Yuri Borienko (born Jan Bolesław Kadlubowski, 27 October 1930Canada, British Columbia Deaths – 10 February 1999) was a Polish wrestler and actor, known for his performance as Blofeld's henchman Grunther in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Biography Borienko travelled to America in 1956, possibly beginning his wrestling career there. He returned to Britain in 1960, where he worked for independent promoters before being signed up by Joint Promotions in 1962. His ring name was derived from Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and another wrestler called Stanislaus Borienko. Up until the end of the decade, the wrestler could be seen touring regularly in the rings of Southern England, pitted against other heavyweights, disappearing at times to appear in television and movie productions. (Borienko and fellow wrestler Mike Marino were matched against American heavyweight Luther Lindsay.)WRESTLING HERITAGE - Yuri Borienko
Working as an actor, Borienko guested in episodes of British TV series including Adam Adamant Lives!, Z-Cars, The Troubleshooters, Department S, The Persuaders!, Jason King, The Protectors, Raffles, The Professionals and Strangers as well as a number of films (see below).
After retiring from acting, Borienko and his family moved to Canada where he spent the final 11 years of his life running a motel, dying in 1999 from leukaemia.Stefan Kadlubowski - An Entrepreneur's Tale - JFP His children include Jas Kadlubowski, businessman Stefan Kadlubowski (1963–2016) and makeup artist Nina Westbury.
James Bond During his audition for the role of James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Lazenby was required to spar with Borienko as part of his screen test. During this, Lazenby, unaware of how to pull his punches, struck the wrestler, giving him a broken and bloodied nose. This impressed the director Peter R. Hunt and producer Harry Saltzman, securing Lazenby the role of Bond. Borienko was given the role of Grunther as compensation for the incident.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1966 The Trygon Factor Nailet 1967 Smashing Time Gangster Entering Party 1968 Great Catherine Henchman Uncredited1969 On Her Majesty's Secret Service Grunther 1970 Doctor in Trouble Sick Russian 1972 Innocent Bystanders Guard #1 1974 Callan Porter 1974 S*P*Y*S Yuri 1983 The Jigsaw Man Russian trainer 1987 Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Russian General - Red Square (final film role)
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