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RICHARD BURTON: A SUPREME TALENT

“An actor is something less than a man, while an actress is something more than a woman.”

-Richard Burton

Welsh-born Richard Burton was one of the most magnetic performers ever to grace the stage or films. He possessed a presence that radiated throughout the theater and transcended the motion picture screen. Gifted with piercing good looks and a voice destined to quote Shakespear’s immortal sonnets, Richard Burton was truly an Actor’s Actor.

The young Richard Jenkins was born on November 10, 1925, in Pontrhydyfen, Wales, the son of a coal miner. A life of hard labor deep in the mines was not to the liking of the ambitious lad who received a scholarship to the prestigious Oxford University to study acting. Adopting the name “Burton” from his schoolmaster and mentor Philip Burton, Richard quickly gained a reputation on the stage before making his film debut in 1949 in “The Last Days of Dolwyn”. He appeared in other movies, but it was not until he played the lead in “My Cousin Rachel” (1952) that his on-camera career really gained momentum. He starred in the Cinemascope blockbuster, “The Robe”, in 1953 (for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor) and essayed the title role of “Alexander The Great” (1956). He also maintained his allegiance to the stage, performing in productions both in the UK and on Broadway.

Perhaps his finest motion picture appearance was as the disillusioned Jimmy Porter in “Look Back in Anger” (1959), for which he was nominated for both a BAFTA Film Award for Best British Actor and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actor – Drama. Burton’s work continued to be acclaimed by critics on both sides of the Atlantic. He scored a major Broadway hit starring as King Arthur in the musical "Camelot" in 1961. He then provided a good bit as a wounded British soldier in the all-star “The Longest Day” (1962). but hit a snag when he appeared as Marc Antony in “the flop that almost sunk a studio”: “Cleopatra” (1963). Of course, it was on this film that Burton fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor, whom he would later marry – twice).

From this point on, Burton’s acting career seemed to take a back seat to his personal life with Miss Taylor. Their relationship was both passionate and stormy, and the tabloids provided their readers with plenty of copy on the marital exploits of “Liz and Dick”.

The couple appeared in several films together, but with the exception of the high-powered “Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf” (1966), their movies were neither critically nor commercially regarded. Where Burton continued to excel was when he appeared in pictures sans Liz, as in “Becket” (1964), “Night Of The Iguana” (1964) and, what some feel is the finest espionage film ever made, “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” (1965). One of his last great solo roles was his Academy Award-nominated King Henry VIII in “Anne of a Thousand Days” (1969).

Sadly, during the 1970s the once great classical thespian began appearing in movies where both he and the pictures themselves were panned by critics and audiences. “Bluebeard” and “The Assasination of Trotsky”, (both 1972) were disasters, as were “The Klansman” (1974), “Exorcist II: The Heretic” (1977) and “The Medusa Touch” (1978). It was speculated that the reason an actor of Burton’s caliber would submit to appear in such terrible movies was to keep up alimony payments on his four failed marriages. He briefly rallied toward the end of his life by delivering fine performances in the films “Ninety Eighty-Four” (1984) and in the TV mini-series “Ellis Island” (1984). Sadly, with his career once more looking on the rise and finally finding happiness with fifth wife Sally Hay, Richard Burton passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage at his at his home in Switzerland on August 5, 1984.

THIS WEEK AUGUST 17 AT 8 PM ET

ACTRESS KATE BURTON ON

HER FATHER RICHARD BURTON