Though possibly best known for his marriage, divorce and then remarriage (and re-divorce) to Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton was an immensely talented and accomplished actor whose career was decorated with seven Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe Awards, a Tony Award, a Grammy Award and a host of challenges presented by chronic alcoholism. Though his death was unexpected, Burton’s health had been declining for over a decade—finally getting the better of him by way of a brain hemorrhage on August 5, 1984. He was 58 years old.
Born Richard Walter Jenkins on November 10, 1925 in Pontrhydyfen, Wales, Burton was the 12th of 13 children born to a “12-pints-a-day” coal-miner and his bartender wife. Burton was just two years old when his mother died of puerperal fever caused by a uterine infection, only six days after giving birth to her final child—Burton’s youngest brother Graham. From that point on, Burton was raised by his eldest sister, Cecilia, and her husband Elfred. While his father reportedly “made appearances” now and then, for the most part he was absent from his children’s lives.
At an early age, Burton was acknowledged for his unique speaking and singing voice, earning an award for boy soprano at an eisteddfod—a Welsh festival of literature, music and performance. It was during this time that he met Philip Burton, his schoolmaster whom he sought out for voice training. Burton continued to perform stage plays and musicals into his teen years, studying under Philip’s tutelage for singing and performance as well as academic subjects. It was around this time that Burton also began smoking and drinking—despite being considerably underage. Eventually, Burton became Philip’s legal ward and he officially changed his last name as homage to his mentor.
In 1943, Burton was accepted into a six-month scholarship program to study at Exeter College in Oxford, England, where he performed in many plays to rave reviews. After successfully completing the program, he went on to serve in the Royal Air Force for three years, a period during which Burton’s drinking reportedly increased. But it wasn’t long before he was back to performing full-time, starring in numerous productions between 1948 and 1951, most notably his mainstream film debut in The Last Days of Dolwyn, in which he starred opposite Sybil Christopher—the woman who became his first wife.
Another important performance for Burton was in 1951 when he played Prince Hal in an adaptation of Henry IV at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Warwickshire, England. Though the overall production was met with mixed reviews, Burton received high acclaim for his role—including praise from Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall who both saw the play. Burton was dubbed “the next Laurence Olivier” and soon made the transition, along with his now-wife Sybil, to the motion picture industry in Hollywood, California.
Though Burton first met Elizabeth Taylor in 1953 at a party to celebrate the success of the biblical epic film, The Robe, the two didn’t begin a romantic relationship until they were cast opposite one another a decade later in Cleopatra; a nearly $40 million dollar production that was both rocky and highly publicized. Not only did Taylor battle health issues off and on during filming, but the co-stars’ off-screen affair was all anyone was talking about, eventually ending both of their respective marriages.
Despite the hoopla surrounding their relationship (including a lawsuit that 20th Century-Fox slapped on both of them for allegedly damaging box office sales with their shenanigans), Burton and Taylor married in 1964 and stayed that way for ten years. During this time, the couple worked on several projects together while nearly drinking each other to death.
It wasn’t long after Burton’s second nuptials (Taylor’s fifth) that his drinking habits began to effect his reputation. In 1965, during the filming of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, director Martin Ritt noticed Burton’s proclivities and commented on his lack of discipline which made Burton appear less committed to the work than the other actors on set.
During the filming of The Klansman in 1974, Burton was reportedly so drunk that all of his scenes needed to be shot with him either sitting or lying down, and in many of them he spoke with a slur or almost incoherently. Biographer Robert Sellers reported that at the height of Burton’s drinking, he was “knocking back three to four bottles of hard liquor a day.”
It was during this production that Burton nearly died from excessive drinking and checked into a hospital to “dry out.” He was said to have then used Antabuse, a medication that curbs drinking by producing unpleasant side effects. He later revealed that it was excessive drinking that destroyed his marriage to Taylor.
By 1976, Burton had been married and divorced twice from Elizabeth Taylor and was already re-married to actress-for-a-minute Suzy Miller (a marriage that lasted six years). At this point, Burton was just 41 years old yet had been diagnosed with bursitis and arthritis—which caused him to develop a limp—dermatitis, cirrhosis of the liver and kidney disease. Though not officially stated, it’s safe to assume that at least the latter two were caused by chronic alcoholism.
Burton was also a chain smoker, and in an interview with British Journalist Ludovic Kennedy in 1977, he admitted to smoking 60 to 100 cigarettes a day.
Though having heard horror stories about Burton’s drinking habits, director Michael Radford cast him as O’Brien in his film 1984 as a last resort (Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger and Sean Connery had all turned down the part). Burton’s performance was not only critically acclaimed but it turned out to be the last motion picture he ever made. In memoriam, the film is dedicated to him.
On August 5, 1984, Burton was at his home in Céligny, Switzerland when he suffered a brain hemorrhage, and at the age of 58, passed away. Burton was survived by his wife at the time, make-up artist Sally Hay, three ex-wives and four children.
Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox (eBay) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Sponsored DISCLAIMER: This is a paid advertisement for California Behavioral Health, LLC, a CA licensed substance abuse treatment provider and not a service provided by The Fix. Calls to this number are answered by CBH, free and without obligation to the consumer. No one who answers the call receives a fee based upon the consumer’s choice to enter treatment. For additional info on other treatment providers and options visit www.samhsa.gov.
