'Noel (Coward) told me, holding my wrist firmly in his beautiful brown hands which at 67 have a couple of faint liver marks, that Elizabeth and I were so packed with dynamic personality that he expected us any minute to burst at the seams and flow like volcanic lava.'
Richard Burton
Back in the sixties, Welsh actor Richard Burton was one of Hollywood's successful and highest paid movie stars. A highly respected Shakespearean actor in the fifties, Burton easily made the transition to film. Although highly regarded for his talents, with his extensive theatre background, Hollywood critics were hard on Burton, many claiming he wasn't performing to his full potential.
A turbulent personal life, along with his reptation for heavy drinking, may have played a part in the criticism. Still, Burton was one of the industries biggest stars in the sixties, and although he never won, was nominated for seven Academy Awards.
That turbulent private life included his relationship with Elizabeth Taylor. Married and divorced twice, Burton and Taylor were the darlings, and the targets, of the tabloid press. Their relationship was closely followed by the press, and covered more than Brad and Jen and any current actor or celebrity.
Like Brad and Jen, and Bran and Angelina, Burton and Taylor were constantly followed by the paparazzi. I can only imagine the images we'd have seen if the Internet had been around at the time.
'An ostracized Episcopal clergyman leads a busload of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.'
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