I haven't seen many of Burton's films. He's dynamic and quite good in the right roles. One of these days I'll look into his films more.
60. Richard Burton CBE Born 1925 Film Debut 1951.
Noted for his baritone voice, Burton is widely regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation. He was nominated for an Academy Award seven times including for My Cousin Rachel (1952), The Robe (1953), Becket (1964), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), and Equus (1977), but never won. His heavy drinking added to his image as a great performer who had wasted his talent .
Burton was the twelfth of thirteen children born into the Welsh-speaking family of a coal miner and a barmaid. According to biographer Melvyn Bragg, Richard is quoted saying that his father was a "twelve-pints-a-day man" who sometimes went off on drinking and gambling sprees for weeks. He was badly burned in a mining explosion and his father had been confined to a wheelchair after a mining accident. Richard was barely two years old when his mother died six days after the birth of the family's thirteenth child.
As a boy, Richard earned pocket money by running messages, hauling horse manure, and delivering newspapers. Richard became the first member of his family to go to secondary school . He displayed an excellent speaking and singing voice since childhood, even winning an eisteddfod prize as a boy soprano.
Of a student production in the 1940s, fellow actor and friend Robert Hardy recalled, "There were moments when he totally commanded the audience by this stillness. And the voice which would sing like a violin and with a bass that could shake the floor." (uncited).
In 1943, Burton played Professor Henry Higgins in a school production of Pygmalion directed by his mentor Philip. The role won him favourable reviews and caught the attention of the dramatist, Emlyn Williams, who offered Burton a small role of the lead character's elder brother in his play The Druid's Rest. The play debuted at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool and later premiered in St Martin's Theatre, London in January 1944. Burton thought the role was "a nothing part" and that he "hardly spoke at all". He was paid ten pounds a week for playing the role (equivalent to £469 in 2021), which was "three times what the miners got".
The play garnered mixed critical reviews, but James Redfern of the New Statesman took notice of Burton's performance and wrote: "In a wretched part, Richard Burton showed exceptional ability." Burton noted that single sentence from Redfern changed his life.
Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s. He was called "the natural successor to Olivier" by critic Kenneth Tynan. Of his Shakespeare debut at Stratford in 1951, Tynan said, “His playing of Prince Hal turned interested speculation to awe almost as soon as he started to speak; in the first intermission local critics stood agape in the lobbies."
Burton successfully made the transition to Hollywood on the recommendation of film director George Cukor when he was given the lead role in My Cousin Rachel (1952) opposite Olivia de Havilland. After early success in Hollywood, Burton famously turned down a $1m a year contract to return to Britain to perform at the Old Vic theatre in London for a reported £150 a week. He earned rave reviews from his performances, including from Olivier. Burton won a Tony award for his 1960 Broadway performance in Camelot, and was also invited to the White House by President Kennedy who had enjoyed the show . Cleopatra (1960) became the first of several films Burton made with Elizabeth Taylor. Their turbulent relationship, married twice and divorced twice, was henceforth rarely out of the news. Arguably Burton’s stage highlight came with his performance of Hamlet in New York in 1964 under the direction of Sir John Gielgud. Reviews of his performance included, “a performance of electrical power and sweeping virility", "a Hamlet of such tempestuous manliness" and, “His acting is a technician's marvel. His voice has gem-cutting precision” . The opening night party was a lavish affair, attended by six hundred celebrities . The play ran for 137 performances, beating the previous record set by Gielgud himself in 1936. In the mid-1960s, Burton became a top box-office star. He received excellent reviews for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
By the late 1960s, he was one of the highest-paid actors in the world, receiving fees of $1 million or more plus a share of the gross receipts (imdb.com), including a commercial blockbuster with Clint Eastwood in the 1968 World War II action film Where Eagles Dare, before a decline in the 1970s.
Tony Award Best Actor
New York Drama Critics Award Best Male Performance
Nominated Academy Award Best Actor x 7
BAFA Best Actor x 2 (+ 3 nominations )
Golden Globe award Best Actor (+ 3 nominations)
David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor x 2
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire CBE 1970
Notable films: My Cousin Rachel (1952) The Robe (1953) The Longest Day (1962) Cleopatra (1963) The V.I.Ps (1963) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf (1966) The Comedians (1967) Under Milk Wood (1972) The Wild Geese (1978)
59. Elizabeth Taylor Born 1932 Film Debut 1942
began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She became the world's highest paid movie star in the 1960s, remaining a well-known public figure all her life.
Born in London to socially prominent American parents, Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939. She became a popular teen star after appearing in National Velvet (1944). She transitioned to mature roles in the 1950s, when she starred in the comedy Father of the Bride (1950).
During the production of the film Cleopatra in 1961, Taylor and co-star Richard Burton began an extramarital affair, which caused a scandal . For this movie Taylor became the first movie star to be paid $1 million for a role; Fox also granted her 10% of the film's gross profits . Despite public disapproval, Taylor and Burton continued their relationship and were married in 1964. Dubbed "Liz and Dick" by the media, they starred in 11 films together, including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) for which Taylor received the best reviews of her career and won her second Academy Award.
The supercouple were reported to have earnt a combined $88 million in a decade (uncited). Their purchases included a 69 carat Cartier diamond, a 50 carat Pearl previously owned by Spanish monarchs and paintings by Monet, Picasso, van Gogh, Renoir, Degas and Rembrandt .
In the 1980s Taylor acted in her first substantial stage roles and in several television films and series. She became the second celebrity to launch a perfume brand after Sophia Loren. Taylor was one of the first celebrities to take part in HIV/AIDS activism. She co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985 and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991. From the early 1990s until her death, she dedicated her time to philanthropy, for which she received several accolades, including the Presidential Citizens Medal.
Throughout her career, Taylor's personal life was the subject of constant media attention. She was married eight times to seven men, converted to Judaism, endured several serious illnesses, and led a jet set lifestyle. Taylor is considered a fashion icon both for her film costumes and personal style. Her most famous costumes include a white ball gown in A Place in the Sun (1951), a Grecian dress in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), a green A-line dress in Suddenly Last Summer (1959), and a slip and a fur coat in BUtterfield 8 (1960) . Her make-up look in Cleopatra (1963) started a trend for "cat-eye" make-up done with black eyeliner. After her death, her jewellery and fashion collections were auctioned by Christies to benefit her AIDS foundation, ETAF. The jewellery sold for a record-breaking sum of $156.8 million and the clothes and accessories for a further $5.5 million .
Academy Award Best Actress x 2 (+3 nominations)
BAFA Best British Actress x 1 (+1 nomination, +1 nomination as Best Foreign Actress!)
Golden Globes Best Actress award x 1
Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear
David di Donatello Best Foreign Actress x 2
New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Actress x 1
Tony Award nominated
Academy Humanitarian Award 1993
American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award 1993
Cecil B. DeMille Award 1985
Kennedy Center Honors 2002
Presidential Citizens Medal 2001
Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award 1998
BAFTA Fellowship 1999
David di Donatello Golden Plate 1960
Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Lifetime of Glamour Award 1997
Notable films: A Place in the Sun (1951) Quo Vadis (1951) Ivanhoe (1952) Giant (1956) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) Suddenly Lat Summer (1959) BUtterfield 8 (1960) Cleopatra (1963) The V.I.Ps (1963) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf (1966) Under Milk Wood (1971)
Reply to Topic
so I put it under Liz Taylor.
Check out my podcast: