Yul Brynner. A man of myth, a man of legend, a man of mystery… Some said he sang even before the Revolution in the famous gypsy choir of Sokolovsky, and that his father was a fabulously wealthy industrialist from the Far East. Others claimed he was a penniless wanderer who joined the gypsy clan of the Dmitrievichs, traveled with them to Paris, where he met the great Marlene, who made him shave his head forever and took him to Hollywood. That he had been to the Soviet Union, was friends with Shalyapin, wandered through South America… And what else “those who know” might have said.
But it was clear: all of this wasn’t for nothing—something lay behind him, some twist… (Aleksandr F. Sklyar). Yet few know that Yul Brynner was born in Vladivostok, on Aleutskaya Street.