Born: 10 November 1925 Deceased: 5 August 1984
Born in Pontrhydyfen, Wales, UK
A Welsh born actor, Richard Burton was nominated seven times for an Academy Award during his career, and he won the Golden Globe and a BAFTA. He was known for a period as the husband of Elizabeth Taylor and is considered by many to be one of the first high-profile leading men, and for many years was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood.
His childhood was troubled, and he spent much of his youth bouncing around and dabbling in different things while he honed his acting craft under the tutelage and sponsorship of his schoolmaster, Philip H. Burton.
In the 1940s and early 50s, Burton earned a reputation for being a brilliant actor. He started out doing radio bits for the BBC and eventually debuted in Liverpool and London in the play “Druid’s Rest” by Emlyn Williams. He was known for his habit of having a book-bag filled with novels, dictionaries, the Complete Shakespeare, and random other books to help him stimulate thought and conversation. In 1947 he starred in “The Last Days of Dolwyn”. Although with the advance of modern technology and e-books he could now use a custom usb stick loaded with all his favourite books in one place!
By 1951 he achieved stardom by playing Prince Hal in “Henry IV, Part I” during his season at Stratford. By 1952 he had signed a contract with Hollywood and had moved overseas, and launched a successful career while still remaining in theatre. Some of his movies of the time were “Alexander the Great” and “Sea Wife”. His last great movie was “Cleopatra”, and his career has become known in two phases: before Cleo and after Cleo. Before, he was a respected actor. After, his toxic marriage to Elizabeth Taylor had turned him into nothing more than a celebrity. |
