Richard Burton

Richard Burton 1925-84, British actor, b. Pontrhydfen, Wales; his original name was Richard Jenkins. A dark, introspective actor with a splendid speaking voice, Burton specialized in portraying conflicted, frequently tormented, men. He appeared with the Old Vic in Henry V and Othello and on Broadway in Camelot (1960) and Hamlet (1964). His tempestuous marriage to Elizabeth Taylor led to an acting partnership that vaulted Burton to the top rank of stardom. Together, they made Cleopatra (1963), The Taming of the Shrew (1967), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). He chose his later roles less carefully, though he displayed undiminished power in such vehicles as Equus (1977), Wagner (1982), and 1984 (1984). In 1983, he teamed again with Taylor in Noel Coward 's Private Lives on Broadway.

Burton, Richard (1925–84) Welsh stage and film actor, remembered for his deep, passionate, and fiery voice. By the 1950s, he had a reputation as a leading Shakespearian actor. Burton made his film debut in The Last Days of Dolwyn (1948). From 1952 he concentrated on cinema, appearing in The Robe (1953), Look Back in Anger (1959), and Becket (1964). He made a number of films with Elizabeth Taylor, notably Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). The couple had a tempestuous relationship and married each other twice.