Medford mail tribune., July 08, 1962, Image 39

Family Weekly J id i s. mo j
ELIZABETH TAYLOK knows a lot about
men but apparently she still has
much to learn about Richard Burton.
Otherwise, she would not have permitted
their relationship to become a headline affair.
She would have enjoyed the attention shown
her by the man whom many call "the most ex
citing personality in show business." But she
would not have expected it to be anything more
than a temporary romance.
Many beautiful women have flitted through
Burton's life, but as an old friend of his says:
"Nothing really counts with Dick except his
marriage and his work. He adores his wife
Sybil and their daughters, Katherine, 4'j, and
Jessica, 2V4. And you should see how the little
girls love him and his impudent sense of play.
He is so amazingly adept with them, much more
so than most men are. Why, he even bathes and
feeds them."
People who know Burton well are sure he
never made any false promises to Elizabeth.
They point out that one of his dominant char
acteristics is a blunt, almost cruel, honesty.
He is even honest about his weakness for
women. "The instant I see a lovely girl, I start
telling her the nicest possible things, meaning
to please her," Burton has said.
Until his misadventure with Elizabeth in
Rome, none of his momentary romances has had
a serious effect on his family life.
The Burton-Taylor scandal broke because
Elizabeth is an exceedingly self-indulgent and
strong-willed woman who never before had en
countered a man who was unattainable to her.
And never before had Richard become involved
with a woman who reacted so violently when
he displeased her. Her anger culminated in
stretcher junkets to a clinic, where her hys
terical didoes were variously reported as result
ing from exhaustion, food poisoning, and an
injured nose.
The difficulties were compounded when these
events threatened the production of "Cleo
patra," the movie that brought Richard and
Elizabeth together in Rome. More than $30,
000,000 has been invested in the troublesome film,
with the very future of the 20th Century-Fox
empire at stake.
A Woman to Be Reckoned With
Another factor was that never before had a
rival underestimated Sybil Burton, a striking
woman of well-bred charm, vivacious humor,
and prematurely white hair which is dramati
cally beautiful against her flawless complexion.
Sybil is a woman to be reckoned with. She is
recalled vividly by Bernard Hart, stage man
ager of "Camelot," the Broadway musical in
which Burton starred before going to Rome.
"Mrs. Burton never came to the theater much;
she was not a stage wife," Hart says. "But when
she was there, she didn't fade into the scenery.
She was never just 'somebody's wife.' "
The Burton marriage was never convention
ally idyllic. But whatever outside problems may
have beset it, it was always basically strong.
Until Elizabeth threatened the marriage, Sybil
could always dismiss Richard's flirtations with
the remark, "He would be just as charming to
an eight-year-old girl or an 80-year-old woman."
Sybil Williams met Richard Burton while
they were playing in Emlyn Williams' "The
Last Days of Dolwyn." Twenty-two-year-old
Richard was the juvenile lead. Eighteen-year-old
Sybil had a bit part. Five months later, on
Feb. 5, 1949 at 8:45 a.m. they were married.
After a wedding breakfast at a friend's flat,
Sybil had to rush off to do a matinee of "Har-
Hurlon and Liz in lense scene from "Cleopatra."
Ihe movie thai brought Ihem lognlher in Rome.
The truth about the
tempestuous Welshman
is: he likes the ladies
his wife most of all
In spile of tlx; much-publicized Roman romance,
Biirlon seemed as dnvoted as ever to wife Sybil.
vey." Richard and his brother stayed on at the
flat to listen to a championship rugby match
between Wales and Scotland. She was not a bit
disturbed because her husband of a few hours
did not escort her to the theater. The matinee
was something she had to do. The radio broad
cast was, for rugby-mad Richard, something he
had to listen to. If she had wanted simply a con
ventional husband, she would have married some
one else.
Sybil likes to tell about her return from the
theater that day. Richard and his brother were
slumped in their chairs, close to tears Wales
hud lost the game. As Sybil walked into the
room, Richard lifted his face from his hands,
glared, and demanded, "Well, woman, what do
you want?"
What Sybil wanted, has always wanted, and
apparently still wants is Richard with all of
his strange contradictions of modesty and a
need to be "on stage," his devotion and his
shocking errancy.
"She's mad about him," her friends say, as
with one voice.
Hollywood, however, was not so mad about
Richard when he arrived there in 1952. The
blase film colony is not easily shaken by the
eccentricities of actors. But it was taken aback
by one Burton peccadillo his frugality.
He and Sybil horrified the town when they
moved from the penthouse a friend had rented
for them into a smaller place totally lacking in
chic. Soon they also deserted the high-priced
Chasen and LaRue restaurants, which had been
recommended to them, for a little place where
the food was good and the prices modest.
Sun-Bathing for Free
The Burtons were invited to join the expen
sive clubs where the Hollywood elite swim in
heated pools and sun-bathe in the most abbre
viated attire. Instead, they chose to bask in the
sun while seated on the curb outside Richard's
dressing room. A studio executive found them
there one day, Richard in rumpled slacks and
a T shirt, Sybil in the simplest cotton dress. He
was horrified.
This behavior alone would have been enough
to give the Burtons a bad name in Hollywood.
But there was more. During an interview, Rich
ard called attention to the socks he was wear
ing and announced that he had "swiped" them
from the studio wardrobe department. "They
have so many!" he said. Then he added: "I
don't spend a penny unless I have to; I'm the
meanest man in the world."
Neither statement, of course, is really true.
When he feels like it. Burton can be very cava
lier about money. And, as many persons know
from personal experience, he can be the soul of
kindness and generosity.
Last Christmas, he turned down fantastic
sums for guest appearances on the Dinah Shore
and Perry Como television shows. Instead, he
appeared elsewhere to read the work of the late
Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas for which he re
ceived no pay.
The stage is Burton's favorite metier. He
went into the movies, where the big money lies,
only after seeing the best parts on the stage go
to actors who had screen credits. He wanted the
parts and believed he should have them.
As to Burton's kindness, it can be attested to
by an English girl who fell ill while working
as a technician in a Hollywood studio. She
was well known to all of the town's British col
ony. But it was Richard who gave her money,
visited her regularly, and when she was un
conscious, sat beside her quoting Bible verses.
(Continued on page 9)
family Wrrkly. July I. IW1
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