Richard Burton

**Richard Walter Burton**  (10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh stage and cinema actor.

Burton appeared in more than 40 movies and received 7 Academy Award nominations. He received BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor.

In the mid-1960s, Burton became a top movie star. By the late 1960s, he was the highest-paid actor in the world. He received fees of $1 million or more per movie plus a share of the gross receipts.

People often associate Burton with his second wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. The couple's relationship was rarely out of the news.

## Early life

Burton was born **Richard Walter Jenkins** in the village of Pontrhydyfen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales. He grew up in a working class and Welsh-speaking household. He was the twelfth of thirteen children of a Welsh coal miner. His mother died before he was two years old. He was raised by his much older sister and her husband. He took his surname from his guardian Philip Burton, a teacher who coached him until he won a scholarship to Oxford University at the age of eighteen.

### Acting

Burton was a youngster when he made his London acting debut in the play _The Druid's Rest_. After leaving military service in the air force in 1947, he  established himself as a stage actor. He appeared with John Gielgud in _The Lady's Not for Burning_. His movie career began in 1949 with _The Last Days of Dolwyn_.

In 1962, he replaced Stephen Boyd as Mark Anthony in the movie _Cleopatra_ opposite Elizabeth Taylor. Their off-screen romance made tabloid headlines around the world. After divorcing their respective spouses, they married in 1964. They then appeared in 11 movies together. The two divorced in 1974. They then reconciled and remarried in 1975. They divorced again the following year.

### Broadway

Burton also appeared on Broadway in the musical _Camelot_ and the play _Hamlet_ directed by John Gielgud. He appeared on television in 1960 as Caliban in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of _The Tempest_ with Claire Bloom and Maurice Evans. He also appeared on _The Ed Sullivan Show_ with Julie Andrews to sing "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" from _Camelot_. This appearance boosted ticket sales for the stalled musical.

## Marriage and family

Burton married Sybil Williams in 1949, with whom he had two daughters. After his divorce from Elizabeth Taylor, he married Suzy Hunt in 1976. This marriage also ended in divorce. He then married Sally Hay in 1983.

## Personal life

He was awarded the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Elizabeth II in 1970.

## Death

He died at his home in Céligny, Switzerland, on 5 August 1984, from a cerebral haemorrhage.

## Selected movies

- _The Last Days of Dolwyn_ (1949, first movie)
- _My Cousin Rachel_ (1952, 1st Oscar nomination)
- _The Robe_ (1953, 2nd Oscar nomination)
- _Alexander the Great_ (1956)
- _A Midsummer Nights Dream_ (1959)
- _Cleopatra_ (1963)
- _Becket_ (1964, 3rd Oscar nomination)
- _Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf_ (1966, 4th Oscar nomination)
- _The Spy Who Came in From the Cold_ (1966, 5th Oscar nomination)
- _The Taming of the Shrew_ (1967)
- _Where Eagles Dare_ (1968)
- _Anne of the Thousand Days_ (1969, 6th Oscar nomination)
- _Raid on Rommel_ (1971)
- _Exorcist II: The Heretic_ (1977)
- _Equus_ (1977, 7th and last Oscar nomination)
- _Nineteen-Eighty-Four_ (1984, last movie)

## Other websites

- Richard Burton biography
- Richard Burton biography

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Richard Burton
- **honorific-suffix**: Order of the British Empire, CBE
- **image**: Richard Burton - The Robe.jpg
- **caption**: in _The Robe_ (1953)
- **birth name**: Richard Walter Jenkins
- **birth place**: Pontrhydyfen, Wales
- **death place**: Céligny, Switzerland
- **death cause**: Cerebral haemorrhage
- **occupation**: Actor
- **nationality**: Welsh
- **citizenship**: United Kingdom
- **years active**: 1944–1984
- **spouse**: Sybil Williams (1949–1963, divorced)
Elizabeth Taylor (1964–1974, 1975–1976, divorced)
Suzy Hunt (1976–1982, divorced)
Sally Hay (1983–1984; his death)
- **children**: Kate Burton
Jessica Burton
Liza Todd Burton
Maria Burton
- **signature**: RichardBurton.jpg