Richard Burton

Richard Burton (born Richard Walter Jenkins, Pontrhydyfen, Wales, November 10, 1925-Céligny, Switzerland, August 5, 1984) was a British actor, nominated seven times for an Oscar. Known for his gravelly voice and penetrating gaze, he established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s—he was called "the natural successor to Laurence Olivier"—and gave a memorable performance of Hamlet in 1964. Due to his great acting range, he was able to print, with great ease, strength and passion to his characters, giving a verisimilitude to what he was acting. He is considered one of the most important actors of his generation and of history.

Despite not winning an Oscar, he managed to win different film awards such as two BAFTA awards, two Golden Globes, two David de Donatello awards for best foreign actor, as well as the Taormina Film Festival and the International Week of Valladolid Cinema for Best Actor.

In the theater he also won various awards such as the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, for Camelot, and the Theater World Award for The Lady's Not for Burning (1951).

Early years and artistic career

Richard Walter Jenkins was born in the village of Pontrhydyfen, Wales, and grew up in poverty with many of his brothers and sisters. Raised as a Presbyterian, with the help of his vocational teacher, Philip H. Burton (who legally adopted him), he excelled early in school theater productions. It was at this time that he began to develop the distinctive speaking voice that would become his trademark, being encouraged by Philip (who also worked as a BBC radio producer) to lose his Welsh accent. To this day, many acting students try to imitate Burton's style of voiceover, praised by critics around the world.

There is a widespread myth, perhaps encouraged or even sponsored by some of his middle-class family members: that Richard Burton "won a scholarship to Oxford at sixteen ", but that he turned it down. after six months. The facts, as recorded by Burton himself in his autobiography and in the book Richard and Philip , which he co-wrote, are as follows: at the age of sixteen, he was forced out of school and find a job as a salesman. His previous teacher, Philip Burton, recognizing his talent, adopted him and allowed him to return to school. In 1943, at the age of eighteen, Richard Burton (who had taken the professor's surname from him) was allowed to enter Exeter College in Oxford for just six months. He later enlisted in the army to participate in World War II.

Beginnings

In the 1940s and early 1950s, Burton worked on stage and film in the UK. Before serving in the war as an air navigator with the Royal Air Force (Royal Air Force) he had made his professional debut in Liverpool, appearing in a play called Rest of the Druid, but his career was interrupted by his conscription in 1944.

While making his first film, The Last Days of Dolwyn in 1947, he met his first wife, the young actress Sybil Williams, whom he married in February 1949.

In the year of his marriage to Sybil, Burton appeared in a rather successful production called The Lady's Not For Burning, opposite Sir John Gielgud.

Hollywood and Broadway

In 1952, Burton successfully made the transition to Hollywood star, appearing in My Cousin Rachel opposite Olivia de Havilland, for which he would be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The following year, he filmed The Holy Robe with Jean Simmons, for which he would again be nominated, and later insisted on playing historical roles by playing Alexander the Great in Alexander the Great , directed by Robert Rossen.

In 1954, he played his most famous radio role, as the narrator in Dylan Thomas's original production Under Milk Wood, a role he would play twenty years later in its film adaptation.

His best-known films include The Rains of Ranchipur, Looking Back in Anger (directed by Tony Richardson), The Longest Day, Night of the Iguana (directed by John Huston), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Anne of a Thousand Days (with Geneviève Bujold, for which they were both Academy Award nominated), Equus (directed by Sidney Lumet, which earned him a Golden Globe and another statuette nomination) and four films with his second wife Liz Taylor: Cleopatra, The Sandpiper (Castles in the Sand, 1965), The Indomitable Woman (1967; adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, directed by Franco Zeffirelli) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?). For the latter, Burton was again nominated for an Oscar. In his entire career, he had seven nominations for the award, without ever winning it.

Richard Burton had better luck on the Broadway stage: in 1960 he co-starred with Julie Andrews in the musical Camelot, which was a formidable box office success and earned him a Tony Award.

In 1964 both Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole were nominated, each separately, for a Best Actor Oscar for their respective performances in Peter Glenville's Becket. The precedent of a shared Oscar had not yet occurred, as years later with Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand who tied for their respective performances in The Lion in Winter and Funny Girl, and both were awarded the coveted statuette. In this case, and to the sadness of their respective fans, the Oscar for best actor was not awarded to either of them, but to Rex Harrison for his role in My Fair Lady .

In 1969 Burton and Rex Harrison filmed a daring gay-themed tragicomedy, The Staircase, directed by Stanley Donen. They played a couple of homosexual hairdressers, involved in unpleasant situations after being accused of moral scandal. This film could not be released in Spain until 1976 and had limited diffusion, partly hindered by Burton's widow; in 2011 it was recovered.

Last years

After some less interesting productions, such as Bluebeard (1972) with Raquel Welch, a sequel to The Exorcist (1977) and Alarm: catastrophe (1978), in 1983 Burton played Richard Wagner in a luxurious production, with Vanessa Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. This filming was intended for projection in theaters, but due to its long duration (eight hours) it was edited and broadcast as a television series.

Burton also appeared in the miniseries Ellis Island, about European emigrants arriving in New York. Here she had as partenaire Faye Dunaway; for this work they were both candidates for a Golden Globe, but only she won it.

Finally, shortly before he died, he played the character of O'Brien in the British film 1984, directed by Michael Radford and based on the homonymous novel by George Orwell.

The actor died on August 5, 1984 at the age of 58, at the Geneva cantonal hospital, when doctors tried to perform surgery on him to remove the blood clot formed by a stroke. His mortal remains were buried in the Swiss town of Celigny, thus fulfilling his wish and where Burton lived for 24 years.

In 2013, he was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Private life

Burton's grave in the old cemetery of Celigny

In 1947 he met his future wife, the young actress Sybil Williams, whom he married in February 1949. They had two daughters, but would divorce in 1963 as a result of the scandalous affair that he began with Elizabeth Taylor during filming of Cleopatra.

He married the same person and love of his life, Elizabeth Taylor, twice: they were first married in 1964, divorced ten years later, remarried in October 1975, and divorced again eight months later. They lived a stormy relationship with violent fights. It is also known that he gave Liz multiple jewels, such as the Pilgrim Pearl and the Taylor-Burton diamond.

Along with Elizabeth Taylor, Steve McQueen and Sharon Tate (the latter murdered), he was on the list of celebrities designated to be assassinated by the Charles Manson cult. Of said list, none of her survive after the natural death of Liz Taylor in March 2011.

Filmography

• The Last Days of Dolwyn, directed and interpreted by Emlyn Williams, 1949. It was his film debut.
• My cousin RaquelHenry Koster, 1952. First film in Hollywood - Oscar Nominee for best actor.
• The sacred robeHenry Koster, 1953 - Oscar nominee for best actor.
• The desert ratsRobert Wise, 1953.
• The Rains of RanchipurJean Negulesco, 1955.
• Alexander the GreatRobert Rossen, 1956.
• Bitter VictoryNicholas Ray, 1957
• The zarzal1959.
• Looking back in angerTony Richardson, 1958.
• The Longest DayKen Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, 1962.
• CleopatraJoseph L. Mankiewicz, 1963.
• BecketPeter Glenville, 1964- Oscar nominee for best actor.
• The night of the iguanaJohn Huston, 1964.
• Castles in the sandVincente Minnelli, 1965.
• The spy that came from the coldMartin Ritt, 1965- Oscar nominee for best actor.
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Mike Nichols, 1966- Oscar nominee for best actor.
• The indomitable womanFranco Zeffirelli, 1967.
• Doctor FaustoRichard Burton, Nevill Coghill, 1967.
• The comediansPeter Glenville, 1967.
• Boom!Joseph Losey, 1968
• The Eagles ChallengeBrian G. Hutton, 1968.
• Ana of the thousand daysCharles Jarrott, 1969 - Oscar nominee for best actor.
• The stairsStanley Donen, 1969.
• Command in the desertHenry Hathaway, 1971.
• The Murder of TrotskyJoseph Losey, 1972.
• Blue BarEdward Dmytryk, 1972.
• She divorces him, divorces her.along with Elizabeth Taylor (TV), 1973.
• Death in Rome (Rappresaglia), George P. Cosmatos, 1973.
• The fifth offensiveStipe Delic, 1973.
• Brief meetingAlan Bridges, 1974 (TV).
• The trip (Il viaggio)Vittorio de Sica (1974)
• The man of the clanTerence Young, 1974.
• Exorcist II: The HerejeJohn Boorman, 1977.
• EquusSidney Lumet, 1977- Oscar nominee for best actor.
• Catastrophe alarmJack Gold, 1978.
• AbsolutionAnthony Page, 1978
• Roto pig 1979.
• The Wild GeeseAndrew V. McLaglen, 1978.
• Circle of twoJules Dassin, 1980.
• Wagner, 1983 (TV).
• 1984Michael Radford, 1984.

Theater

Awards and distinctions

Oscar Awards