The Richard Burton Diaries (2 page)
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Authors: Richard Burton,Chris Williams
Tags: #Non-Fiction, #Biography
Copyright © 2012 Swansea University
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Burton, Richard, 1925–1984.
The Richard Burton diaries/edited by Chris Williams.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-300-18010-7 (cl: alk. paper)
1. Burton, Richard, 1925–1984—Diaries. 2. Actors—Great Britain—Diaries.
I. Williams, Chris. II. Title.
PN2598.B795A3 2012
792.02'8092—dc23
[b]
2012023966
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Introduction, by Chris Williams
THE RICHARD BURTON DIARIES
Introduction, by Chris Williams
THE RICHARD BURTON DIARIES
1
Philip Burton and Richard Jenkins,
c.
1943–4. Photograph in the collection of Philip Burton.
2
Burton in the school rugby team, 1938–9. By courtesy of Sally Burton.
3
Burton with his father in Pontrhydyfen, 1953. Photograph by Raymond Kleboe/Getty Images.
4
Burton in his library,
c.
1953–4. Photograph by Tom Blau, Camera Press London.
5
Burton, Sybil and Kate at Céligny,
c.
1958. Photograph by Robert Penn.
6
Burton in the Café de la Gare, Céligny,
c.
1958. Photograph by Robert Penn.
7
‘Vodka Poem’ by T. H. White,
c
.1961, in the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University. By courtesy of the T. H. White Estate.
8
Burton and Taylor on a yacht, 1962. Sipa Press/Rex Features.
9
Burton and Taylor on a balcony of Casa Kimberley, 1965. Mirrorpix.
10
Burton, Taylor, Liza and Maria, 1968. Associated Newspapers/Rex Features.
11
Burton and Ivor. By courtesy of Graham Jenkins.
12
Burton in
Hamlet
, 1964. Photograph by George Silk/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images.
13
Burton and Taylor linking arms for a drink, 1967. Associated Press.
14
Tayor with her 33.19 carat diamond ring, 1968. Express Newspapers/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.
15
Burton and Taylor arrive at RAF, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, by private jet, 1967. Mirrorpix.
16
Burton and Taylor on board
Kalizma
, 1967. Photograph by David Cairns/Getty Images.
17
Burton in
Anne of the Thousand Days
, 1969. Photograph by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images.
18
Burton and Taylor at Heathrow Airport, 1970. Mirrorpix.
19
Burton during a break from filming
The Klansman
, 1974. Photograph by Terry O'Neill/Getty Images.
20
Burton at St Peter's College, Oxford,
c
.1972. Photograph by Billett Potter, Camera Press London.
21
Burton and Susan Hunt, 1976. Photograph by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images.
22
‘Yet another Richard Burton divorce is announced’, Grenfell Jones cartoon, 1983. Copyright permission granted by Darryl Jones.
23
Kate and Richard at the opening of
Private Lives
, 1983. Photograph by Ron Galella/Wine Image.
24
Burton and Sally after their wedding, 1983. By courtesy of Sally Burton.
25
Burton reading on the terrace. By courtesy of Sally Burton.
26
Burton's library at Céligny
c.
1985. Photograph by Derek Bayes.
1 This studio portrait captures Richard at the very beginning of his acting career in the early 1940s, alongside his greatest mentor and the man whose surname he took, the English teacher and dramatist Philip Burton.
2 Port Talbot Secondary School's first fifteen (rugby union), 1938–9. Richard is in the middle row, second from right. According to legendary Welsh international Bleddyn Williams, ‘Richard would have made as good a wing-forward as any we have produced in Wales!’
3 Richard and his father – ‘Dic Bach’ – walking across the tramroad viaduct in Richard's home village of Pontrhydyfen, in the direction of the Miners’ Arms public house, 1953. Richard admired his father's physical strengh and capacity for drink, but not much more.
4 Richard, studying the text of
Hamlet
,
c
.1953–4, in his London home at Lyndhurst Road, Camden, where he and his first wife Sybil lived from 1950 to 1957. On his bookshelves are a number of volumes about actors, acting and playwrights.
5 Richard, Sybil and their first daughter Kate, at their home –
Le Pays de Galles
– in Céligny, Switzerland,
c
.1958.
6 Richard improving his French in conversation with owner/manager Paul Fillistorf at the Café de la Gare in Céligny,
c
.1958. Richard would return to the Café's unpretentious comfort with regularity for the next quarter century.
7 T. H. White's gift of his ‘Vodka Poem’ is mentioned by Burton in his diaries, 26 May 1969. ‘Richard ap Richard’ is Welsh for ‘Richard son of Richard’. ‘Gwalia’ is ‘Wales’.
