Actor Richard Burton: Biography, Life Story and Interesting Facts

The legendary Hollywood actor, Richard Burton, was nominated for an Oscar on an uncountable number of occasions, but he did not win, which, incidentally, did not prevent him from entering the history of world cinema. On his account, the Grammy Award and the Golden Globe, as well as the main roles in dozens of films. He was loved by women, which was confirmed by his repeated marriages and novels, and the most famous of them is still being discussed in the pages of glossy magazines.

Young years

Richard Walter Jenkins was born in 1925 in Wales, in the family of a miner, who at that time already had 11 children.

Living in poverty, he began an acting career with a school bench. Already from the first roles his teacher Philip Barton considered the boy a real talent and did everything to bring it to perfection. Richard understood that his acting skills owed to the teacher, who believed in him and put his soul into the pupil. As a token of gratitude, he took himself, as a stage name, the surname of Barton and made it known throughout the world. In addition, fate gave Richard a meeting with Tenager Ricci. This patron assessed the natural abilities of the son of a beggar "coal miner" and provided him with a large sum that allowed the boy to get an excellent education at Oxford University.

Carier start

In 1943, actor Richard Barton made his professional debut. However, he was soon drafted into the army, and until 1947 he served in the US Air Force. Demobilized, the young man entered one of the London theaters. Within a year, Richard successfully made his debut in the movie in the film "The Last Days of Dolvin", in which he played one of the main roles. In parallel, he worked a lot on the radio, and a little later he was given a role in the famous Shakespeare Memorial Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon. Becoming famous in his homeland, Richard Barton went to conquer Hollywood. There he made his debut in the movie "My Cousin Rachel", in which he played the main male role.

Consequences of failures

The complex character of the creator and his unrecognizedness in their time did their job: the last years of his life, Richard Barton suffered from alcoholism and the attendant illnesses. The actor tried to heal, but the constant state of stress led to constant breakdowns, and as a result, death in 58 years. Alcohol during his lifetime left an imprint on his fate: binge caused his break with his beloved woman - Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

The whole world press wrote about the novel of these great actors in its time. This is undoubtedly one of the most famous couples of all time. Even the story of Jolie and Pete, compared to these daredevils, seems boring and primitive. Millions of people around the world have savored the details of their relationship: public love affidavits, repeated divorces and weddings, quarrels and scandals - all this is just part of their turbulent life. But, unfortunately, two such creative and quick-tempered characters can not live happily and happily. Despite the great love, they parted, but at the mention of the name Richard Barton immediately remembered Elizabeth Taylor, and vice versa.

Collaboration

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, films with which almost always had success, starred together in 11 scenes. The first of these was the famous "Cleopatra". At the time of the work on the picture Elizabeth was married to Eddie Fisher, and Burton is married to Sybil Williams, from whom he had two daughters. A few months after filming, they married and lived together for more than ten years. The most famous joint picture of the couple was the movie "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", For which Elizabeth received the second Oscar, and Barton - another nomination for this award, which he never managed to hold in his hands. Richard himself believed that participation in this film was his mistake, since it was this work that formed his image of the henpecked, which he tried in vain to get rid of.

At the same time, at the end of his life, he once confessed to journalists that his main role in life was the role of Elizabeth Taylor's wife.

Other women of Richard Barton

The actor, whom Marlene Dietrich herself called "the man that makes the woman's heart beat harder", had an uncountable number of fleeting novels with many recognized beauties of Hollywood of his time and was married 5 times (twice to Elizabeth Taylor). In addition to Liz and Sybil Williams, which has already been mentioned, Barton's wives were a model of Susan Hunt and make-up artist Sali Hay. Richard Barton's first wife not only suffered an unfolding affair with Liz Taylor for a whole year, but she also pretended not to notice her relationship with the English actress Claire Bloom long before. In a duet with her in 1958, the actor starred in the film "Look Back in Anger", which critics recognized as one of his best works.

Love is not only for people

Perhaps the failure in his personal life pursued him because Richard's only true and unconditional love was the scene. After all, at that difficult time, when he was a small boy from a large family who had no one to educate, because his parents struggled to make a living, his only consolation was the game. When there was no one to give him life's farewell, a volume of Shakespeare came into his hands, which determined his future destiny. And the teacher, who took up his education with the diligence of his father, finally instilled in Barton a love of acting.

Interesting Facts

Barton's name is legendary. However, many stories about him that seem to be fiction are confirmed by the facts:

• His marriage to Elizabeth Taylor took place 9 days after the divorce of Liz;
• The only woman who could be proud of that rejected Barton, was the actress Joan Collins, who starred with him in the movie "Attributes of Passion";
• The star couple immediately adopted a girl from Germany;
• Once Richard presented Elizabeth with a ring for $ 1,100,000, for which he "fought" with Onassis himself at an auction;
• Liz survived Barton for 27 years, and he predicted that this will happen, immediately after their second divorce;
• The actor was buried together with a volume of poetry by Dylan Thomas.

The consciousness of man and his dreams are formed as a child. So, Richard Burton, whose films many people watch with pleasure till now, knew exactly what he wanted and dreamed about from his youth, and worked on the embodiment of his dream until the last days of his life.

Today, the actor is considered a legend, and his work is studied by all connoisseurs of cinema. And all thanks to not only the talent, but also the perseverance and total dedication of Richard Barton, fanatically devoted his life to the cinema and the stage. He, like a real genius, rushed to meet any challenge that came across his creative path, and was able to leave an indelible mark on art.