Richard Burton

[Ted Challinor]

With 99.9% actors I have forgotten where I was when I heard the news, but not wonderful Richard Burton - it wasn't remarkable, I was 20, home from College and in my bedroom when it was announced on a sunday [I seem to remember], and I went downstairs to tell my mother.
Much later I read - in Melvyn Bragg's excellent bio 'Rich' - the night before he died he'd had a drinking session (rare in his later life) with 1984 co-star John Hurt.
Like everyone I loved his voice, particularly on Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, Under Milk Wood, Equus, and lots of other marvellous films.
Thanks Rich...
PS Has anyone read the previously unpublished interview BBC journalist John Simpson did with the Welsh actor late in the 1970s, which confirms his undying love for Liz Taylor??

[MissieMaam]

that was one time when NI had it right! I used to be an avid reader (really) and it was reported on the cover that Burton's dr. told him he only had a few months left if he didn't stop drinking. And a few months later, yep -- he was dead.

From everything I've read, he was super-brilliant, so it's so sad that he drank himself to death. A terrible waste.

[RoRo]

He and Taylor were the best couple...I loved them on the Lucy Show

[Pammijo]

Richard Burton was my favorite actor of all times. I sit and watch Becket over and over again. First I bought the VHS tape and as soon as it was released on DVD I bought that. Love him, love him, love him.

[poppie]

Boy,what to say about Burton. Without Elizabeth Taylor, he would have been just another adequate actor. I went to a play at Dorothy Chandler especially to see them. Ms Taylor was wonderful, as was he. But, until I saw them on stage, I never realized that she was indeed, AN ACTRESS.

[MorbidMolly]

With 99.9% actors I have forgotten where I was when I heard the news, but not wonderful Richard Burton - it wasn't remarkable, I was 20, home from College and in my bedroom when it was announced on a sunday [I seem to remember], and I went downstairs to tell my mother.
Much later I read - in Melvyn Bragg's excellent bio 'Rich' - the night before he died he'd had a drinking session (rare in his later life) with 1984 co-star John Hurt.
Like everyone I loved his voice, particularly on Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, Under Milk Wood, Equus, and lots of other marvellous films.
Thanks Rich...
PS Has anyone read the previously unpublished interview BBC journalist John Simpson did with the Welsh actor late in the 1970s, which confirms his undying love for Liz Taylor??

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770.......

Link to the interview.....absolutely marvelous....thanks for the heads up.... ( scroll down to get to Richard )

[FannyB1923]

I remember him from The Robe. Loved it.
And being on the cover of every movie magazine with Liz for about five years!
I recall Cleopatra as kind of blah- bad for something that was supposed to be a spectacle.

What are your favorite Richard Burton movies?

[seurtoFW]

Richard Burton ---- aahhhhhhh. Loved Richard Burton. One of the most exciting times in my life was, it was like '79 or '80, when he was doing a tour with Camelot playing Arthur. Now of course this is an old man playing King Arthur, but who cared. I bought tix for the show at Dallas Fair Park. The seats were in the balconey, but by golly that was OK. I was in the same building with Richard Burton. It Was Wonderful.

[cindyt]

My faves are The Robe, The Silver Chalace (Didn't he make that?), and Cleopatra--it may have been blah, but I loved it. LOL.

[Giada]

Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? Which unfortunately mirrored their lives

(I prefer Burton in Becket)

[MorbidMolly]

My faves are The Robe, The Silver Chalace (Didn't he make that?), and Cleopatra--it may have been blah, but I loved it. LOL.

Damn I love that movie........when Liz comes into Rome on that atrocious Sphinx I get chills........Burton was wonderful in that.....don`t give a shit what the critics or anyone says.......I adore that flick

[dovescry1999]

I loved ANYTHING he did...Even when he and Liz were on The Lucy Show, I watched it...
Shit, he could read a phone book, and my nips would get hard enough to cut glass...

[MorbidMolly]

I loved ANYTHING he did...Even when he and Liz were on The Lucy Show, I watched it...
Shit, he could read a phone book, and my nips would get hard enough to cut glass...

HAAAAAA......

[KELT]

My faves are The Robe, The Silver Chalace (Didn't he make that?), and Cleopatra--it may have been blah, but I loved it. LOL.

No, THE SILVER CHALICE had PAUL NEWMAN as it's male lead opposite VIRGINIA MAYO. They had dark eyed, dark haired NATALIE WOOD play the MAYO character as a girl; WOOD had to wear 'blue' contacts & had her hair bleached.
The film was so bad that years later when it was first televised NEWMAN took out a full page ad in the Los Angeles newspapers issuing an apology to anyone who watched it and permanently lost 2 & half hours of their lives.

[Cathy J.]

I loved ANYTHING he did...Even when he and Liz were on The Lucy Show, I watched it...
Shit, he could read a phone book, and my nips would get hard enough to cut glass...

Actually they did HERE'S LUCY not the Lucy Show. That was 1970. Funny thing about that show was that outside of I Love Lucy, the episode Burton & Taylor did was the highest rated show Lucille Ball ever had.

Richard Burton had a love/hate thing with Lucy though. Just after doing that show he called Lucille Ball a "control freak bitch". Yet a few years later when CBS honored Lucy celebrating her then-25 years on TV who do you think appeared on that show and not too mention did a special tribute to her as well?

Richard Burton !!!!!!

[KELT]

He and Taylor were the best couple...I loved them on the Lucy Show

Neither he nor TAYLOR apparently enjoyed their time with BALL. Some choice bits of BURTON' diary was made public after his death & he'd written that BALL was a bitch and that the experience had been miserable.

[bellafreud]

The Medusa Touch. Really freaky movie.

[MorbidMolly]

Neither he nor TAYLOR apparently enjoyed their time with BALL. Some choice bits of BURTON' diary was made public after his death & he'd written that BALL was a bitch and that the experience had been miserable.

I can totally see that..........no offense to the Lucy fans, but she seemed like a total bitch.......

[Jack-O-Lantern]

Neither he nor TAYLOR apparently enjoyed their time with BALL. Some choice bits of BURTON' diary was made public after his death & he'd written that BALL was a bitch and that the experience had been miserable.

Seems like, at that point in her career, Lucy would have (or should have) been extremely grateful to Liz & Dick for appearing on her show...

[Noelle Page]

Neither he nor TAYLOR apparently enjoyed their time with BALL. Some choice bits of BURTON' diary was made public after his death & he'd written that BALL was a bitch and that the experience had been miserable.

Ah, Liz. She was so glam. That tan! The hair! The mod clothes!

Yeah, and why would Lucy complain? Maybe Liz and Dick were boozing, or late to the set or something....I would imagine that a lack of professionalism would be the one thing to really piss Lucy off!

[Jack-O-Lantern]

Ah, Liz. She was so glam. That tan! The hair! The mod clothes!

No doubt during their "P.V." (Puerto Vallarta) days...those tans look downright unhealthy LOL...but so in vogue at the time...
Speaking of glam--she wore the Krup diamond in that episode...wasn't the plot something about the famous diamond getting stuck in Lucy's garbage disposal?

[Noelle Page]

Who remembers? I need to see those "Here's Lucy" episodes again.

[Jack-O-Lantern]

Who remembers? I need to see those "Here's Lucy" episodes again.

Ummm....I do. Guess I'll go in search of a life now...

[Noelle Page]

Ummm....I do. Guess I'll go in search of a life now...

Aw sweetie, I just meant I never actually saw that episode the first time. I do remember reading about it in Movie Mirror or Photoplay or whatever pulp I was devouring at the time. I'm sure it was the ol' diamond-in-the-disposal gag.

[dovescry1999]

It got stuck on Lucy's Finger...

By the way, I think a stiff wind would piss Lucy off. I've read things...

[Layla331]

isnt it amazing how tumultuous couples are always the most fascinating and ones we think as being in such love from this time...from the stories Liz has told they were quite the fighting and make up kind..anyone ever see the liz taylor story and the section of their life together..i thought that was a great movie they were intense!

[AnneBoleyn]

another of my absolute favs.... omg he was so increible.. and that voice.... So sad that he drank him self to death.... but unfortunately many great actors have ended up that way.. read somewhere that at his post mortum they discovered that his spine concisted mostly of crystalized alcohol... auch that must have hurt!!!!

My fav films of his, has to been Anne of a Thousand days, Whos afraid of VW, and The Longest Day....love Cleopatra as well, it´s just so damn long....

[erictheking97]

I remember watching him on 'Parkinson' years ago, i was amazed how nervous he was, i think he spent the whole interview without a cigarette in his hand,
he must have gone through a pack of 20 during the interview

[MorbidMolly]

another of my absolute favs.... omg he was so increible.. and that voice.... So sad that he drank him self to death.... but unfortunately many great actors have ended up that way.. read somewhere that at his post mortum they discovered that his spine concisted mostly of crystalized alcohol... auch that must have hurt!!!!

My fav films of his, has to been Anne of a Thousand days, Whos afraid of VW, and The Longest Day....love Cleopatra as well, it´s just so damn long....

Anne of a thousand days was MAGNIFICANT .......and Hepburn wasn`t bad herself.........I remember tooling through channels trying to find something to watch and came across it and was stunned I`d never seen it.......one of my favs....thanks for reminding me.....

[Cathy J.]

Who remembers? I need to see those "Here's Lucy" episodes again.

The Liz Taylor/Richard Burton episode is available on the Here's Lucy DVD back set.

[Mach2]

I remember him from The Robe. Loved it.
And being on the cover of every movie magazine with Liz for about five years!
I recall Cleopatra as kind of blah- bad for something that was supposed to be a spectacle.

What are your favorite Richard Burton movies?

I liked Burton's WW2 action movies. He defeated the Germans singlehandedly you know?

[Overtaxed]

Does anyone lese realize that Here's Lucy episode was merely a rehash of the I love Lucy episode where Lucy & Ricky were handcuffed together & she had to be his "right arm" for a TV Show.

[KELT]

No doubt during their "P.V." (Puerto Vallarta) days...those tans look downright unhealthy LOL...but so in vogue at the time...
Speaking of glam--she wore the Krup diamond in that episode...wasn't the plot something about the famous diamond getting stuck in Lucy's garbage disposal?

If I recall correctly, BURTON was in disguise as a 'plumber' & LUCY tried on the 33 carat KRUPP Diamond which became stuck on her finger. TAYLOR was suppose to show the ring at a press conference or something so they had LUCY stand behind a curtain and thrust her bejeweled hand forward pretending that it belonged to TAYLOR. Reminiscent of an episode of I LOVE LUCY almost 2 decades earlier.

[Cathy J.]

Does anyone lese realize that Here's Lucy episode was merely a rehash of the I love Lucy episode where Lucy & Ricky were handcuffed together & she had to be his "right arm" for a TV Show.

oh not only that but there is an episode if The Lucy Show where Lucy gets a ring stuck on her finger..the ring was a present from Mr. Mooney to his wife. Then about 4 years later came the Burton/Taylor Here's Lucy epsiode.

One has to wonder if many viewers picked all of this up?

[Yvonne]

I never really liked Richard Burton - and I don't know why - sorry to his fans.

[BooMom]

My faves are polar opposites -

Taming of the Shrew - for the LOL your butt-off factor !!

The Spy who came in from the Cold - Cold war Espionage at its' finest !

[bunny]

oh man he was a classy man!

[Pammijo]

I remember him from The Robe. Loved it.
And being on the cover of every movie magazine with Liz for about five years!
I recall Cleopatra as kind of blah- bad for something that was supposed to be a spectacle.

What are your favorite Richard Burton movies?

Becket, Becket .... ALWAYS Becket!!!!!

Also, Anne of the Thousand Days.....

Love me some Richard!

[Elizabeth]

My mom adored Richard Burton (and Elizabeth Taylor, hence my name) and played the Broadway soundtrack to "Camelot" endlessly when I was a child.....what a troubled man, and what a tumultuous life he and Elizabeth had....

He definitely had the acting chops to back it up....what a shame he never won an Oscar.....

[Noelle Page]

Dontcha love pulling up the FAD forum and seeing "Richard Burton," and underneath, last comment by "Elizabeth"?

Oops, I just spoiled it....

[midnitelamp]

How was his depiction of Wagner?

[AnneBoleyn]

Anne of a thousand days was MAGNIFICANT .......and Hepburn wasn`t bad herself.........I remember tooling through channels trying to find something to watch and came across it and was stunned I`d never seen it.......one of my favs....thanks for reminding me.....

You´re welcome Anne wasn´t played by Hepburn in that film, but by Geneviève Bujold Or did i misread your post... well the film is great anyways

[leevancleef]

i love him, he was awesome. And i love Elizabeth even more, so go figure!
His career choices could have been better, but he loved to spend ( and waste) his money, so i guess that that was his main reason for doing terrible movies...

[beatlebaby4]

I can totally see that..........no offense to the Lucy fans, but she seemed like a total bitch.......

totally agree 100%
But she was a great talent!

[Elizabeth]

Dontcha love pulling up the FAD forum and seeing "Richard Burton," and underneath, last comment by "Elizabeth"?

Oops, I just spoiled it....

You know, I never even thought about it that way, Noelle.....seems very appropriate though, dontcha think, especially considering I am her namesake???

[desertangel]

I just watched the movie 1984... found it rather odd that Burton died in 1984 and the last movie he starred in was 1984. .....Shivers......

[hrhdiesel]

I adore Richard...that man had the sexist voice ever! He could read a chinese menu and make it sound sexy. That man had it...just a shame he thought of £$ before his movie choices!

[desertangel]

He definitely brought an awesome dimension to the character O'Brian with his sexy voice. That's one movie that was better left as a book. It didn't translate to the screen well at all. Hats off for trying though as it is a terrific read.

[orionova]

I love Burton's narration of the Jeff Wayne LP musical 'War of the Worlds'.

[STsFirstmate]

I even liked the under Milkwood film he did that I think only realy appealed to true Dylan Thomas fans. He did it with a Welsman's sensibilities.
My favorite joint work with Liz was taming of the Shrew. He is one of the few that can make Shakespear sound colloquial enough that it could have been written yesterday.
How long after Liz passes before they do a definitive movie about her and Richard's life?
regards,
Mary