The Richard Burton Diaries

by Richard Burton

  42 Jennifer Salt (1944—), who had acted alongside Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy. Waldo Salt (1917–87), had won his Oscar for the same film.

  43 Rupert Crosse (1927–73), nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Reivers. Elliott Gould (1938—), nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Bob and Ted and Carol and Alice. Susannah York (1939–2011). Jane Fonda (1937—), nominated for Best Actress for her performance in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Sylvia Miles (1926—), nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Midnight Cowboy. The Black Panther Party was a Marxist organization which aimed to articulate the grievances of Black Americans, and which was at the height of its influence in the late 1960s.

  44 Elizabeth Longford (1906–2002), Wellington: The Years of the Sword (1969).

  45 Garcia Barragán (1895–1979), Secretary of National Defense in Mexico (1964–70). By ‘P.R.O.’ presumably Burton means a public relations official. The city of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, is about 160 miles east of Puerto Vallarta, and is over 5,000 feet above sea level.

  46 Luis Echeverría (1922—), President of Mexico (1970–76).

  47 Barragan's son's name was actually Carlos.

  48 By 1970 there were four biographies of Fleming in print, all published in 1965 or 1966. Fabrica de Francia is a department store chain.

  49 On the northern shore of the Bahia de Banderas, 2 miles from Puerto Vallarta.

  50 Alan Moorehead (1910–83), Eclipse (1946; Burton was reading the 1967 abridged edition).

  51 Joan Crawford (1905–77), who had appeared on Here's Lucy on 26 February 1968.

  52 Jerry Paris (1925–86), director and actor.

  53 Gary Morton (1924–99), comedian and television producer.

  54 Ruth Berle (1921–89), wife of television comedian Milton Berle (1908–2002).

  55 Rosalind Russell (1907–76), actor.

  56 Gale Gordon (1906–95). Cliff Norton (1918–2003).

  57 The Malibu Colony, Malibu, west of Santa Monica, California.

  58 Norman Rockwell (1894–1978), artist, in part famous for his covers for the Saturday Evening Post, which offered reassuring portrayals of American society.

  59 The poetry reading in 1964 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, which was Taylor's first stage appearance.

  60 Ernest K. Gann (1901–91), whose novel The Antagonists would be published in 1971. It became a TV mini-series (starring Peter O'Toole and Anthony Quinn) under the title Masada in 1981. Masada refers to Jewish resistance to the Roman Empire focused on the fortification of Masada in AD 72–73.

  61 All honours in the British honours system. CBE: Commander of the British Empire. MBE: Member of the British Empire. OBE: Order of the British Empire. OM: Order of Merit. It is not clear what Burton means by ‘CM’: it might be CMG: Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.

  62 The four Beatles had been awarded the MBE in 1965. In 1969 John Lennon returned his in protest at American involvement in the Vietnam War and at British involvement in the conflict in Biafra.

  63 James Stewart (1908–97), actor. Henry Fonda (1905–82), actor.

  64 A reference to Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, first published in 1818. In fact the original character is named Victor, although this did not remain consistent in all film versions of the story and its offshoots.

  65 Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton (1926–69), socialite and businessman, Elizabeth Taylor's first husband.

  66 Hilton's second wife, Patricia (the marriage ended 1965).

  67 The Menninger Psychiatric Hospital, Houston, Texas.

  68 Conrad Hilton (1887–1979), hotelier.

  69 Howard Hughes (1905–76), businessman who had been a film producer and film director and was by this time a notorious recluse.

  70 John D. Macdonald (1916–86), One Monday We Killed Them All (1961).

  71 Harold Wilson (1916–95), British Labour Party politician, Prime Minister 1964–70, 1974–76.

  72 Emlyn Williams had been appointed a CBE in 1962, but did not receive another honour. KBE: Knight Commander of the British Empire. Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Nationalist party, had won the parliamentary seat of Carmarthen in a by-election in 1966.

  73 There were 36 parliamentary constituencies in Wales in 1970.

  74 Edward Heath (1916–2005), British Conservative Party politician, Prime Minister 1970–74.

  75 Aloysius is the name of Sebastian Flyte's teddy bear in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited (1945).

  76 Cliff Morgan (1930—), Welsh rugby player and broadcaster, was, with Geoffrey Nicholson, editing Touchdown and other Moves in the Game, to celebrate the centenary of the Rugby Football Union.

  77 Tonmawr: a mining community in the Pelenna valley a mile due north of Pontrhydyfen.

  78 Hugh ‘Binkie’ Beaumont (1908–73), theatre impresario and managing director of the H. M. Tennent theatrical agency, who had given Burton his first professional contract in 1948. John Perry (1906–95), playwright and theatre director, who adapted the Elizabeth Bowen play Castle Anna, in which Burton had starred in 1948.

  79 Reader's Digest: a monthly magazine.

  80 Jim Murray (1919–98), sports journalist writing for the LA Times. Hank Aaron (1934—), baseball player.

  81 Willy Brandt (1913–92), Chancellor of West Germany (1969–74).

  82 Tommy Aaron (1937—), golfer, won the Atlanta Classic tournament.

  83 Rawhide was a television series that ran from 1959 to 1965, and which starred Clint Eastwood as the character Rowdy Yates.

  84 Boris Karloff (1887–1969), actor. Bela Lugosi (1882–1956), actor. This might have been The Body Snatcher (1945), directed by Robert Wise.

  85 Creature Features (1970–71).

  86 President Nixon had announced his decision to invade Cambodia in April 1970. This led to furious protests, including student demonstrations at Kent State University, Ohio. There the National Guard had opened fire on demonstrators on 4 May, killing four people.

  87 Harry Guardino (1925–95), actor, who appeared in Hell is for Heroes (1962), directed by Don Siegel (1912–91).

  88 The city of Palm Springs, Riverside County, California, about 110 miles east of Los Angeles.

  89 Sydney Guilaroff (1907–97), chief hairstylist at MGM studios, who had worked with Burton and Taylor on various films including The Night of the Iguana, The Sandpiper, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and before that with Taylor on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Butterfield 8.

  90 Probably a reference to Elizabeth Taylor and Jim Benton.

  91 The Dow Jones average had hit bottom on 26 May, having lost 30% of its value since the beginning of 1969. On 27 May it closed 32 points up.

  92 It rose above 700 points on 29 May, and did dip below this in June, and again in July, but did not return to the low figure reached on 26 May, and from early July rose steadily.

  93 Sir Henry Newbolt (1862–1938), poet. Burton is making a reference to a line from Newbolt's ‘Drake's Drum’ (1897): ‘Capten, art tha sleepin’ there below?’

  94 Aldous Huxley's The Devils of Loudon (1952) had been written as a play (The Devils) by John Whiting (1917–63) and performed at Stratford in 1961. Anthony Shaffer (1926–2001), playwight, author of Sleuth (1970). Identical twin brother of Peter Shaffer (1926—), playwright, author of Equus (1973) which Burton would play on stage and on film.

  95 Louis Solomon (1911–81), screenwriter and producer.

  96 Burton is here referring to the 1963 CBS television documentary Elizabeth Taylor in London. Sidney Joseph Perelman (1904–79), author and screenwriter.

  97 The Indianapolis 500 motor race, over a distance of 500 miles, held at Speedway, Indiana.

  98 Jim Clark (1936–68), Formula One racing driver and winner of two World Championships, competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times and won it in 1965.

  99 Henry Hathaway (1898–1985), director, who was to work with Burton on Raid on Rommel.

  100 A backhanded reference
to John Drinkwater (1882–1937), playwright and poet.

  101 Neiman-Marcus, a luxury retail department store.

  102 The journalist was Jo Roddy, whose article ‘How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways’, appeared in Look's issue of 16 June 1970. Jonah Ruddy was Hollywood correspondent for the New Musical Express.

  103 George Sisler (1893–1973), baseball player, elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

  104 Desert Hospital, North Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs.

  105 Absalom, third son of David, King of Israel, who rebelled against his father and was killed in battle.

  106 Burton is referring here to his impending film. Raid on Rommel (1971), shot in Mexico.

  107 Emmys: the awards of the (America) Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

  108 Patty Duke (1946—) received an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress for her role in My Sweet Charlie. Wuthering Heights had screened on NBC on 9 May 1958.

  109 Albert Speer (1905–81), architect, Nazi Germany's Minister of Armaments and War Production (1942–5), who had served 20 years’ imprisonment for war crimes after being sentenced at the Nuremberg trials.

  110 None of these projects appear to have borne fruit.

  111 Airport (1969), directed by George Seaton (1911–79). M*A*S*H (1970), directed by Robert Altman (1925–2006). Marooned (1969) directed by John Sturges (1911–92).

  112 Catch 22 (1970), directed by Mike Nichols, based on the 1961 novel by Joseph Heller (1923–99). The article ‘Some are More Yossarian than Others’ appeared in Time for 15 June 1970. The relevant paragraph states: ‘Richard Burton remembers meeting Nichols and [Elaine] May [1932—, director, screenwriter, actor, who worked with Nichols] backstage when he was starring in Camelot. “Elaine was too formidable ... one of the most intelligent, beautiful and witty women I had ever met. I hoped I would never see her again.” Mike was less formidable, more agreeable. The mustard-colored eyes glinted, but the face had an unlined, almost feminine softness. The voice was as warm and resonant as a cello. Burton, who knows role playing when he sees it, was at first unconvinced by the proffered friendship and admiration. But eventually he enrolled Nichols in the Richard Burton fan club; it was an attachment that would one day pay off handsomely for Nichols.’ Later in the article there is another passage: ‘Richard Burton likes to retell the story of Walter Matthau, “a frenetic soul, and he finally blew his stack at Nichols’ Odd Couple direction. ‘You're emasculating me,’ Walter cried. ‘Give me back my balls!’ From out front, Mike called back: ‘Props.’” ‘Mike was Burton's kind of boy. As the Liz–Dick scandal deepened during the filming of Cleopatra, Burton recalls, “Ninety percent of our friends avoided our eyes. Mike flew to Rome from New York to be with us.” Nichols stayed by Elizabeth's side when Burton went off to make another film. Favors like that one remembers. In 1966, the Welshman and his lady were signed for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Elizabeth insisted on Nichols as director. Virginia Woolf could have been a mini-Cleopatra, but its below-the-belt punches intrigued critics and audiences.’

  113 Morgan accepted the article as it stood, terming it ‘magic’.

  114 Cyril Connolly (1903–74), literary critic and essayist.

  115 This may refer to Emlyn Williams's unhappy experiences when taking over from John Gielgud in the part of the Headmaster in the play Forty Years On by Alan Bennett (1934—) at the Apollo. The play had run for nine months when Williams replaced Gielgud in September 1969, but it closed abruptly thereafter. Williams then spent some time in hospital undergoing an operation on his varicose veins.

  116 King George VI (1895–1952) suffered from a stammer. Kenneth Kent (1892–1963), actor. Radie Harris (1904–2001), Hollywood journalist. Herbert Marshall (1890–1966), actor.

  117 Esmé Percy (1887–1957), actor.

  118 Wilfrid Hyde-White (1903–91), who had married the actor Ethel Drew in 1957.

  119 In a first round game in Group 1, the hosts Mexico beat Belgium 1–0 with a penalty scored in the 14th minute.

  120 The Rains of Ranchipur (1955), directed by Jean Negulesco (1900–93).

  121 Both the actor Sybil Thorndike (1882–1976), and the choreographer and dancer Sir Frederick Ashton (1904–88) were admitted to the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1970.

  122 Spartacus (1960), directed by Stanley Kubrick (1928–99). Ice Palace (1960), directed by Vincent Sherman (1906–2006).

  123 Cover-bound,’ referring to book.

  124 Reputedly the cable read ‘By the Lord Harry, Larry’.

  125 Sir Donald Wolfit (1902–68), actor and theatre manager, who had appeared alongside Burton in Becket.

  126 About 23 miles west of Palm Springs.

  127 The part of the medical officer in Raid on Rommel was to be played by Clinton Greyn (1936—).

  128 Charlotte Brontë, (1816–55) Jane Eyre (1847).

  129 Bermuda Dunes Hotel, Adams Street, Bermuda Dunes, Palm Springs.

  130 A reference to William Wordsworth's preface to the 1802 edition of the Lyrical Ballads, in which he defined poetry as ‘the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling; it takes its origin in emotion recollected in tranquillity’.

  131 Arthur Rimbaud (1854–91), French poet.

  132 Jordan Christopher, Kate's stepfather.

  133 Burton and Taylor had appeared on The David Frost Show on 19 March 1970.

  134 The opening line of Kate's speech in The Taming of the Shrew, Act V, scene i: ‘Fie, fie! Unknit that threat'ning unkind brow’.

  135 1955.

  136 Despite playing the part of the American actor Edwin Booth, Burton hums the eighteenth-century Welsh love song ‘Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn’ to his ailing wife Mary.

  137 Zero Mostel (1915–77), actor.

  138 Man of La Mancha (1972), directed by Arthur Hiller (1923—), starring Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren.

  139 Enid Starkie (1897–1970), fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, and an expert on Rimbaud. ‘J'en ai trop pris’ is perhaps better rendered as ‘I have had enough’.

  140 George Peppard (1928–94), who starred in Tobruk (1967), directed by Arthur Hiller.

  141 In fact the Conservative Party won 330 seats against 287 for the Labour Party. With the support of the Ulster Unionists, Edward Heath (1916–2005) was able to form a government based on a parliamentary majority of 30.

  142 This could refer to the film Batman (1966), directed by Leslie Martinson (1915—), or to the television series of the same name, featuring some of the same cast as the film, which ran from 1966 to 1968. Possibly Burton is referring to the National Auditorium in Mexico City, which was the venue for gymnastics events at the 1968 Olympic Games, or to the Arena Mexico, the venue for the boxing tournament at the Olympics, which remained a major boxing venue for many years.

  143 Cornel Wilde (1912–89). Burton may be mistaken here. The 1962 film Marco Polo starred Rory Calhoun (1922–99) in the lead role. Marco Polo (1254–1324), explorer, traveller, merchant.

  144 Vasco De Gama (c.1460–1524), Portuguese explorer.

  145 Sébastien Japrisot (1931–2003), novelist.

  146 Possibly Arthur Lubin (1898–1995), film director. Dustin Hoffman. Albert Finney (1936—), actor. Chaim Topol (1935—), actor.

  147 Burton means the character of Dulcinea del Toboso.

  148 Sam O'Steen (1923—), who had edited Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Graduate (1967) and Catch 22 (1970), amongst other films, and who went on to direct, mainly films for television.

  149 Tony Jacklin (1944—), golfer, who had won the British Open in 1969, won his second (and final) ‘major’ at the US Open at Hazeltine in 1970.

  150 Joe Morgenstern (1932—), film critic for Newsweek (1965–83).

  151 Burton probably means ‘household names’.

  152 Cecil Smith (1917–2009), by this time television critic for the LA Times, but previously drama critic.

  153 Brook Williams did play the part of Sergeant Joe Reilly. Christopher Cary (1930–2000) played the part of
the ‘C.O.’ or conscientious objector, Corporal Peter Merrihew. He also played alongside Burton in Camelot on Broadway in 1960.

  154 Carol Reed (1906–76), who produced and directed Odd Man Out in 1947. Jimmy Granger being the actor Stewart Granger (1913–93), whose real first name was James, and who would play alongside Burton in The Wild Geese. James Mason played the leading role of Johnny McQueen.

  155 Des O'Connor (1932—) hosted seven American versions of his show in the summer of 1970.

  156 John Colicos (1928–2000) played Sergeant Major Al MacKenzie.

  157 A reference to Joxer Daly, a character in Sean O'Casey's (1880–1964) play Juno and the Paycock (1924), although the line (the final line in the play) ‘th’ whole worl's in a terrible state o’ chassis’ is spoken by Captain Boyle.

  158 Leonid Brezhnev (1906–82), General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1964–82). Spiro Agnew (1918–96), Vice-President of the USA (1969–73). By ‘Fred’ Kennedy presumably Burton means Edward ‘Ted’ Kennedy. By ‘Humphreys’ presumably he means Hubert Humphrey. Mao Tse Tung (now usually written as ‘Zedong’) (1893–1976), Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (1943–76). By Cho en Lai Burton means Zhou Enlai (1898–1976), Premier of the People's Republic of China (1949–76). Uncle Tom Cobley is a character from the song ‘Widdecombe Fair’ and is often used to suggest ‘many others’.

  159 Rodomontade: a vainglorious boasting.

  160 Enoch Powell (1912–98), a Conservative MP and former minister who expressed strong opposition to immigration from Commonwealth countries into Britain, and who later moved to join the Ulster Unionists.

  161 Co-operative store.

  162 Burton is referring here to the industrial disputes of 1921 and 1926.

  163 Short quotations encapsulating the doctrine of Maoism were fashionable in leftist circles in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

  164 Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield (1859–1947), Fabian socialist and Labour Party politician, who coined the phrase ‘the inevitability of gradualness’ in 1923.

  165 The more it changes the more it stays the same.

  166 A reference to the idealism of the founding of the American Republic.

  167 A reference to the Jesuit maxim, ‘Give me a child for the first seven years, and you may do what you like with him afterwards.’