The Richard Burton Diaries
Page 194
12 La Grande Cascade au Bois de Boulogne, Allée de Longchamp, Paris.
13 Belons: flat oysters.
14 Presumably a reference to the appearance of survivors of the Nazi death camp at Bergen-Belsen.
15 The pub in Richard's home village.
16 This is a rather inaccurate borrowing from Archibald MacLeish's (1892–1982) poem ‘The End of the World’, published in 1935. The relevant lines are ‘Those thousands of white faces, those dazed eyes, /There in the starless dark, the poise, the hover/There with vast wings across the canceled skies, / There in the sudden blackness the black pall/Of nothing, nothing, nothing – nothing at all.’
17 Dic Bach y Saer – literally ‘little Dic the carpenter’, Richard's father.
18 The Galerie d'Elysée of Alex Maguy. Edouard Vuillard (1868–1940); Moise Kisling (1891–1953); Albert Marquet (1875–1947): painters.
19 Maurice de Vlaminck (1876–1958), French painter.
20 Maurice Utrillo (1883–1955), painter.
21 Ruth Hatfield of the Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Ambassador Hotel, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles.
22 John Edward Reginald Wyndham, 6th Baron Leconfield and 1st Baron Egremont (1920–72).
23 Michael Innes, the pseudonym of J. I. M. Stewart (1906–94).
24 Paul C. Petrides (1901–93), art dealer, sole agent of Utrillo.
25 Possibly for the LP The World of Dylan Thomas, in Poetry and Prose (1971).
26 Thomas Thompson, ‘Power and Liz Burton’, Sunday Mirror, 19 January 1969.
27 David Orsmby-Gore (1918–95), 5th Baron Harlech.
28 A reference to the line by Sir Walter Raleigh (c.1552–1618), in ‘The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage’ (1604): ‘Give me my scallop-shell of quiet’.
29 'Like quills upon the fretful porpentine’, a line spoken by the Ghost in Hamlet, Act I, scene v. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (1340–99), and a character in Shakespeare's Richard II.
30 'Whither thou goest, I will go’ – from the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament, Chapter I verse 16.
31 A reference to what was by this time known as the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, located at Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles.
32 G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936), journalist, poet, novelist, critic. The line is usually rendered as ‘How beautiful it would be for someone who could not read.’
33 The Desert Inn, hotel and casino, Las Vegas (1950–2000).
34 The Pantages Theatre, built for the entrepreneur Alexander Pantages (1876–1936) in 1930. Phil Ober (1902–82), actor, married to his third wife, Jane Westover.
35 Charles Collingwood (1917–85), newscaster and writer. Louise Allbritton (1920–79), actor.
36 Ray Marshall, house agent in Puerto Vallarta.
37 Today a resort complex.
38 Burton's article, ‘Who Cares About Wales? I Care’, would appear in Look on 24 June 1969.
39 Gwyneth Jenkins, a close friend of Gwen, Ivor's wife and Richard's sister-in-law.
40 Ian Fleming (1908–64), You Only Live Twice (1964).
41 Nathaniel West, Miss Lonelyhearts (1933).
42 Red Smith (1905–82), sports journalist who had worked for the New York Herald Tribune.
43 Another version is that his last words were to ambulancemen: ‘Awfully sorry to trouble you chaps’.
44 Denis Brogan (1900–74), historian, academic, author of The Development of Modern France, 1870–1939 (1940), The French Nation, 1814–1940 (1957) and French Personalities and Problems (1946).
45 Philip Roth (1933—), Portnoy's Complaint (1969). Octavio Paz (1914–98), poet and essayist. The Labyrinth of Solitude: Life and Thought in Mexico, 1950; English translation 1961.
46 Simon Raven (1927–2001), novelist.
47 This would appear to be a paraphrase of Paz's argument rather than a direct quotation.
48 The quotation is not entirely accurate: it should be ‘certain principles, contained in brief formulas’, and ‘A person imprisoned by these schemes ... he cannot grow or mature’ (Labyrinth of Solitude, p. 25).
49 Michael Redgrave (1908–85), actor, father of Vanessa. Norman Charles Hunter (1908–71).
50 A Touch of the Sun (1958).
51 Presumably typed on the following day.
52 Hotel Rosita, Paseo Díaz Ordaz, Puerto Vallarta.
53 Mario Puzo (1920–99), The Godfather (1969).
54 Victor Wolfgang Von Hagen (1908–85), historian, anthropologist and writer. Burton might have been reading his The World of the Maya (1960).
55 Suzanne Blanc, The Rose Window (1968).
56 Georges Simenon (1903–89), author of, amongst other things, the Maigret detective stories.
57 Benito Pablo Juárez Garcia (1806–72), President of Mexico. Emiliano Zapata (1879–1919), revolutionary leader.
58 James Baldwin (1924–87), novelist, playwright, essayist.
59 Sierra fish, also known as Pacific Sierra or Sierra Mackerel.
60 Presumably the ocean liner the SS France.
61 James Campbell (1951—), Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin (1991), having read (and quoted) the account of this incident relayed in Bragg's Rich, termed it (p. 231) a ‘hideous accusation’, suggesting that either Burton had made a mistake or that the thief was ‘Baldwin's French friend – not quite “the same thing”.’ He goes on (p. 232) to state that all of Baldwin's ‘close associates who were asked for their opinion of the incident ... recoiled at the suggestion that Baldwin could be guilty of simple thieving’. The blame is then placed on the Frenchman, who, we are told, is later discovered to have been gaoled for armed robbery.
62 Letter not enclosed.
63 In excelsis: to a high degree.
64 Neither survive.
65 A reference to the lines from ‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell (1621–78): ‘But at my back I always hear / Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near’.
66 Mai Tai is a white and dark rum based cocktail also including curaçao, syrups and lime juice.
67 James ‘Skip’ Ward (1932–2003) had played the part of Hank Prosner in The Night of the Iguana. Stella Stevens (1938—), actor, glamour model.
68 Jalisco, the province in which Puerto Vallarta is situated.
69 Barbara Streisand (1942—), actor and singer.
70 William Shakespeare. King Lear, Act III, scene iv, a line spoken by Edgar, son of the Earl of Gloucester.
71 Gavin Maxwell (1914–69). The book referred to is probably The Rocks Remain, first published in 1963.
72 Posada Vallarta Hotel, Avenue de los Garzas, Puerto Vallarta.
73 Burro is Spanish for donkey, although it may also refer to a Mexican breed of donkey as opposed to those descended from European stock.
74 Professor Truetta, prominent orthopaedic surgeon.
75 A reference to a charity championed by Ben James.
76 Elizabeth, Lady Longford (1906–2002). Her biography, Victoria RI, was published in 1964.
77 Lytton Strachey, Queen Victoria (1921).
78 Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon (1930—), husband at the time of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930–2002). Mrs Armstrong-Jones is presumably Jennifer, the third wife and widow of the Earl of Snowdon's father Ronald (d. 1966), who was herself to remarry in June 1969. Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard is a character in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood. Rather than Plas Newydd, Burton may mean the Armstrong-Jones home at Plas Dinas, Anglesey. Prince Charles (1948—) was invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon on 1 July 1969.
79 The Investiture came at a time when minority elements within the Welsh nationalist movement were active in planting bombs and threatening violence. Two members of Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (the Movement for the Defence of Wales) were killed when a bomb they were planting outside government offices in Abergele went off prematurely. Burton acted as narrator for Independent Television's coverage of the Investiture ceremony.
80 Charles Darwin (1809–82), The Origin of Species (1859).
/> 81 Neither enclosed. Mira L. Waters (1945—), actor, singer and songwriter.
82 Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch: a village on Anglesey in Wales.
83 Richard's primary school in Taibach.
84 Peter Maas (1929–2001), The Valachi Papers (1968).
85 Alfred Drake (1914–92) played Claudius, King of Denmark, in the 1964 production of Hamlet.
86 See diary entry for 20 October 1967.
87 Ezra Pound (1885–1972), poet.
88 Cunard Cottages, Cwmafan.
89 Michael Hordern was playing Thomas Boleyn in Anne of the Thousand Days and John Colicos (1928–2000) was playing Thomas Cromwell. Colicos would also act alongside Burton in Raid on Rommel.
90 The Governor of Jalisco was Francisco Medina Ascencio.
91 Evelyn Waugh (1903–66), Put Out More Flags (1942).
92 Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall (1928). The actual line (from p. 23 of the Penguin edition of 1937 is ‘"That,” said Dr Fagan [the headmaster of Llanabba Castle] with some disgust, “is my daughter.”’
93 This is probably a reference to the line ‘The Lieutenant-Colonel looked at Basil with detestation, from Put Out More Flags, p. 64.
94 Cwlffyn is Welsh for ‘hunk’ or ‘lump’.
95 Evelyn Waugh. Scoop (1938); A Little Learning (1964); Officers and Gentlemen (1955); Men at Arms (1952).
96 Harry Karl (1914–82), businessman, running Karl's Shoe Stores retail chain, married (1960–73) to Debbie Reynolds (1932—), actor, singer, former wife of Eddie Fisher. A reference is also made to Queen Mary (Mary of Teck) (1867–1953), who had become Queen Dowager on the death of her husband, King George V (1865–1936), and to the ocean liner the RMS Queen Mary, in service 1936–67. Burton and Taylor had travelled on the Queen Elizabeth (not the Queen Mary) across the Atlantic in October 1964: Karl and Reynolds had been on the same voyage.
97 A reference to Julius Caesar, Act II, scene ii, where Caesar says ‘Cowards die many times before their deaths, / The valiant never taste of death but once.’
98 Aida, opera by Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901). Trumpet Voluntary by Henry Purcell (1659–95).
99 Burton may mean Charles Warwick Evans (1885–1974), cellist, who founded the London String Quartet, in 1908.
100 Adolph ‘Sailor’ Malan (1910–63), RAF fighter pilot in the Second World War. Group-Captain Leonard Cheshire (1917–92), RAF bomber pilot and recipient of the Victoria Cross, also from the Second World War. American Second World War hero Audie Murphy (1925–71). Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967), First World War poet and recipient of the Military Cross.
101 Dick Hanley and John Lee.
102 Anthony Quayle (1913–89) was playing Cardinal Wolsey in Anne of the Thousand Days. He had produced and directed Burton at Stratford in a production of Henry IV (Part I), had played alongside him in that production and in Henry IV (Part 2), and had produced and directed him in Henry V.
103 Mary Ure (1933–75), had played alongside Burton in Look Back in Anger and Where Eagles Dare.
104 Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr (1921–2007) had played alongside Burton in The Night of the Iguana. Olivia de Havilland (1916—) had co-starred with him in My Cousin Rachel. Edith Evans (1888–1976) had had a part in Look Back in Anger. Fay Compton (1894–1978) had appeared on stage with Burton in Hamlet, King John, Coriolanus and The Tempest in 1953–4. Jean Simmons (1929–2010) co-starred with Burton in The Robe. Dorothy McGuire (1916–2001) had co-starred with Burton in Legend of Lovers. Helen Hayes (1900–93) had played opposite Burton in Time Remembered. Zena Walker (1934–2003) had appeared in a number of productions at the Old Vic, including Henry V in 1955–6.
105 Elisabeth Rachel Felix, known as Rachel (1821–58), Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923), Eleanora Duse (1858–1924), actors.
106 Henry Mancini (1924–94), composer and conductor.
107 Eric Morecambe (1926–84) and Ernie Wise (1925–99), popular comedians who appeared in the Morecambe and Wise Show on British television.
108 A phrase from T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land (1922).
109 Margaret Furse (1911–74), costume designer for Anne of the Thousand Days. She was to receive an Oscar for her work on this film. She had been costume designer on Becket.
110 Hans Holbein the Younger (1498–1543), artist, who was King's Painter to Henry VIII.
111 Gore Vidal wrote three novels between 1952 and 1954 under the pseudonym Edgar Box. Morpheus: the Greek God of sleep and dreams.
112 Burton had played Heathcliff in a television production of Wuthering Heights for NBC in 1958
113 Siân Owen, daughter of Richard's sister Hilda.
114 Wynford Vaughan Thomas (1908–87), broadcaster, at this time Director of Programmes for HTV. Mike Towers was the co-ordinating director for ITV.
115 Shepperton Studios, Middlesex. The ‘old house’ is Littleton Park Manor, a seventeenth-century manor house.
116 Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire. The road distance between Shepperton and Aston Clinton is about 48 miles. Ivor was a patient at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, location of the national spinal injuries centre. The hospital is about four miles from Aston Clinton.
117 Hal Wallis (1898–1986), the producer. Charles Jarrott (1927—), the director.
118 This is a reference to the poems ‘Pied Beauty’ and ‘Felix Randal’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89). ‘Pied Beauty’ includes the line ‘All things counter, original, spare, strange’ and ends with the line ‘Praise him’. Felix Randal's last line is ‘Didst fettle for the great grey drayhorse his bright and battering sandal!’
119 'The baby’ is a reference to Elizabeth.
120 Patricia, Joseph Losey's third wife.
121 Terence Hanbury White (1906–64), known as ‘T. H.’ or ‘Tim’, novelist, author of The Once and Future King sequence of four novels (1938–58), on which was based the musical Camelot.
122 In Verses (privately printed, 1962). ‘Vodka Poem To Richard Burton’ is the last in the volume (p. 43).
123 Jason Robards (1922–2000), actor.
124 Denis Quilley (1927–2003) played the part of Weston. Burton presumably means T. P. McKenna not O'Connor. McKenna (1929–2011) was playing the part of Norris. He would act alongside Burton again in Villain. However, Joseph O'Connor (1910–2001, sometimes O'Conor) was playing the part of Bishop Fisher in Anne of the Thousand Days. Cusack presumably refers to Cyril Cusack.
125 Gary Bond (1940–95) played the part of Smeaton. He had appeared in Zulu. The unnamed actor might be Peter Jeffrey (1929–99), who played the part of Norfolk in Anne of the Thousand Days, and with whom Burton had worked on Becket.
126 Tina Louise (1934—), actor, most famous for her role in the television series Gilligan's Island.
127 Sir Henry Morgan (1635–88), Welsh buccaneer.
128 A César Award for Best Actress.
129 Margaret Hinxman, journalist, film critic, novelist.
130 From Thomas Carlyle's (1795–1881) Signs of the Times (1829): ‘The poorest Day that passes over us is the conflux of two Eternities.’
131 Elia ‘Gadge’ Kazan (1909–2003), director, producer, playwright, novelist, and co-founder of the Actors’ Studio.
132 John Neville (1925–2011), who had acted with Burton in the Old Vic productions of Hamlet, King John, Twelfth Night, Coriolanus, The Tempest, Henry V and Othello in the mid 1950s.
133 Fergus Cashin (1925–2004), then working for the Daily Sketch, who would become one of Burton's biographers.
134 The interview appeared as ‘Richard Burton with Kenneth Tynan’, in Hal Burton (ed.), Acting in the Sixties (1970).
135 All Nazi concentration camps.
136 Sidney Poitier (1927—).
137 Lox cured salmon fillet, typically served in a bagel.
138 The Guinea Grill, Mayfair.
139 A more modest (though still well-appointed) motor vehicle.
140 Burton's friend the actor Robert Hardy.
141 Buck's Club, a
gentlemen's club established in 1919 and situated at 18 Clifford Street, London.
142 Possibly Richard's nephew, Gareth Owen.
143 Burton provided the narrative for the 1969 son et lumière at Blenheim Palace.
144 The Kalizma was berthed at Prince's Stairs, Rotherhithe.
145 Institut Montesano, Gstaad, a girls’ boarding school. Simmy: Simoleke Taylor.
146 Neil Balfour.
147 Burton is here referring to William Wordsworth's poem, ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge’ (1802), which includes the lines ‘The beauty of the morning: silent, bare’, and ‘Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; / And all that mighty heart is lying still!’.
148 William Wordsworth, ‘Michael: A Pastoral Poem’ (1800).
149 A reference to the lines from Wordsworth's ‘Tintern Abbey’ (1798): ‘And I have felt / A presence that disturbs me with the joy / Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime / Of something far more deeply interfused, / Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, / And the round ocean and the living air, / And the blue sky, and in the mind of man’.
150 A reference to lines from the poem ‘Lost in France’ by Ernest Rhys (1859–1946): ‘He had the ploughman's strength / in the grasp of his hand; / he could see a crow / three miles away’.
151 William Somerset Maugham. (1874–1965), novelist, short story writer.
152 Albert Camus (1913–60), novelist.
153 Praxiteles, sculptor of Classical Greece, probably alive in the fourth century BC.
154 Wendy and Derek Jenkins, the daughter-in-law and son of Gwyneth Jenkins, lived in East Molesey, Surrey.
155 The Leicester Arms Hotel, Penshurst, Tonbridge, Kent.
156 Hever Castle was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. In 1969 it was owned by the Astor family, William Astor (1951—) being the 4th Viscount Astor. Penshurst Castle is usually known as Penshurst Place and is owned by the Sidney family. In 1969 the head of the family was William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle (1909–91).
157 Robert Shaw (1927–78) had played the role in A Man For All Seasons.
158 Usually written Shitsu or Shih-tzu.
159 Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), explorer.
160 La Guaira, Venezuela.
161 Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519), Renaissance man. Albert Einstein (1879–1955), physicist. Charles Darwin (1809–82), naturalist and scientist. Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536), philosopher and theologian. Ivan Turgenev (1818–83), novelist. William Shakespeare (1564–1616), playwright. Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837), playwright, novelist, poet. Aristotle (384–322BC), philosopher. Pythagoras (c.570–c.495BC), mathematician and philosopher. Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), theorist of psychoanalysis. August Strindberg (1849–1912), novelist, essayist, playwright. ‘Fleurs du Mal’ is a reference to the poetry of Charles Baudelaire (1821–67). Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–98), poet. Socrates (469–399BC), philosopher. ‘The Huxleys’ is a reference to the multi-talented Huxley family, including Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95), biologist, and his grandsons Julian Huxley (1887–1975), zoologist, biologist and humanitarian; Aldous Huxley (1894–1963), novelist and essayist; and Andrew Huxley (1917–2012), winner (together with two colleagues) of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for research into the central nervous system.