Richard Burton
Known for: Acting
Richard Burton CBE (born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable performance of Hamlet in 1964. He was called "the natural successor to Olivier" by critic Kenneth Tynan. A heavy drinker, Burton's perceived failure to live up to those expectations disappointed some critics and colleagues and added to his image as a great performer who had wasted his talent. Nevertheless, he is widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation. Burton was nominated for an Academy Award seven times, but never won an Oscar. He was a recipient of BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Tony Awards for Best Actor. In the mid-1960s, Burton ascended into the ranks of the top box office stars. By the late 1960s, Burton was one of the highest-paid actors in the world, receiving fees of $1 million or more plus a share of the gross receipts. Burton remained closely associated in the public consciousness with his second wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. The couple's turbulent relationship, in which they were married twice and divorced twice, was rarely out of the news.
Filmography
Series
Great Performances
White Knight
1971
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Host
1956
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee / Award Accepter
1956
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Co-Host / Special Award Recipient / Presenter
1956
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Co-Host
1956
Series
Tony Awards
Arthur (archive footage)
1956
Film '72
Self
1971
Series
Bambi
Self
1948
Series
Spécial cinéma
Self (archive footage)
1974
Series
Here's Lucy
Richard Burton
1968
Series
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
Series
Dinah!
Self
1974
Film
Candy
MacPhisto
1968
Film
The Longest Day
Flight Officer David Campbell
1962
Film
Where Eagles Dare
Maj. Smith
1968
Film
Cleopatra
Marcus Antonius
1963
Series
Entertainment Tonight
Self
1981
Film
Nineteen Eighty-Four
O'Brien
1984
Series
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
1973
Series
Talking Pictures
Self (archive footage)
2013
Film
The Robe
Marcellus Gallio
1953
Film
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Father Philip Lamont
1977
Film
The Wild Geese
Col. Allen Faulkner
1978
Film
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
George
1966
Series
Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years
Winston Churchill
1960
Film
Zulu
Narration spoken (voice)
1964
Film
The Taming of the Shrew
Petruchio
1967
Film
Becket
Thomas Becket
1964
Film
Alexander the Great
Alexander
1956
Film
What's New Pussycat?
Man In Strip Club
1965
Film
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
Alec Leamas
1965
Film
The Night of the Iguana
Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon
1964
Film
Anne of the Thousand Days
King Henry VIII
1969
Series
Ellis Island
Sen. Phipps Ogden
1984
Film
The Sandpiper
Edward Hewitt
1965
Film
The Medusa Touch
John Morlar
1978
Series
Sphinx – Secrets of the History
Marc Antony (archive footage)
1994
Film
Boom!
Chris Flanders
1968
Film
Bluebeard
Baron von Sepper
1972
Series
Wagner
Richard Wagner
1983
Film
Equus
Martin Dysart
1977
Film
The Comedians
Brown
1967
Film
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
Self (archive footage)
2024
Film
Breakthrough
Sergeant Steiner
1979
Film
Raid on Rommel
Capt. Alex Foster
1971
Film
The Klansman
Breck Stancill
1974
Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Caliban
1951
Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Alec Harvey
1951
Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Winston Churchill
1951
Film
The Desert Rats
Captain "Tammy" MacRoberts
1953
Film
The Battle of Sutjeska
Josip Broz Tito
1973
Film
The V.I.P.s
Paul Andros
1963
Film
My Cousin Rachel
Philip Ashley
1952
Film
Absolution
Father Goddard
1978
Film
Circle of Two
Ashley St. Clair
1981
Series
Divorce His, Divorce Hers
Martin Reynolds
1973
Film
Massacre in Rome
SS-Obersturmbannführer Herbert Kappler
1973
Film
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
Self (archive footage)
2003
Film
Hamlet
Hamlet
1964
Film
The Assassination of Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
1972
Film
Villain
Vic Dakin
1971
Film
Look Back in Anger
Jimmy Porter
1959
Film
Lovespell
King Mark of Cornwall
1981
Film
Bitter Victory
Capt. Leith
1957
Film
All-Star Party for Frank Sinatra
Self
1983
Film
Lionpower from MGM
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1967
Film
The Gathering Storm
Winston Churchill
1974
Film
The Voyage
Cesare Braggi
1974
Film
Under Milk Wood
First Man
1972
Film
Brief Encounter
Alec Harvey
1976
Film
Julie Andrews Forever
Self (archive footage)
2019
Film
Guilty Rebel
Narrator (archive footage)
2024
Film
To Be Hamlet
Self
1985
Film
Borrowed Pasture
Self - Narrator
1960
Film
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
Self (archive footage)
1988
Film
Mooch Goes to Hollywood
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
1971
Film
Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1999
Film
The Rains of Ranchipur
Dr. Major Rama Safti
1955
Film
Ice Palace
Zeb Kennedy
1960
Film
Robert Kennedy Remembered
Narrator
1968
Film
Richard Burton: Wild Genius
Self (archive footage)
2025
Film
This Is Joan Collins
Self (Archive Footage)
2022
Film
In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton
Self (Archive Footage)
1988
Film
Under Milk Wood
First Voice (voice) (archive sound)
1992
Film
On the Trail of the Iguana
Self
1964
Film
CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years
Self
1976
Film
A Subject of Scandal and Concern
George Holyoake
1960
Film
Doctor Faustus
Doctor Faustus
1967
Film
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2001
Film
The Big Sur
Self / Narrator
1965
Film
Sea Wife
Biscuit
1957
Film
Hammersmith Is Out
Hammersmith
1972
Film
A Wall in Jerusalem
Narrator (English version) (voice)
1968
Film
Wuthering Heights
Heathcliff
1958
Film
Waterfront
Ben Satterthwaite
1950
Film
On Location: Where Eagles Dare
Self
1968
Film
Alice in Wonderland
White Knight
1983
Film
Thursday's Children
Narrator (voice)
1954
Film
Stars' War: The Flight of the Wild Geese
Self
1978
Film
Green Grow the Rushes
Robert 'Bob' Hammond
1951
Film
Staircase
Harry Leeds
1969
Film
The Bramble Bush
Dr. Guy Montford
1960
Film
Prince of Players
Edwin Booth
1955
The Man with No Name
Self
1977
Film
The Tempest
Caliban
1960
Film
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1988
Film
A Statue for "The Sandpiper"
Self
1965
Film
Now Barabbas
Paddy
1949
Film
The Violent Universe
Narrator - Verse Spoken
1969
Film
The Fifth Column
1960
Film
March to Aldermaston
Narrator (voice)
1959
I, Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind
Self - Narrator (voice)
1983
Film
The Broadway of Lerner and Loewe
Self / Arthur
1962
Film
The Woman with No Name
Nick Chamerd
1950
Mystery of the Sacred Shroud
Self - Narrator
1978
Film
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: Live
George Herbert, The Journalist (archive sound)
2006
Film
The Comedians in Africa
Self (uncredited)
1967
Film
The Last Days of Dolwyn
Gareth
1949
Film
To the Ends of the Earth
Narrator
1983
Film
For Florence
Self - Narrator
1966
Film
Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry
Malcolm Lowry (voice)
1976
Film
Acting in the 60's: Richard Burton
Self - Interviewee
1967
Film
Dylan Thomas
Self
1962