Richard Burton on stage, screen, radio and record

Richard Burton (10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor who had an extensive career primarily on stage and in film.

Richard Burton publicity photo for Prince of Players (1955)

Known for his powerful presence and mellifluous baritone voice he starred in numerous notable films. He made his feature film debut in the British drama The Last Days of Dolwyn in 1949. Burton gained attention for his role as Philip Ashley, the protagonist in the romantic mystery My Cousin Rachel (1952) earning his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.^[1] Burton's stardom grew earning Academy Award for Best Actor nomination for portraying a history professor in a troubled marriage in the Mike Nichols directed drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) opposite his wife Elizabeth Taylor.^[2] He also starred in 10 other films opposite Taylor including The V.I.P.s (1963), Cleopatra (1963), The Sandpiper (1965), The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Doctor Faustus (1967), The Comedians (1967), Boom! (1968), Under Milk Wood (1971), Hammersmith is Out (1972).^[3][4]

Burton received further Oscar nominations for playing a Roman officer in the Biblical epic The Robe (1953), Thomas Becket in the historical drama Becket (1964), a British MI6 agent in spy thriller The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965), King Henry VIII in the historical drama Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), and a psychiatrist treating a young patient in psychological drama Equus (1977). During this time Burton also starred in Alexander the Great (1956), The Longest Day (1962), and The Night of the Iguana (1965). His final film role was in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984).

On stage, Burton gained prominence as a Shakespearean actor acting in numerous works of William Shakespeare. He portrayed roles such as Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part 1 (1951) and Henry IV, Part 2 (1951), Henry V of England in Henry V (1951), Ferdinand in The Tempest (1951), Prince Hamlet in Hamlet (1953), Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night (1953), Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus in Coriolanus (1953), and Othello in Othello (1955). Burton originated the role as King Arthur in the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot from 1960 to 1961 acting opposite Julie Andrews on Broadway.^[5]

Acting credits

Film

Filmography of Richard Burton

Year	Film	Role	Director	Notes	Ref(s)
1949	The Last Days of Dolwyn	Gareth	Emlyn Williams		[6]
1949	Now Barabbas	Paddy	Gordon Parry		[6]
1950	Waterfront	Ben Satterthwaite	Michael Anderson		[6]
1950	The Woman with No Name	Nick Chamerd	Ladislao Vajda		[6]
1951	Green Grow the Rushes	Robert "Bob" Hammond	Derek N. Twist		[7]
1952	My Cousin Rachel	Philip Ashley	Henry Koster		[8][9]
1953	The Desert Rats	"Tammy" MacRoberts	Robert Wise		[10]
1953	The Robe	Marcellus Gallio	Henry Koster		[8]
1954	Thursday's Children	Narrator	Lindsay Anderson	Documentary film	[11]
1955	Prince of Players	Edwin Booth	Philip Dunne		[8]
1955	The Rains of Ranchipur	Rama Safti	Jean Negulesco		[12]
1956	Alexander the Great	Alexander the Great	Robert Rossen		[8]
1957	Sea Wife	Biscuit	Bob McNaught		[13]
1957	Bitter Victory	Jimmy Leith	Nicholas Ray		[14]
1959	Look Back in Anger	Jimmy Porter	Tony Richardson		[15]
1960	Ice Palace	Zeb Kennedy	Vincent Sherman		[15]
1960	The Bramble Bush	Guy Montford	Daniel Petrie		[15]
1962	Dylan Thomas	Narrator	Jack Howells	Documentary film	[16]
1962	The Longest Day	David Campbell	Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, Gerd Oswald		[17]
1963	Cleopatra	Mark Antony	Joseph L. Mankiewicz		[18]
1963	The V.I.P.s	Paul Andros	Anthony Asquith		[19]
1964	Zulu	Narrator	Cy Endfield		[20]
1964	Becket	Thomas Becket	Peter Glenville		[21]
1964	The Night of the Iguana	T. Laurence Shannon	John Huston		[22]
1965	What's New Pussycat?		Clive Donner	Guest appearance	[23]
1965	The Sandpiper	Edward Hewitt	Vincente Minnelli		[21]
1965	The Spy Who Came in from the Cold	Alec Leamas	Martin Ritt		[21]
1966	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	George	Mike Nichols		[21]
1966	Florence: Days of Destruction	Narrator	Franco Zeffirelli	Documentary film	[24]
1967	The Taming of the Shrew	Petruchio	Franco Zeffirelli	Also producer	[25]
1967	Doctor Faustus	Doctor Faustus	Richard Burton, Nevill Coghill	Also producer	[26]
1967	The Comedians	Brown	Peter Glenville		[25]
1967	The Comedians in Africa	Himself	Peter Glenville	short subject made to promote The Comedians	[27]
1968	Boom!	Chris Flanders	Joseph Losey		[28]
1968	Where Eagles Dare	Jonathan Smith	Brian G. Hutton		[29]
1968	Candy	McPhisto	Christian Marquand		[25]
1969	Staircase	Harry C. Leeds	Stanley Donen		[30]
1969	Anne of the Thousand Days	Henry VIII of England	Charles Jarrott		[31]
1971	Raid on Rommel	Alex Foster	Henry Hathaway		[32]
1971	Villain	Vic Dakin	Michael Tuchner		[33]
1972	Under Milk Wood	First Voice	Andrew Sinclair		[34]
1972	The Assassination of Trotsky	Leon Trotsky	Joseph Losey		[35]
1972	Hammersmith Is Out	Hammersmith	Peter Ustinov		[31]
1972	Bluebeard	Baron Kurt von Sepper	Edward Dmytryk		[31]
1973	Battle of Sutjeska	Josip Broz Tito	Stipe Delić		[36]
1973	Massacre in Rome	Herbert Kappler	George P. Cosmatos		[37]
1974	The Voyage	Cesare Braggi	Vittorio De Sica		[38]
1974	The Klansman	Breck Stancill	Terence Young		[38]
1977	Exorcist II: The Heretic	Philip Lamont	John Boorman		[38]
1977	Equus	Martin Dysart	Sidney Lumet		[39]
1978	The Medusa Touch	John Morlar	Jack Gold		[40]
1978	The Wild Geese	Allan Faulkner	Andrew V. McLaglen		[39]
1978	Absolution	Goddard	Anthony Page		[39]
1979	Breakthrough	Rolf Steiner	Andrew V. McLaglen		[41]
1981	Circle of Two	Ashley St. Clair	Jules Dassin		[39]
1981	Lovespell	Mark of Cornwall	Tom Donovan		[39]
1983	Wagner	Richard Wagner	Tony Palmer		[42]
1983	To the Ends of the Earth	Narrator	William Kronick	Documentary film	[43]
1984	Nineteen Eighty-Four	O'Brien	Michael Radford	Posthumous release (final film role)	[42]

Television

Television appearances of Richard Burton

Date	Programme	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1952	Celanese Theatre	Mat Burke	Episode: "Anna Christie"	[44]
1958	DuPont Show of the Month	Heathcliff	Episode: "Wuthering Heights"	[45]
1960	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Caliban	Episode: "The Tempest"	[46]
1960	A Subject of Scandal and Concern	George Holyoake	Television film by BBC Television	[47]
1961	The Ed Sullivan Show	Himself	Episode: "Salute to Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe"	[48]
1961	Camera Three	Himself	Episode: "A Child's Christmas in Wales"	[49]
1963	The Ed Sullivan Show	Himself	Episode: "Richard Burton, Morecombe and Wise, Arthur Worsley, Dave Madden"	[50]
1969	The Ed Sullivan Show	Himself	Episode: "The Swinging, Soulful Sixties"	[51]
1970	Here's Lucy	Himself	Episode: "Lucy Meets the Burtons"	[52]
1971	Mooch Goes to Hollywood	Narrator	Television film by Jim Backus — Jerry Devine Productions	[53]
1973	Divorce His, Divorce Hers	Martin Reynolds	Television film by the American Broadcasting Company	[54]
1974	The Merv Griffin Show	Himself	Episode: "May 15, 1974"	[55]
1974	Film...	Himself	Episode: "Film '74 Special, Richard Burton: If it Stops, I'm Dead"	[56]
1974	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Alec Harvey	Episode: "Brief Encounter"	[57]
1974	Parkinson	Himself	Episode: "Richard Burton"	[58]
1974	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Winston Churchill	Episode: "The Gathering Storm"	[54][59]
1977	The Hollywood Greats	Himself	Episode: "Humphrey Bogart"	[60]
1977	Film...	Himself	Episode: "Film 77 Episode 8"	[61]
1977	Good Morning America	Himself	Episode: "October 11, 1977"	[62]
1977	Good Morning America	Himself	Episode: "October 12, 1977"	[63]
1977	Good Morning America	Himself	Episode: "October 13, 1977"	[64]
1977	Dinah!	Himself	Episode: "October 17, 1977"	[65]
1977	Dinah!	Himself	Episode: "November 18, 1977"	[66]
1978	Good Morning America	Himself	Episode: "March 28, 1978"	[67]
1978	Film...	Himself	Episode: "Film '78 Episode 11"	[68]
1979	The Bob Hope Salute to 1920s and '30's	Himself	Television special	[69]
1981	Good Morning America	Himself	Episode: "July 27, 1981"	[70]
1982	Entertainment Tonight	Himself	Episode: "February 1, 1982"	[71]
1982	Entertainment Tonight	Himself	Episode: "February 4, 1982"	[72]
1982	Bob Hope's Star-Studded Spoof of the New TV Season, G-Rated, with Glamour, Glitter and Gags	Himself	Television special	[73]
1982	The Fall Guy	Himself	Episode: "Reluctant Traveling Companion"	[74][75]
1983	Great Performances	White Knight	Episode: "Alice in Wonderland"	[74][76]
1984	Entertainment Tonight	Himself	Episode: "July 31, 1984"	[77]
1984	Ellis Island	Phipps Ogden	Main role; 2 episodes	[74]

Theatre

Stage credits of Richard Burton

Year	Show	Role	Director	Theatre	Ref(s)
1943	The Druid's Rest	Glen	Emlyn Williams	Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool	[78]
1944	The Druid's Rest	Glen	Emlyn Williams	St Martin's Theatre, London	[78]
1944	Measure for Measure	Angelo	Nevill Coghill	Christ Church, Oxford	[78]
1948	Castle Anna	Hicks	Daphne Rye	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	[78]
1949	The Lady's Not for Burning	Richard	John Gielgud / Esme Percy	Globe Theatre, London	[79]
1950	The Boy With A Cart	Cuthman	John Gielgud	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	[80]
1950	A Phoenix Too Frequent	Tegeus	Christopher Fry	Dolphin Theatre, Brighton	[80]
1950–1951	The Lady's Not for Burning	Richard	John Gielgud	Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, New York City	[81][82]
1951	Henry IV, Part 1	Prince Hal	Anthony Quayle / John Kidd	Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon	[80]
1951	Henry IV, Part 2	Prince Hal	Michael Redgrave	Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon	[80]
1951	Henry V	Henry V of England	Anthony Quayle	Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon	[80]
1951	The Tempest	Ferdinand	Michael Benthall	Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon	[80]
1951–1951	Legend of Lovers	The Musician	Peter Ashmore	Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, New York City	[80][83]
1952	Montserrat	Montserrat	Noel Willman / Nigel Green	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	[84]
1953	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet	Michael Benthall	The Assembly Hall, Edinburgh	[85]
1953–1954	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet	Michael Benthall	The Old Vic, London	[85]
1953–1954	King John	Philip of Cognac	George Devine	The Old Vic, London	[85]
1953–1954	Twelfth Night	Sir Toby Belch	Denis Carey	The Old Vic, London	[85]
1953–1954	Coriolanus	Gaius Marcius Coriolanus	Michael Benthall	The Old Vic, London	[85]
1953–1954	The Tempest	Caliban	Robert Helpmann	The Old Vic, London	[85]
1955–1956	Henry V	Henry V of England	Michael Benthall	The Old Vic, London	[85]
1955–1956	Othello	Othello	Michael Benthall	The Old Vic, London	[85]
1957–1958	Time Remembered	Albert	Albert Marre	Morosco Theatre, New York City	[86][87]
1960–1961	Camelot	King Arthur	Moss Hart	Majestic Theatre, New York City	[88][89]
1964	Richard Burton's Hamlet	Prince Hamlet	John Gielgud	Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City	[88][90]
1966	Doctor Faustus	Faustus	Nevill Coghill	Oxford Playhouse, Oxford	[88]
1976	Equus	Martin Dysart	John Dexter	Plymouth Theatre, New York City	[88][91]
1980	Camelot	King Arthur	Frank Dunlop	David H. Koch Theater, New York City	[88][92]
1983	Private Lives	Elyot Chase	Milton Katselas	Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City	[88][93]

Radio

Selected radio broadcasts of Richard Burton

Date	Programme	Ref(s)
27 January 1945	The Corn Is Green	[94]
September 1948	In Parenthesis	[94]
10 July 1949	The Last Days of Dolwyn	[94]
7 November 1949	Nightmare Abbey	[94]
20 November 1949	New Judgement	[94][95]
March 1950	Hippolytus	[94]
1950	The Lady's Not for Burning	[94]
1 May 1950	Sea Flood	[94][95]
15 July 1951	Men of Steel, the Birth of a Giant	[94]
19 September 1951	Night Birds	[94]
13 October 1951	Taffy was a Welshman	[94]
November 1953	Good for the Boy	[94]
December 1953	Younger Generation	[94]
13 January 1954	Night Must Fall	[95][96]
25 January 1954	Under Milk Wood	[97]
16 May 1954	The Duchess of Malfi	[95][98]
June 1954	The Old Vic Comes North	[94]
22 April 1956	Henry of Agincourt	[99]
14 May 1956	The Dark Tower	[100][101]
11 October 1963	Under Milk Wood	[95][102]
25 December 1965	A Christmas Story	[94]
13 February 1977 – 9 August 1977	Vivat Rex	[95][96]

Discography

Albums

Album recordings by Richard Burton

Year	Title	Label	Type	Ref(s)
1954	Homage to Dylan Thomas	Argo Records PLP 1060	Solo	[103]
1954	Under Milk Wood	Spoken Arts SA 791 SA 792, 791-792	Cast Recording	[104]
1954	The Rime of the Ancient Mariner	Argo Records RG 41	Solo	[105]
1955	Richard Burton Reads 15 Poems By Dylan Thomas	Argo Records SW 503	Solo	[96][106]
1958	Love Poems Of John Donne	Caedmon Audio TC 1141	Solo	[107]
1960	Camelot	Columbia Masterworks KOL 5620	Cast Recording	[108]
1961	The Poetry of Thomas Hardy	Caedmon Audio TC 1140	Solo	[109]
1962	Coriolanus	Caedmon Audio SRS M 226	Cast Recording	[110][111]
1964	Richard Burton's Hamlet	Columbia Masterworks DOL 302	Cast Recording	[112][113]
1964	Famous Scenes From Sir John Gielgud's Production Of William Shakespeare's Hamlet	Columbia Masterworks OL 8020	Cast Recording	[114]
1964	The Night of the Iguana	MGM Records PR 4	Cast Recording	[115]
1965	The English Poets — Samuel Taylor Coleridge	Argo Records RG 438	Solo	[116]
1966	The Days of Wilfred Owen	Warner Bros. Records B 1635	Solo	[117]
1969	Doctor Faustus	His Master's Voice ALP 2270	Cast Recording	[118]
1971	The World Of Dylan Thomas	Argo Records PA/A 166	Cast Recording	[119]
1975	The Little Prince	P.I.P. Records PIP 6813	Cast Recording	[120][121]
1978	A Personal Anthology	Argo Records ZDSW 714	Solo	[122]
1978	Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds	CBS Records S CBS 96000	Cast Recording	[123]

Singles

Singles by Richard Burton

Year	Title	Label	Billed as	Notes	Ref(s)
1964	"Married Man"	DRG Records DARC 2100/B	Richard Burton	Part of the Broadway musical Baker Street.	[124]

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Richard Burton