Medford mail tribune., July 08, 1962, Image 41

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V
Richard Burton
(Continued from page 7)
Burton was brought up on the Bible.
In his family, everyone was taught to
work hard, play hard, and laugh while
doing both. This rage for living is summed
up in a maxim from Ecclesiastes: "What
soever thy hand fmdeth to do, do it
with thy might; for there is no work,
nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom,
in the grave, whither thou goest." Rich
ard used to repeat this maxim after his
father. He liked the feel of the phrases
on his tongue. Today, they are en
graved on a tag attached to his key ring.
Burton's life was not easy in the bleak,
treeless valley of South Wales where he
grew up. His home was in the slums. His
mother died after the birth of her 13th
child Richard had been the 12th.
Some of the grimness was taken out of
the boy's existence through his close re
lationship with Philip Burton,- a high
school English teacher who became his
"second father." The older man saved
Richard from the Welsh coal pits where
his father and brothers toiled, interested
him in the theater, rid him of his Welsh
accent, got him a scholarship at Oxford,
clothed him while he was there, and final
ly adopted him legally. It was then that
Richard acquired the last name Burton.
He was born Jenkins.
Philip Burton is currently director of
the summer session at the Musical. The
ater Academy in New York. When I
talked to him recently, he refused to dis
cuss Richard's problems.
"It's a frightful thing that all this at
tention should come to Richard because
of the headlines and not because of the
fine work he has done. I am sorry not to
be helpful, because I like to talk about
my son. Try me again in two or three
months, when I trust this terrible pub
licity will have ended."
On Stage He's All Pro
Richard Burton has a fine professional
reputation. He's a worker. Before he ever
sets foot on stage, he memorizes the en
tire script.
For those who do not know their lines,
those who are late for rehearsal, those
who grouse about how much they are
asked to do, Burton has no patience.
Staying up until six o'clock in the morn
ing will not keep him from a nine-o'clock
theater call and on that little sleep, he
can last through a morning rehearsal, a
matinee, and an evening performance.
"Dick's, not a big man," a friend says.
"He stands 5 feet, 11, and he weighs 1G5
pounds. But he's strong as a bull."
Burton is not really an attractive man,
either. His complexion is pock-marked,
a flaw which he doesn't try to disguise
with make-up for informal pictures. But
he manages very well. Off-stage, he distills
the same magic that he projects across the
footlights.
Unlike most actors. Burton has little
interest in clothes. "Undoubtedly I'm the
Burlon re-enacts famous graveyard scene
from "Hamlet" during Old Vic tour in 1954.
worst-dressed man in the world," he says.
"No matter what I wear I look a little
like an unmade bed."
The necessity to dress up accounts for
Richard's strong resistance to party go
ing, but once he is at a party, he has a
wonderful time, especially if given an op
portunity to perform.
Hostesses compete for him. For if a
party lags, the merest nod will get him
to sing Welsh songs in his remarkably
good baritone, tell jokes in any dialect,
or recite the Welsh and Scottish poetry,
of which he has a large repertory.
Sybil says with pride: "He has a most
fantastic memory. He can quote Shake
speare by the hour. And he will, too, if
you let him. He knows the lines of any
play in which he has ever appeared."
Young Man from the Old Vic
Burton reads everything from Mickey
Spillane thrillers to the classics. When
he was narrator for the tv documentary,
"Churchill: The Valiant Years," he
amazed the producer by being completely
familiar with the six volumes of Sir
Winston Churchill's memoirs, on which
the series was based.
Churchill's pleasure in this series, the
report that he shed tears when he viewed
the programs at his home, and the letters
Richard received from Churchill's secre
tary saying how much the former prime
minister had liked his commentary were
a delight to him. It was, after all, Winston
Churchill who got him this job. Consulted
as to whom he would like to do the nar
ration, Churchill had said, "Get that
young man from the Old Vic."
Burton has visited Churchill many
times and has an admiration for him
that is both great and tender. "He's
amazing," Richard says. "When he used
to come to see me in 'Hamlet,' he sat in
the stalls and I could hear him reciting
along with me in a soft undertone."
Sometimes Richard is given to moods,
as most Welshmen are. And the infiltra
tion of Hebrew and Gypsy blood in his
veins is probably no help in this matter.
When he turns very quiet, Sybil (Welsh
herself) leaves him alone. When she
comes back, she finds him waiting to put
his asm around her waist and ay, "Suiiy
I was moody."
The Richard Burton whom Elizabeth
Taylor has given no indication of under
standing is a man Sybil Burton knows well
and loves well.
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