Richard Burton
Birthday: 1925-11-10
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.
Movies
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
A history professor and his wife entertain a young couple who are new to the university's faculty. A...
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John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
Biography of risk-taker and raconteur John Huston from his childhood to become one of the most highl...
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To Be Hamlet
Documentary examination of the role of Hamlet, in which ten prominent actors who have played the par...
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What's New Pussycat?
A playboy who refuses to give up his hedonistic lifestyle to settle down and marry his true love see...
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The Assassination of Trotsky
A Stalinist assassin tracks exiled revolutionary Leon Trotsky to Mexico in 1940....
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Breakthrough
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Villain
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Anne of the Thousand Days
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The Medusa Touch
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Julie Andrews Forever
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The Taming of the Shrew
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The Longest Day
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Nineteen Eighty-Four
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Bluebeard
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The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
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The Desert Rats
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The Night of the Iguana
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Alexander the Great
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Equus
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The V.I.P.s
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Massacre in Rome
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Under Milk Wood
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Becket
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Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: Live
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Candy
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Ice Palace
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The Rains of Ranchipur
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Bitter Victory
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Look Back in Anger
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Raid on Rommel
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Boom!
Explores the confrontation between the woman who has everything, including emptiness, and a penniles...
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Hammersmith Is Out
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My Cousin Rachel
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Absolution
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The Comedians
American and British tourists get caught up in political unrest in Haiti....
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The Klansman
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The Sandpiper
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Doctor Faustus
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Staircase
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Sea Wife
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Circle of Two
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Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
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Waterfront
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Hamlet from the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
A stage production of Hamlet filmed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York. It was deliberately st...
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Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
Documentary about the making of 20th Century Fox's 1963 film "Cleopatra," then the most expensive fi...
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Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
Stars celebrate Bob Hope's 50 years with NBC....
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The Battle of Sutjeska
The headquarters of the Marshal Tito's Liberation Army are surrounded by Axis forces. The Partisans ...
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The Tempest
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The Voyage
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Brief Encounter
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The Last Days of Dolwyn
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Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry
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The Woman with No Name
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Now Barabbas
A prison governor deals with a variety of different prisoners, including a charming murderer....
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Green Grow the Rushes
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The Bramble Bush
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Prince of Players
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Exorcist II: The Heretic
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Cleopatra
Determined to hold on to the throne, Cleopatra seduces the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar ...
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Where Eagles Dare
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A Tribute to Dylan Thomas
An atmospheric tribute to the genius of Welsh poet and dramatist Dylan Thomas, using many of the win...
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A Subject of Scandal and Concern
A dramatized account of a Victorian cause célèbre, written by John Osborne and concerning the true s...
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Paris Hilton, Inc.
We are drowning in celebrity culture and certainly no tabloid topic has been as big as Paris Hilton....
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Thursday's Children
Won the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Short of 1954. The subject deals with the children at...
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Alice in Wonderland
From the elaborate Broadway revival of the 1932 Eva Le Gallienne/Florida Friebus production comes a ...
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CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years
CBS honors Lucille Ball with this celebration of her three CBS series: I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show an...
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The Wild Geese
A British multinational company seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. It hires a ...
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The Robe
Drunk and disillusioned Roman, Marcellus Gallio, wins Jesus' robe in a dice game after the crucifixi...
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All-Star Party for Frank Sinatra
A Celebration of the great life of Frank Sinatra with song, dance, and many famous guests....
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To the Ends of the Earth
The story of the three year expedition led by British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, which ended in A...
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A Wall in Jerusalem
A brilliant documentary about the growth of Israel into the Jewish homeland. Seventy-three years of ...
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Zulu
In 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, man-of-the-people Lt. Chard and snooty Lt. Bromhead are in charg...
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Under Milk Wood
A poet's tale of a day in the lives of the villagers of a Welsh fishing town of Llareggub....
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The Big Sur
This MGM short film narrated by Richard Burton promotes its upcoming major release "The Sandpiper" (...
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Acting in the 60's: Richard Burton
Richard Burton is interviewed by film critic Kenneth Tynan...
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The Comedians in Africa
Behind the scenes short documentary about the cast and crew during the filming of The Comedians....
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On the Trail of the Iguana
Behind the scenes documentary of the filming of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana....
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For Florence
A dramatic, solemn and refined work, "Per Firenze" spread throughout the world the cry for help that...
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The Broadway of Lerner and Loewe
A musical special celebrating the fruitful collaboration of Broadway lyricist/librettist Alan Jay Le...
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March to Aldermaston
Collaborative documentary (credited to a committee rather than to individual filmmakers) detailing t...
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Wuthering Heights
Mistreated foundling Heathcliff and his stepsister Catherine fall in love, but when she marries a we...
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Stars' War: The Flight of the Wild Geese
Promotional short film about the making of the 1978 film The Wild Geese....
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On Location: Where Eagles Dare
A behind-the-scenes look at the difficulties of shooting a movie on location in the Austrian Alps....
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Mooch Goes to Hollywood
A dog tries to become a canine star with the help of Zsa Zsa Gabor....
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Borrowed Pasture
Richard Burton narrates this stunning film of two Polish soldiers struggling to make a living from a...
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The Violent Universe
Thirty distinguished astronomers are visited at their observatories throughout the world in this com...
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In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton
Tony Palmer's award-winning feature-length documentary profile of Richard Burton....
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Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
Broadway: The Golden Age is the most important, ambitious and comprehensive film ever made about Ame...
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I, Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind
The story of Leonardo da Vinci: his life, his thoughts, his times, his art and inventions and the in...
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Lionpower from MGM
"Lionpower from MGM" (1967) is an exciting 60's promotional short subject, which showcases MGM's rel...
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Guilty Rebel
Collatine's chaste wife Lucrece catches Tarquin's eye. Tarquin pursues her, leading to tragic conseq...
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Mystery of the Sacred Shroud
This fascinating documentary explores the mysteries behind the Shroud of Turin, which is believed by...
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Richard Burton: Wild Genius
The son of a Welsh miner, Richard Burton became a Hollywood star and is considered one of the greate...
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Robert Kennedy Remembered
This moving film tribute to a man who had hoped to win the presidency created a historic moment when...
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