Richard Burton, właśc. Richard Walter Jenkins Jr. – walijski aktor, jeden z największych gwiazdorów światowego kina powojennego. Od 1949 grał w teatrach, głównie w rolach szekspirowskich, które krytycy i publiczność bardzo wysoko oceniali. Jednak prawdziwą popularność przyniosły mu role w filmach amerykańskich, takich jak Moja kuzynka Rachela , Tunika , za którą otrzymał nominację do Oscara. Gwiazdorem światowego formatu uczyniła go rola Marka Antoniusza w megaprodukcji Kleopatra . Związał się wówczas z Elizabeth Taylor, z którą był później dwukrotnie żonaty . Obydwoje wystąpili później jako para aktorska w 9 filmach, które były olbrzymimi sukcesami kasowymi, np. Kto się boi Virginii Woolf? i Poskromienie złośnicy – obydwa z 1966. W latach 70. grywał głównie w filmach sensacyjnych, np. Człowiek klanu z 1974 lub Dzikie Gęsi z 1978. Jego ostatnią wielką rolą była kreacja O’Briena w filmie 1984 . Widać w niej było walkę aktora z postępującą chorobą. Sześciokrotnie nominowany do Oscara, nigdy nie otrzymał tej nagrody.
„Wiedziała, jak szefów wielkich studiów filmowych ścisnąć za jaja.”
o Elizabeth Taylor
Źródło: Katarzyna Bosacka, Elizabeth Taylor ćwierka, „Wysokie Obcasy”, 13 marca 2010
Źródło: Przemysław Słowiński, Sławni ludzie w anegdocie, Videograf II, Katowice 2009, ISBN 9788371837272.
“The Welsh are all actors. It's only the bad ones who become professional.”
In The Little Book of Wales http://books.google.com/books?id=FLU7AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT56, The History Press, 1 May 2013, p. 56
Biography, in "Life: Richard Burton"
In "Richard Burton, 58, is Dead; Rakish Stage and Screen Star"
In "Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: The Love Letters. How drinking cocooned them from pressure of fame. Without it, they couldn't even make love."
“This diamond has so many carats it's almost a turnip.”
In Olivia St. Claire Sex Devotional: 365 Days of Passion, Positions, and Pure Pleasure http://books.google.com/books?id=QMGeucMkKrAC&pg=PA309The, Adams Media, 18 November 2009, p. 309
The diamond weighing 69.4 carats was gifted by Burton to Elizabeth Taylor on her fortieth birthday, which she later sold after her divorce for $5 million to fund a hospital in Botswana.
In Richard Burton’s Last Match From Take the Ball and Run – A Rugby Anthology by Godfrey Smith http://wesclark.com/rrr/burton.html, Wesclark, 1953.
In Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: The Love Letters. How drinking cocooned them from pressure of fame. Without it, they couldn't even make love http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1284504/Richard-Burton-Elizabeth-Taylor-The-Love-Letters-How-drinking-cocooned-pressure-fame-Without-make-love.html, Mail Online, 7 June 2010
Interview in 1963 quoted In Robert Andrews The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations http://books.google.com/books?id=VK0vR4fsaigC&pg=PT250, Penguin UK, 30 October 2003, p. 259
“If you're going to make rubbish, be the best rubbish in it.”
In Gene N Landrum Paranoia & Power: Fear & Fame of Entertainment Icons http://books.google.com/books?id=x3uHJsk1DuwC&pg=PA225, Morgan James Publishing, 1 November 2007, p. 225
In "Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: The Love Letters. How drinking cocooned them from pressure of fame. Without it, they couldn't even make love."
In Mark Pollman Bottled Wisdom: Over 1,000 Spirited Quotations & Anecdotes http://books.google.com/books?id=fM3CO-2nW7sC&pg=PA146, Wildstone Media, 1 January 1998, p. 146,
About Sally Hay whom he married in 1983, in “Life: Richard Burton”
In James Robert Parish The Hollywood Book of Breakups http://books.google.com/books?id=gSh2HyQ8OsQC&pg=PT348, John Wiley & Sons, 20-Dec-2010, p. 348
In "Richard Burton, 58, is Dead; Rakish Stage and Screen Star"
In "Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: The Love Letters. How drinking cocooned them from pressure of fame. Without it, they couldn't even make love."
In Playboy Interviews http://books.google.com/books?id=rfoZAAAAYAAJ, Playboy Press, 1967, p. 100
In Richard Burton Biography http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000009/bio, IMDb
In Katharine Viner The Guardian Year 2006 http://books.google.com/books?id=FqEWAQAAIAAJ, Random House, 2007, p. 287
In "Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: The Love Letters. How drinking cocooned them from pressure of fame. Without it, they couldn't even make love."
The reason for this was the low-budget movies made by new kids on the block that were making money.
In "Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: The Love Letters. How drinking cocooned them from pressure of fame. Without it, they couldn't even make love."
From then on, the stone came to be known as the 'Taylor-Burton diamond'
“Make up your mind, dear heart. Do you want to be a great actor or a household word?”
Burton's reply was, "Both."
Olivier, on the set of Cleopatra, in "Burton, Richard"
Kenneth Tynan of British theatre, in “Life: Richard Burton”
Biography, in "Life: Richard Burton"
Sir John Gielgud, on his acting ability in Hamlet quoted in Riachard Burton (1925-1984), Place :Pontrhydfen:Wales http://www.welshwales.co.uk/burton.htm, Welshwales.com
Sir John Gielgud, in “Richard Burton, 58, is Dead; Rakish Stage and Screen Star”
Gerald Clarke, in Show Business: The Mellifluous Prince of Disorder http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954366,00.html, 20 August 1984
