Acting · Pontrhydyfen, Wales, UK · Born November 10, 1925
Richard Burton CBE (born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable performance of Hamlet in 1964. He was called "the natural successor to Olivier" by critic Kenneth Tynan. A heavy drinker, Burton's perceived failure to live up to those expectations disappointed some critics and colleagues and added to his image as a great performer who had wasted his talent. Nevertheless, he is widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation. Burton was nominated for an Academy Award seven times, but never won an Oscar. He was a recipient of BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Tony Awards for Best Actor. In the mid-1960s, Burton ascended into the ranks of the top box office stars. By the late 1960s, Burton was one of the highest-paid actors in the world, receiving fees of $1 million or more plus a share of the gross receipts. Burton remained closely associated in the public consciousness with his second wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. The couple's turbulent relationship, in which they were married twice and divorced twice, was rarely out of the news.
MovieRichard Burton: Wild Genius
2025
as Self (archive footage)
MovieElizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
2024
as Self (archive footage)
MovieGuilty Rebel
2024
as Narrator (archive footage)
MovieThis Is Joan Collins
2022
as Self (Archive Footage)
MovieJulie Andrews Forever
2019
as Self (archive footage)
TVTalking Pictures
2013
as Self (archive footage)
MovieJeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: Live
2006
as George Herbert, The Journalist (archive sound)
MovieBroadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
2003
as Self (archive footage)
MovieCleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
2001
as Self (archive footage)
MovieHollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
1999
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
TVSphinx – Secrets of the History
1994
as Marc Antony (archive footage)
MovieUnder Milk Wood
1992
as First Voice (voice) (archive sound)
MovieJohn Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
1988
as Self (archive footage)
MovieIn from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton
1988
as Self (Archive Footage)
MovieHappy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
1988
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieTo Be Hamlet
1985
as Self
TVEllis Island
1984
as Sen. Phipps Ogden
MovieNineteen Eighty-Four
1984
as O'Brien
MovieAll-Star Party for Frank Sinatra
1983
as Self
MovieAlice in Wonderland
1983
as White Knight
TVWagner
1983
as Richard Wagner
I, Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind
1983
as Self - Narrator (voice)
MovieTo the Ends of the Earth
1983
as Narrator
TVEntertainment Tonight
1981
as Self
MovieCircle of Two
1981
as Ashley St. Clair
MovieLovespell
1981
as King Mark of Cornwall
MovieBreakthrough
1979
as Sergeant Steiner
Mystery of the Sacred Shroud
1978
as Self - Narrator
MovieThe Wild Geese
1978
as Col. Allen Faulkner
MovieAbsolution
1978
as Father Goddard
MovieThe Medusa Touch
1978
as John Morlar
MovieStars' War: The Flight of the Wild Geese
1978
as Self
MovieEquus
1977
as Martin Dysart
MovieExorcist II: The Heretic
1977
as Father Philip Lamont
The Man with No Name
1977
as Self
MovieCBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years
1976
as Self
MovieBrief Encounter
1976
as Alec Harvey
MovieVolcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry
1976
as Malcolm Lowry (voice)
MovieThe Gathering Storm
1974
as Winston Churchill
MovieThe Klansman
1974
as Breck Stancill
TVDinah!
1974
as Self
TVSpécial cinéma
1974
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Voyage
1974
as Cesare Braggi
MovieMassacre in Rome
1973
as SS-Obersturmbannführer Herbert Kappler
MovieThe Battle of Sutjeska
1973
as Josip Broz Tito
TVThe American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
as Self
TVDivorce His, Divorce Hers
1973
as Martin Reynolds
MovieBluebeard
1972
as Baron von Sepper
MovieHammersmith Is Out
1972
as Hammersmith
MovieThe Assassination of Trotsky
1972
as Leon Trotsky
MovieUnder Milk Wood
1972
as First Man
MovieMooch Goes to Hollywood
1971
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Film '72
1971
as Self
MovieVillain
1971
as Vic Dakin
MovieRaid on Rommel
1971
as Capt. Alex Foster
TVGreat Performances
1971
as White Knight
MovieAnne of the Thousand Days
1969
as King Henry VIII
MovieStaircase
1969
as Harry Leeds
MovieThe Violent Universe
1969
as Narrator - Verse Spoken
MovieCandy
1968
as MacPhisto
MovieWhere Eagles Dare
1968
as Maj. Smith
MovieA Wall in Jerusalem
1968
as Narrator (English version) (voice)
MovieOn Location: Where Eagles Dare
1968
as Self
TVHere's Lucy
1968
as Richard Burton
MovieRobert Kennedy Remembered
1968
as Narrator
MovieBoom!
1968
as Chris Flanders
MovieThe Comedians
1967
as Brown
MovieDoctor Faustus
1967
as Doctor Faustus
MovieThe Comedians in Africa
1967
as Self (uncredited)
MovieActing in the 60's: Richard Burton
1967
as Self - Interviewee
MovieThe Taming of the Shrew
1967
as Petruchio
MovieLionpower from MGM
1967
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieFor Florence
1966
as Self - Narrator
MovieWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1966
as George
MovieThe Spy Who Came In from the Cold
1965
as Alec Leamas
MovieThe Sandpiper
1965
as Edward Hewitt
MovieWhat's New Pussycat?
1965
as Man In Strip Club
MovieThe Big Sur
1965
as Self / Narrator
MovieA Statue for "The Sandpiper"
1965
as Self
MovieHamlet
1964
as Hamlet
MovieThe Night of the Iguana
1964
as Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon
MovieOn the Trail of the Iguana
1964
as Self
MovieBecket
1964
as Thomas Becket
MovieZulu
1964
as Narration spoken (voice)
MovieThe V.I.P.s
1963
as Paul Andros
MovieCleopatra
1963
as Marcus Antonius
MovieThe Longest Day
1962
as Flight Officer David Campbell
MovieThe Broadway of Lerner and Loewe
1962
as Self / Arthur
MovieA Tribute to Dylan Thomas
1962
as Self
TVWinston Churchill: The Valiant Years
1960
as Winston Churchill
MovieA Subject of Scandal and Concern
1960
as George Holyoake
MovieThe Bramble Bush
1960
as Dr. Guy Montford
MovieThe Tempest
1960
as Caliban
MovieThe Fifth Column
1960
MovieIce Palace
1960
as Zeb Kennedy
MovieBorrowed Pasture
1960
as Self - Narrator
MovieLook Back in Anger
1959
as Jimmy Porter
MovieMarch to Aldermaston
1959
as Narrator (voice)
MovieWuthering Heights
1958
as Heathcliff
MovieBitter Victory
1957
as Capt. Leith
MovieSea Wife
1957
as Biscuit
TVTony Awards
1956
as Self - Host
MovieAlexander the Great
1956
as Alexander
MovieThe Rains of Ranchipur
1955
as Dr. Major Rama Safti
MoviePrince of Players
1955
as Edwin Booth
MovieThursday's Children
1954
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Robe
1953
as Marcellus Gallio
MovieThe Desert Rats
1953
as Captain "Tammy" MacRoberts
MovieMy Cousin Rachel
1952
as Philip Ashley
TVHallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Caliban
MovieGreen Grow the Rushes
1951
as Robert 'Bob' Hammond
MovieThe Woman with No Name
1950
as Nick Chamerd
MovieWaterfront
1950
as Ben Satterthwaite
MovieNow Barabbas
1949
as Paddy
MovieThe Last Days of Dolwyn
1949
as Gareth
TVThe Ed Sullivan Show
1948
as Self
TVBambi
1948
as Self
