1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:12,560 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,759 Speaker 1: a show that believes it's never too late to make history. 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: I'm Gay, Bluesier, and in this episode, we're talking about 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,760 Speaker 1: a stirring day in TV history when a beloved actor 6 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: of the stage and screen spoke from beyond the grave, 7 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: imploring viewers not to follow in his footsteps. The day 8 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: was February nineteen six. Actor Yule Brynner appeared in an 9 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: anti smoking public service announcement, four months after passing away 10 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: from lung cancer. The thirty second ad was produced for 11 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: the American Cancer Society by an advertising agency called McCaffrey 12 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: and McCall. The footage of Brinner was taken from the 13 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: January seventh, five episode of Good Morning America, in which 14 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: the actor gave his final interview. The resulting ad is 15 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: jarring from the start. It begins on a black screen 16 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: with the inscription Yule Brenner, nineteen twenty to nine eighty five. 17 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: An unseen announcer then introduces the actor, at which point 18 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: an excerpt from Good Morning America is played. It shows 19 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: a close up of Brinner, his brown eyes staring straight 20 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: into the camera as he delivers one of the most 21 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:40,960 Speaker 1: powerful and haunting anti smoking messages ever made. Let's listen 22 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: to it now, ladies and gentlemen. The late Yule Brenner 23 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: wanted to make a commercial when I discovered that I 24 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: was that sick and my time was so limited, I 25 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: want to make up commercial that says, simply, now that 26 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: I'm gone, I tell you, don't what you do, just 27 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: don't smoke. If I could take back that smoking, we 28 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: wouldn't be talking about any cancer. I'm convinced to that. 29 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: Yule Brynner was born Julie Borissovich Brynner in Vladiva, Stock, Russia, 30 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: on July eleven, ninety. Twenty years later, he moved to 31 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: New York and then to Connecticut, where he studied acting 32 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: under the acclaimed Russian teacher Michael Chekhov. He landed his 33 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: first Broadway role in December of ninette, but had difficulty 34 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: finding work in the years that followed. He eventually moved 35 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: to Hollywood and began directing TV shows for the new 36 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: CBS network. Then, in nineteen fifty, a friend persuaded Brynner 37 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: to return to New York an audition for The King 38 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: and I the latest Broadway musical from the renowned team 39 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: of Rogers and Hammerstein As You're Probably a where. Brynner 40 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: got the part and it made him a household name 41 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,919 Speaker 1: almost overnight. In nineteen fifty two, he won a Tony 42 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: Award for his performance as the arrogant King of Siam, 43 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: and four years later, when he reprised that role for 44 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: the movie adaptation, he won the Academy Award for Best 45 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: Actor too. In the decades that followed, Brenner appeared in 46 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: more than forty other films, including a memorable turn as 47 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: Rameses the Second in the epic religious drama The Ten Commandments, 48 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: But it was his breakout role as the King that 49 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: made him a star, and he would return to it 50 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: again and again over the course of his career. In fact, 51 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: by the time Brenner was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer 52 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: in June of nineteen eighty three, he had appeared as 53 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: the King in four thousand, six hundred and twenty five 54 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: live performances. In the last two years of his life, 55 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: the actor would defy his doctor's orders and play the 56 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: role he was born for eight more times. That's actually 57 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: how the public found out the actor was ill in 58 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: the first place. Brynner's voice grew hoarse from his radiation 59 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: treatments and chemotherapy, which eventually forced his touring production of 60 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: The King and I to close early. However, once the 61 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 1: treatment had slowed the growth of his tumor, the sixty 62 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: three year old actor returned to the stage again. Although 63 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 1: not medically prudent, it was an impressive display of stamina, 64 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: especially considering Brenner's long history of heavy smoking. He had 65 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: first gotten addicted to cigarettes at the age of twelve, 66 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: meaning that by the time he quit in the late 67 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, he had been smoking between two and five 68 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: packs a day for nearly forty years. Sadly, all that 69 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,279 Speaker 1: time eventually caught up with him. Yul Brynner had his 70 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: final curtain call on June THIRTI. It was his four thousand, 71 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: six hundred and thirty third performance as The King. He 72 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: died less than four months later on October tenth. Shortly 73 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: after his death, Brynner's widow, his fourth wife, actress Kathy Lee, 74 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: was contacted by officials at the American Cancer Society or 75 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: a CS. They had seen the interview in which Brynner 76 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: mentioned his desire to make an anti smoking commercial, and 77 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 1: they wanted to use the footage to make that wish 78 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: come true. After all, it wouldn't even be the first 79 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: time that a respected actor delivered such a posthumous message. 80 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,479 Speaker 1: In eight, actor William Talman, known for his role on 81 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: Perry Mason, had recorded a TV spot for the a 82 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: CS just a few weeks before he died of lung cancer. 83 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: Brynner's case would be different, since he had never consented 84 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,840 Speaker 1: to the footage being used for that purpose, but if 85 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: Kathy gave her permission, the footage could still be used. 86 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: In the end, she signed off on the p s A, 87 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: believing that her husband would have done so himself if 88 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: he'd had the chance, and so on the morning of 89 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:13,479 Speaker 1: February nineteenth, nineteen eighty six, the ad was run for 90 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: the first time on ABC. American Cancer Society spokesperson Susan 91 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: Islam called the commercial quote the most powerful personal indictment 92 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: of smoking we've ever produced, a voice from the grave 93 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 1: who believed he died from lung cancer because he smoked. 94 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: In the months that followed the AD's debut, it was 95 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: shown numerous times on all three major US networks of 96 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: the era, ABC, NBC, and CBS. It was also aired 97 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: in other countries, including Australia, China, Israel, and Japan. Because 98 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: it was a public service announcement, the spot was run 99 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: for free in all of these cases, without any of 100 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: the fees typically associated with buying commercial air time. The 101 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: a c S reported a tremendous response to the ad. 102 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: The organization was flooded with letters from former smokers who 103 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: said the p s A was the thing that finally 104 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: got them to quit. One woman even recounted how our 105 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: five year old twin nieces had watched the announcement and 106 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: then rushed straight over to their father, who was himself 107 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: a smoker. One of the girls begged him, saying, quote, Daddy, 108 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: don't smoke. Her sister echoed the plea, saying, daddy, don't 109 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: we saw the man on TV. Based on the many 110 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: similar accounts of viewer responses, the p s A seems 111 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: to have made a lasting impression on just about everyone 112 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: who saw it, whether they smoked themselves or just loved 113 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: someone who did. At the time of yuele Brenner's diagnosis, 114 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer deaths among 115 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: American men and the second leading cause among American women 116 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: to day, it's the leader among both men and women, 117 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: with more Americans dying of lung cancer each year than 118 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:12,119 Speaker 1: of colon, breast and prostate cancer combined. The good news 119 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: is that, nearly forty years after youle Brenner's death, medical 120 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:20,239 Speaker 1: advances have offered many patients new treatment options that weren't 121 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: available previously. Still, the sad truth is that lung cancer 122 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: continues to claim more lives than any other form of 123 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: the disease, even though cigarettes smoking among US adults has 124 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: reached an all time low. Hope abides that a cure 125 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: for the disease can one day render it a concern 126 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: of the past, But until then, Yule Brenner's poignant plea 127 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:49,439 Speaker 1: remains as timely as ever. I'm Gay Blusier and hopefully 128 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 129 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you have a second and you're 130 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: so inclined, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram 131 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: at t d i h C. Show. You can also 132 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you 133 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: can write to us directly at this Day at I 134 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing 135 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,240 Speaker 1: the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see 136 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another day in history class. 137 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 138 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 139 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: favorite shows.