Name
Richard Burton
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1925-11-10
Deathday
1984-08-05 (59 years old)
Place of Birth
Pontrhydyfen, Wales, UK
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.
Known For
7.499
World War II is raging, and an American general has been captured and is being held hostag...
7.603
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadian...
6.786
Winston Smith is a government employee whose job involves the rewriting of history in a ma...
4.546
Bizarre nightmares plague Regan MacNeil four years after her possession and exorcism. Has ...
7.7
A history professor and his wife entertain a young couple who are new to the university's ...
6.829
A British multinational company seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. I...
- 1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as George
- 1988 John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick as Self (archive footage)
- 1985 To Be Hamlet as Self
- 1965 What's New Pussycat? as Man In Strip Club
- 1972 The Assassination of Trotsky as Leon Trotsky
- 1979 Breakthrough as Sergeant Steiner
- 1971 Villain as Vic Dakin
- 1969 Anne of the Thousand Days as King Henry VIII
- 1978 The Medusa Touch as John Morlar
- 2019 Julie Andrews Forever as Self (archive footage)
- 1967 The Taming of the Shrew as Petruchio
- 1962 The Longest Day as Flight Officer David Campbell
- 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four as O'Brien
- 1972 Bluebeard as Baron von Sepper
- 1965 The Spy Who Came In from the Cold as Alec Leamas
- 1953 The Desert Rats as Captain "Tammy" MacRoberts
- 1964 The Night of the Iguana as Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon
- 1956 Alexander the Great as Alexander
- 1977 Equus as Martin Dysart
- 1963 The V.I.P.s as Paul Andros
- 1973 Massacre in Rome as SS-Obersturmbannführer Herbert Kappler
- 1972 Under Milk Wood as First Man
- 1964 Becket as Thomas Becket
- 2006 Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: Live as George Herbert, The Journalist (archive sound)
- 1968 Candy as MacPhisto
- 1960 Ice Palace as Zeb Kennedy
- 1955 The Rains of Ranchipur as Dr. Major Rama Safti
- 1957 Bitter Victory as Capt. Leith
- 1959 Look Back in Anger as Jimmy Porter
- 1971 Raid on Rommel as Capt. Alex Foster
- 1968 Boom! as Chris Flanders
- 1972 Hammersmith Is Out as Hammersmith
- 1952 My Cousin Rachel as Philip Ashley
- 1978 Absolution as Father Goddard
- 1967 The Comedians as Brown
- 1974 The Klansman as Breck Stancill
- 1965 The Sandpiper as Edward Hewitt
- 1967 Doctor Faustus as Doctor Faustus
- 1969 Staircase as Harry Leeds
- 1957 Sea Wife as Biscuit
- 1981 Circle of Two as Ashley St. Clair
- 1999 Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1 as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1950 Waterfront as Ben Satterthwaite
- 1964 Hamlet as Hamlet
- 2001 Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
- 1988 Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1981 Lovespell as King Mark of Cornwall
- 1973 The Battle of Sutjeska as Josip Broz Tito
- 1974 The Gathering Storm as Winston Churchill
- 1960 The Tempest as Caliban
- 1974 The Voyage as Cesare Braggi
- 1976 Brief Encounter as Alec Harvey
- 1949 The Last Days of Dolwyn as Gareth
- 1976 Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry as Malcolm Lowry (voice)
- 1950 The Woman with No Name as Nick Chamerd
- 1949 Now Barabbas as Paddy
- 1951 Green Grow the Rushes as Robert 'Bob' Hammond
- 1960 The Fifth Column
- 1960 The Bramble Bush as Dr. Guy Montford
- 1955 Prince of Players as Edwin Booth
- 1977 Exorcist II: The Heretic as Father Philip Lamont
- 1963 Cleopatra as Marcus Antonius
- 1968 Where Eagles Dare as Maj. Smith
- 1962 A Tribute to Dylan Thomas as Self
- 1960 A Subject of Scandal and Concern as George Holyoake
- 1954 Thursday's Children as Narrator (voice)
- 1983 Alice in Wonderland as White Knight
- 1976 CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years as Self
- 1978 The Wild Geese as Col. Allen Faulkner
- 1953 The Robe as Marcellus Gallio
- 1983 All-Star Party for Frank Sinatra as Self
- 1983 To the Ends of the Earth as Narrator
- 1968 A Wall in Jerusalem as Narrator (English version) (voice)
- 1977 The Man with No Name as Self
- 1964 Zulu as Narration spoken (voice)
- 1992 Under Milk Wood as First Voice (voice) (archive sound)
- 1965 The Big Sur as Self / Narrator
- 1967 Acting in the 60's: Richard Burton as Self - Interviewee
- 1967 The Comedians in Africa as Self (uncredited)
- 1964 On the Trail of the Iguana as Self
- 1965 A Statue for "The Sandpiper" as Self
- 1966 For Florence as Self - Narrator
- 1962 The Broadway of Lerner and Loewe as Self / Arthur
- 1959 March to Aldermaston as Narrator (voice)
- 1958 Wuthering Heights as Heathcliff
- 1978 Stars' War: The Flight of the Wild Geese as Self
- 1968 On Location: Where Eagles Dare as Self
- 1971 Mooch Goes to Hollywood as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
- 1960 Borrowed Pasture as Self - Narrator
- 1969 The Violent Universe as Narrator - Verse Spoken
- 1988 In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton as Self (Archive Footage)
- 2003 Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There as Self (archive footage)
- 1983 I, Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 1967 Lionpower from MGM as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2024 Guilty Rebel as Narrator (archive footage)
- 1978 Mystery of the Sacred Shroud as Self - Narrator
- 2025 Richard Burton: Wild Genius as Self (archive footage)
- 1968 Robert Kennedy Remembered as Narrator
- 2024 Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes as Self (archive footage)
- 2022 This Is Joan Collins as Self (Archive Footage)
- 1968 Here's Lucy ( 1 episode ) as Richard Burton
- 1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame ( 1 episode ) as Caliban
- 1983 Wagner ( 10 episodes ) as Richard Wagner
- 1973 The American Film Institute Salute to ... ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2013 Talking Pictures ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1994 Sphinx – Secrets of the History ( 1 episode ) as Marc Antony (archive footage)
- 1948 The Ed Sullivan Show ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1984 Ellis Island ( 3 episodes ) as Sen. Phipps Ogden
- 1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame ( 1 episode ) as Alec Harvey
- 1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame ( 1 episode ) as Winston Churchill
- 1974 Spécial cinéma ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1948 Bambi ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1981 Entertainment Tonight ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1973 Divorce His, Divorce Hers ( 2 episodes ) as Martin Reynolds
- 1971 Great Performances ( 1 episode ) as White Knight
- 1974 Dinah! ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1960 Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years ( 27 episodes ) as Winston Churchill
- 1971 Film '72 ( 3 episodes ) as Self
- 1956 Tony Awards ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Host
- 1956 Tony Awards ( 1 episode ) as Self - Nominee / Award Accepter
- 1956 Tony Awards ( 1 episode ) as Self - Co-Host / Special Award Recipient / Presenter
- 1956 Tony Awards ( 1 episode ) as Self - Co-Host
- 1956 Tony Awards ( 1 episode ) as Arthur (archive footage)
