He ignored Dr. Sisson’s orders, began vocalizing in his hospital room as the anesthe3tic wore off, then went on with his weekly performances beginning the next evening so as not to miss a single performance.
Yul planned to retire the role of the king on June 30, 1985 and then planned to tour the country raising funds for a Head and Neck Institute. However, in the fall of 1984 he was again stricken by illness and was diagnosed with terminal lymphatic cancer requiring chemotherapy. He swore his wife and doctor to secrecy, and continued his performances 8 times a week throughout his treatments. The supporting cast and audiences were not aware of any medical condition or problem.
Yul Brynner thought he had beaten the odds, but in the spring of 1985 he was diagnosed with cancer that had metastasized to his lungs. His final performances were very difficult. Mary Beth Peil was interviewed on national television the day that Yul died, October 10, 1985. She was his last “Mrs. Anna” on stage and spoke of his generosity when she began playing the part. He gave much of his time to her, coaching her and sharing his excellent timing and stage presence; working toward the perfectionism in her that he always demanded of himself. She said that during his last performances when he could barely get on and off stage, Yul came to depend on her. The dance scene was choreographed so that he only turned as she did the primary dancing. Supporting him at this time was a very small part of the huge debt she owed him from those earlier days. She said that, although Yul was in great pain, the look of pain on his face would disappear as the curtain went up and wouldn’t reappear until he had to struggle off stage after the final curtain call.
During a “60 minutes” interview with Mike Wallace in 1985, Yul and Kathy talked about coping with cancer. He said, I was taught that we are born alone, we live along, and we die alone. If you accept that as total reality, then any friendship, and relationship that contributes to your life you accept with gratitude as a gift. You must never take it for granted.” When Yul was asked how he was able to perform during the chemotherapy in Los Angeles and during the cancer in the spring of 1985, he laughed and said, “What would you rather do, lie in a hospital bed full of tubes or have a standing ovation from 2800 people each night?”
The last gift Yul gave to the world during his living years was the public service announcement he made concerning smoking. In this 30 second recording he states that as this announcement is air, he is already dead, and he died from smoking 5 packs of cigarettes a day in his younger years. He states flatly, “Don’t smoke, it’s suicide. If you smoke, quit; if you don’t smoke, don’t start.” The announcement aired only a short time before networks took it off the air. Television audiences complained that it was depressing and commercial sponsors felt it damaged the sale of their products. How many smokers might have quit in the last 10 years had this announcement continued to air? The Yul Brynner Head and Neck Cancer Foundation is currently working to return this announcement to television as well as introduce it in movie theaters so that the present generation of young people will have exposure to it. Today’s current statistics show that 85% of the cases of head and neck cancer are caused by smoking.
Part of the mission of The Foundation is to continue support of basic clinical research in the fields of head and neck surgical oncology and plastic and reconstructive surgery. During the past 20 years many advances have been made in resecting head and neck cancers. In addition, better ways are being developed to cosmetically and functionally replace defects from surgery. For the past nine years Dr. George Sission, Sr., and Dr. Peter Constantino have been pioneers in extending the limits of surgical resection in order to remove the hazards apparent in malignant tumors. Both men have academic rank at Chicago’s Rush-Presbyterian and New York’s Mt. Sinai medical centers, respectively, and both are practicing head and neck surgeons. Their research, funded by the Foundation, was developed to find improved techniques that would significantly restore form and function to the patient recovering from head and neck surgery. Additional research to improve the basic procedures of these techniques continues.
The Foundation also highlights patient advocacy concerns, particularly concerns of young patients and their families; of life threatening illnesses; and the coping skills required to deal with facial difference which may result from surgery/treatment to the head and neck area. Yul and George had often spoken of building a Head and Neck Institute in Chicago so that patients would have one place to go for state of the art diagnosis, treatment, and support services. At the present time the Foundation is planning to develop a pilot project in the Chicago area which will provide special kinds of support that head and neck cancer patients need. In addition, the Foundation plans to develop a national referral system for the location specialty care.
As I get to know Kathy Brynner better, and get to know Yul through the many tapes of his interviews, the book he wrote entitled, Bring Forth the Children, and the collection of stories from those who knew him personally, I marvel at the elasticity and the grit in a person who allowed himself to cope with change, and with being “different.” Yul often quoted the last lines of his famous soliloquy: Perhaps there is a message in this for us all. “Everyday I try to live for one more day. Everyday I do my best for one more day. But...Is.... A...Puzzlement!”
Yul Brynner cared very much about his world and the people in it. He wanted to leave this world a better place than when he found it. In one of his final interviews with David Hartman on Good Morning America in the spring of 1985 he said that as he retired the role of the king he felt that 90% of his life’s work was still ahead. At the Yul Brynner Head and Neck Cancer Foundation, we feel we have been given the opportunity to continue his work.
When I was 24 and living in Taiwan I got a call from my mom that Sushila was dying of cancer. I was scared to call, it had been so long since I had talked to her. But I did remember our special bonds- our birthday and our cosmic birth order. I called her as her mother from a former life, eased her mind about the circle of life, and told her I'd miss her and to come visit me. 
