Richard Burton

Actor

Born November 10, 1925 in Pontrhydyfen, Wales, UK

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.

Filmography

Richard Burton: Wild Genius

Self (archive footage)

Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes

Self (archive footage)

Guilty Rebel

Narrator (archive footage)

This Is Joan Collins

Self (Archive Footage)

Julie Andrews Forever

Self (archive footage)

Talking Pictures

Self (archive footage)

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

George Herbert, The Journalist (archive sound)

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

Self (archive footage)

Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood

Self (archive footage)

Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Sphinx – Secrets of the History

Marc Antony (archive footage)

Under Milk Wood

First Voice (voice) (archive sound)

Richard Burton's Christmas Story

John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick

Self (archive footage)

In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton

Self (Archive Footage)

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

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

To Be Hamlet

Self

Ellis Island

Sen. Phipps Ogden

Nineteen Eighty-Four

O'Brien

All-Star Party for Frank Sinatra

Self

Alice in Wonderland

White Knight

Wagner

Richard Wagner

To the Ends of the Earth

Narrator

Entertainment Tonight

Self

Circle of Two

Ashley St. Clair

Lovespell

King Mark of Cornwall

Breakthrough

Sergeant Steiner

The Wild Geese

Col. Allen Faulkner

Absolution

Father Goddard

The Medusa Touch

John Morlar

Stars' War: The Flight of the Wild Geese

Self

Equus

Martin Dysart

Exorcist II: The Heretic

Father Philip Lamont

CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years

Self

Brief Encounter

Alec Harvey

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

Malcolm Lowry (voice)

The Gathering Storm

Winston Churchill

The Klansman

Breck Stancill

Dinah!

Self

Spécial cinéma

Self (archive footage)

The Voyage

Cesare Braggi

Massacre in Rome

SS-Obersturmbannführer Herbert Kappler

The Battle of Sutjeska

Josip Broz Tito

The American Film Institute Salute to ...

Self

Divorce His, Divorce Hers

Martin Reynolds

Bluebeard

Baron von Sepper

Hammersmith Is Out

Hammersmith

The Assassination of Trotsky

Leon Trotsky

Under Milk Wood

First Man

Mooch Goes to Hollywood

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Villain

Vic Dakin

Raid on Rommel

Capt. Alex Foster

Great Performances

White Knight

Anne of the Thousand Days

King Henry VIII

Staircase

Harry Leeds

The Violent Universe

Narrator - Verse Spoken

Candy

MacPhisto

Where Eagles Dare

Maj. Smith

A Wall in Jerusalem

Narrator (English version) (voice)

On Location: Where Eagles Dare

Self

Here's Lucy

Richard Burton

Robert Kennedy Remembered

Narrator

Boom!

Chris Flanders

The Comedians

Brown

Doctor Faustus

The Comedians in Africa

Self (uncredited)

Acting in the 60's: Richard Burton

Self - Interviewee

The Taming of the Shrew

Petruchio

Lionpower from MGM

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

For Florence

Self - Narrator

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

George

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

Alec Leamas

The Sandpiper

Edward Hewitt

What's New Pussycat?

Man In Strip Club

The Big Sur

Self / Narrator

A Statue for "The Sandpiper"

Self

Hamlet

The Night of the Iguana

Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon

On the Trail of the Iguana

Self

Becket

Thomas Becket

Zulu

Narration spoken (voice)

The Caretaker

The V.I.P.s

Paul Andros

Cleopatra

Marcus Antonius

The Longest Day

Flight Officer David Campbell

The Broadway of Lerner and Loewe

Self / Arthur

A Tribute to Dylan Thomas

Self

Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years

Winston Churchill

A Subject of Scandal and Concern

George Holyoake

The Bramble Bush

Dr. Guy Montford

The Tempest

Caliban

The Fifth Column

Ice Palace

Zeb Kennedy

Borrowed Pasture

Self - Narrator

Look Back in Anger

Jimmy Porter

March to Aldermaston

Narrator (voice)

Wuthering Heights

Heathcliff

Bitter Victory

Capt. Leith

Sea Wife

Biscuit

Tony Awards

Self - Host

Alexander the Great

Alexander

The Rains of Ranchipur

Dr. Major Rama Safti

Prince of Players

Edwin Booth

Thursday's Children

Narrator (voice)

The Robe

Marcellus Gallio

The Desert Rats

Captain "Tammy" MacRoberts

My Cousin Rachel

Philip Ashley

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Caliban

Green Grow the Rushes

Robert 'Bob' Hammond

The Woman with No Name

Nick Chamerd

Waterfront

Ben Satterthwaite

Now Barabbas

Paddy

The Last Days of Dolwyn

Gareth

The Ed Sullivan Show

Self

Bambi

Self