Richard Burton

Richard Burton was a multi-award winning Welsh actor who established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memorable performance as Hamlet in 1964.

Burton was nominated for an Academy Award seven times for his performances in My Cousin Rachel (1952), The Robe (1953), Becket (1964), The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), and Equus (1977).

He received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy Award. He received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of King Arthur in Camelot (1960).

In the mid-1960s, Burton became a top box-office star. 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. Burton remained closely associated in the public mind with his second wife, Elizabeth Taylor, whose turbulent relationship was rarely out of the news.