Richard Burton

Biography

Richard Burton CBE (born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable performance of Hamlet in 1964. He was called "the natural successor to Olivier" by critic Kenneth Tynan. A heavy drinker, Burton's perceived failure to live up to those expectations disappointed some critics and colleagues and added to his image as a great performer who had wasted his talent. Nevertheless, he is widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation. Burton was nominated for an Academy Award seven times, but never won an Oscar. He was a recipient of BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Tony Awards for Best Actor. In the mid-1960s, Burton ascended into the ranks of the top box office stars. By the late 1960s, Burton was one of the highest-paid actors in the world, receiving fees of $1 million or more plus a share of the gross receipts. Burton remained closely associated in the public consciousness with his second wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. The couple's turbulent relationship, in which they were married twice and divorced twice, was rarely out of the news. Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard Burton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

George

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Self (archive footage)

John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick

Self

To Be Hamlet

Man In Strip Club

What's New Pussycat?

Leon Trotsky

L'Assassinat de Trotsky

Sergeant Steiner

Steiner - Das Eiserne Kreuz Teil II

Vic Dakin

Villain

King Henry VIII

Anne of the Thousand Days

John Morlar

The Medusa Touch

Self (archive footage)

Julie Andrews, la mélodie d’une vie

Petruchio

The Taming of the Shrew

Flying Officer David Campbell

The Longest Day

O'Brien

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Baron von Sepper

Bluebeard

Alec Leamas

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

Captain "Tammy" MacRoberts

The Desert Rats

Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon

The Night of the Iguana

Alexander

Alexander the Great

Martin Dysart

Equus

Paul Andros

The V.I.P.s

SS-Obersturmbannführer Herbert Kappler

Rappresaglia

First Man

Under Milk Wood

Thomas Becket

Becket

George Herbert, The Journalist (archive sound)

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: Live

MacPhisto

Candy

Zeb Kennedy

Ice Palace

Dr. Major Rama Safti

The Rains of Ranchipur

Capt. Leith

Bitter Victory

Jimmy Porter

Look Back in Anger

Capt. Alex Foster

Raid on Rommel

Chris Flanders

Boom!

Hammersmith

Hammersmith Is Out

Philip Ashley

My Cousin Rachel

Father Goddard

Absolution

Brown

The Comedians

Breck Stancill

The Klansman

Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus

Edward Hewitt

The Sandpiper

Harry Leeds

Staircase

Biscuit

Sea Wife

Ashley St. Clair

Circle of Two

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1

Ben Satterthwaite

Waterfront

Hamlet

Hamlet from the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

Self (archive footage)

Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood

Self (archive footage)

Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC

King Mark of Cornwall

Lovespell

Winston Churchill

The Gathering Storm

Josip Broz Tito

Sutjeska

Caliban

The Tempest

Cesare Braggi

Il viaggio

Alec Harvey

Brief Encounter

Gareth

The Last Days of Dolwyn

Malcolm Lowry (voice)

Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry

Paddy

Now Barabbas

Nick Chamerd

The Woman with No Name

Robert 'Bob' Hammond

Green Grow the Rushes

Dr. Guy Montford

The Bramble Bush

The Fifth Column

Edwin Booth

Prince of Players

Father Philip Lamont

Exorcist II: The Heretic

Marcus Antonius

Cleopatra

Maj. Smith

Where Eagles Dare

Self

A Tribute to Dylan Thomas

George Holyoake

A Subject of Scandal and Concern

Self (archive footage)

Paris Hilton, Inc.

Narrator (voice)

Thursday's Children

White Knight

Alice in Wonderland

Self

CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years

Marcellus Gallio

The Robe

Col. Allen Faulkner

The Wild Geese

Self

All-Star Party for Frank Sinatra

Narrator

To the Ends of the Earth

Narrator (English version) (voice)

Un mur à Jérusalem

Self

The Man with No Name

Narration spoken (voice)

Zulu

First Voice (voice) (archive sound)

Under Milk Wood

Self - Interviewee

Acting in the 60's: Richard Burton

Self / Narrator

The Big Sur

Self (uncredited)

The Comedians in Africa

Self

On the Trail of the Iguana

Self

A Statue for 'The Sandpiper'

Self - Narrator

Per Firenze

Self / Arthur

The Broadway of Lerner and Loewe

Narrator (voice)

March to Aldermaston

Heathcliff

Wuthering Heights

Self

Stars' War - The Flight of the Wild Geese

Self

On Location: Where Eagles Dare

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Mooch Goes to Hollywood

Self - Narrator

Borrowed Pasture

Narrator - Verse Spoken

The Violent Universe

Self (Archive Footage)

In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton

Self (archive footage)

Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There

Self - Narrator (voice)

I, Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind

Guilty Rebel

Lionpower from MGM

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

96

Gender

Male

Birthday

1925-11-10

Place of Birth

Pontrhydyfen, Wales, UK

Also Known As

Dick Burton