Richard burton biography elizabeth taylor film

(1925-1984)

Who Was Richard Burton?

Richard Burton was an acclaimed actor of stage and screen. He earned seven Oscar nominations for work like The Robe, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Becket and Equus.

He wed Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor in 1964, and the two maintained a volatile relationship for years to come that included remarriage and two divorces. Burton died in Céligny, Switzerland, on August 5, 1984.

A Coalminer's Son

Richard Burton was born Richard Walter Jenkins on November 10, 1925, in Pontrhydfen, South Wales.

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Jenkins, the twelfth child of an impoverished coal miner, lost his mother when he was two years old. He would be taken under the wing of Philip Burton, a teacher who became the boy’s guardian and introduced him to the world of theater.

Jenkins took the Burton surname and made his London acting debut as a Welsh youngster in the play The Druid’s Rest.

Burton earned a scholarship to attend Oxford University and later joined the B