Richard Burton Quick Info
Height5 ft 9½ in
Weight73 kg
Date of BirthNovember 10, 1925
Zodiac SignScorpio
Date of DeathAugust 5, 1984

Richard Burton was a Welsh actor whose superior performances in films like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Becket (1964), Cleopatra (1963), The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Look Back in Anger (1959), The Robe (1953), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), Alexander the Great (1956), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), My Cousin Rachel (1952), etc. cemented his place as one of the most distinguished actors of the Golden Era of Hollywood.

Born Name

Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.

Nick Name

Richard Burton, Rich, Dick

Age

He was born on November 10, 1925.

Died

On August 5, 1984, Burton passed away from intracerebral hemorrhage in Céligny, Geneva at the age of 58 years.

Sun Sign

Scorpio

Born Place

Pontrhydyfen, West Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom

Nationality

Welsh

Occupation

Actor

Family

  • Father – Richard Walter Jenkins Sr. (Coal Miner)
  • Mother – Edith Maude Jenkins Thomas (Barmaid)
  • Siblings – Cecilia Burton (Older Sister), Ifor Burton (Older Brother) (Rugby Player), Graham Burton (Younger Brother). He had an additional 9 older siblings.

Net Worth

At the time of his death, Richard Burton’s net worth was $50 million according to CelebrityNetWorth.com.

Build

Slim

Height

5 ft 9½ in or 176.5 cm

Weight

73 kg or 161 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Richard Burton had dated –

  • Carol White
  • Lee Remick
  • Vivien Leigh
  • Zsa Zsa Gabor – RUMOR
  • Sybil Williams (1948-1963) – Sybil Williams and Burton tied the knot on February 5, 1949. The couple became parents with the arrival of their daughters Kate Burton (b. September 10, 1957), who became an accomplished actress herself and Jessica Burton (b. 1959), who was born severely autistic. The couple called it quits after 14 years together and got divorced on December 5, 1963.
  • Claire Bloom (1949-1953)
  • Maggie McNamara (1954)
  • Lana Turner (1955)
  • Jean Simmons (1956)
  • Susan Strasberg (1957)
  • Mary Ure (1958)
  • Barbara Rush (1959)
  • Angie Dickinson (1959)
  • Diane Mcbain (1959)
  • Elizabeth Taylor (1962-1974; 1975-1976) – Arguably, his most publicized relationship was with actress Elizabeth Taylor, whom he met on the sets of the epic drama, Cleopatra (1963). The two instantly fell head over heels for each other and got married twice. Their first marriage lasted from March 15, 1964, until June 26, 1974, and their second one from October 10, 1975, until July 29, 1976.
  • Ava Gardner (1963) – RUMOR
  • Genevieve Bujold (1969)
  • Nathalie Delon (1972)
  • Raquel Welch (1972)
  • Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia (1974-1975) – The Time Remembered (1958) star was briefly engaged to Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia in 1974.
  • Jeannie Bell (1975)
  • Susan Hunt/Suzy Miller (1976-1982) – He wed model Susan Hunt/Suzy Miller on August 21, 1976. However, their divorce was finalized on February 28, 1982.
  • Sally Hay (1983-1984) – The theater producer and author Sally Hay became his last wife. The two remained married from July 3, 1983, until Burton’s death on August 5, 1984.

    • Race / Ethnicity

    White

    He had Welsh ancestry.

    Hair Color

    Dark Brown

    However, his hair had turned mostly ‘Gray’ by the time of his death.

    Eye Color

    Blue

    Sexual Orientation

    Straight

    Distinctive Features

    • Chin dimple
    • Rich, mellifluous baritone voice with a Welsh accent

    Richard Burton Facts

  • All his film contracts included a clause that exempted him from working on March 1st, which is celebrated as St David’s Day (the patron saint of Wales).
  • Burton narrated the royal wedding of then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana for BBC Radio on July 29, 1981.
  • He once got into a Shakespeare-quoting contest with Robert F. Kennedy, in which they both recited Bard’s sonnets word-for-word. Such was Burton’s knowledge of Shakespeare that he quoted one of the sonnets backward and won the contest.
  • Burton was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 1, 2013. His star rests at 6336 Hollywood Boulevard, which is right next to Elizabeth Taylor’s.
  • He was a die-hard rugby fan and was once known to have famously proclaimed that he “would much rather have played rugby for Wales than Hamlet on stage”.
  • Burton, along with other prominent Welsh actors like Anthony Hopkins, Ray Milland, and Catherine Zeta-Jones were all born in south-western Wales within a radius of 10 miles.

    • Featured Image by The Brooklyn Daily Eagle / Wikimedia / Public Domain

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