The Richard Burton Diaries

by Richard Burton

  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.’

  168 Turnout at the 1970 general election was 72%, as against 75.8% in 1966. It was to rise to 78.8% at the February 1974 general election. Labour support is generally thought to be more vulnerable than that of the Conservatives to a low turnout, and it was widely predicted by opinion pollsters during the campaign that there would be greater abstention amongst Labour supporters. In fact, as David Butler and Michael Pinto-Duchinsky note in their study The British General Election of 1970 (1971) (p.184): ‘The actual voting figures ... give no support to the idea that Labour abstention was the key factor in the results’, and suggest that there was a differential turnout of only 1% in the Conservatives’ favour.

  169 Frank Beard (1939—), Pro (1970).

  170 Arnold Palmer (1929—); Gary Player (1935—); Jack Nicklaus (1940—); Billy Casper (1931—), all golfers.

  171 Peter Ustinov played the part of the doctor in Hammersmith Is Out. Elizabeth Taylor played the part of Jimmie Jean Jackson, and Burton that of Hammersmith.

  172 Leslie Caron (1931—), actor and dancer. Daddy Long Legs (1955), film directed by Jean Negulesco.

  173 A reference to Ecclesiastes 9: 10: ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.’

  174 King Richard speaking in Richard II, Act V, scene v.

  175 General Confession from Morning Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer (1662): ‘We have left undone those things which we ought to have done’.

  176 San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.

  177 John D. Macdonald (1916–86), who wrote a 21-vol. series featuring the character Travis Magee.

  178 Erle Stanley Gardner (1889–1970), who published under many pseudonyms and created the character Perry Mason.

  179 By ‘fave’ Burton means fava beans, also known as broad beans.

  180 Alex Lucas would produce Hammersmith Is Out.

  181 Mexicali, state capital of Baja California, and on the border between Mexico and the USA.

  182 Karl-Otto Alberty (1933—) played the part of Captain Heinz Schröder. He would also play alongside Burton in Bluebeard.

  183 Ruben's Campground Hotel, San Felipe.

  184 Lewis Chester, Godfrey Hodgson and Bruce Page, An American Melodrama: The Presidential Campaign of 1968 (1969).

  185 Buckingham Palace.

  186 William F. Buckley (1925–2008), political columnist and writer.

  187 Hotel Lucerna, Boulevard Benito Juarez, Mexicali.

  188 Clinton Greyn (1936—), Welsh actor. Danielle De Metz (1938—) played the part of Vivi in Raid on Rommel.

  189 Eugene McCarthy (1916–2005), US Senator (1959–71) and sometime candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency.

  190 Ronald Reagan (1911–2004), at this time Governor of California, former film actor, and future President of the United States (1981–9).

  191 The opening shot of the film.

  192 Francis Clifford, The Naked Runner (1965). ‘Grapple-snapping’: a family term for snacking from the refrigerator.

  193 Marlon Brando gave financial support to the Black Panthers and also spoke out in support of the rights of Native Americans.

  194 Robert Emmet (1778–1803), United Irishman and leader of the 1803 Irish rebellion.

  195 Brian Hutton (1935—) had directed Where Eagles Dare and would direct Elizabeth Taylor in X, Y and Zee.

  196 James Barlow's 1968 novel was called The Burden of Proof. The film title was changed to Villain.

  197 Southend-on-Sea, Essex. ‘The Smoke’: London.

  198 Edna O'Brien (1930—), novelist and screenwriter. This was published in 1971 under the title Zee & Co and became the film of that name (in the USA), titled X, Y and Zee in Britain.

  199 Robert Redford (1937—).

  200 VJ Day: to mark Victory over Japan in the Second World War. Mafeking Night refers to the celebrations in Britain when news was received in May 1900 of the relief of the British garrison of Mafeking during the South African War of 1899–1902.

  201 Refers to Siegfried Sassoon's poem, ‘Everyone Sang’ (1918).

  202 The ‘Common Market’ was a familiar phrase at that time, used to describe what was then termed the European Economic Community, which the United Kingdom would join in 1973.

  203 Romany Bain was a showbusiness journalist.

  204 This refers to the part of Brown played by Greg Mullavey (1932—).

  205 Michael Sevareid (1940—) played the part of Wembley, so it is likely that Burton is confused here over the real name of the actor playing Brown.

  206 Rod McKuen (1933—).

  207 Hotel Arnold's Del Mar, San Felipe.

  208 John Orchard (1928–95) played the part of Dan Garth.

  209 Harry Tatelman (1914–97), the producer of Raid on Rommel.

  210 Easy Rider (1969), directed by Dennis Hopper (1936–2010).

  211 Possibly the name of Liza's horse. Taylor's second husband, Michael Wilding, had starred in the film Derby Day (1952).

  212 Nigel Green (1924–72) had played Private Wilkins in Bitter Victory. He had also appeared in Zulu.

  213 Leslie Howard (1893–1943), actor, renowned for playing archetypal English gentlemen.

  214 Sinatra had made a statement on 9 July that he was supporting Ronald Reagan in his bid for a second term as Governor of California.

  215 Joyce Haber (1931–93), Hollywood columnist for the LA Times.

  216 Jesse Unruh (1922–87), Democratic politician in California (Speaker of the State Assembly, 1961–9) and in 1970 unsuccessful candidate for Governor.

  217 A reference to the poem ‘The Scholar-Gypsy’ (1853) by Matthew Arnold (1822–88).

  218 William Manchester (1922–2004), The Arms of Krupp, 1587–1968 (1968).

  219 The actual reference is (p. 101): ‘Now he [Alfred Krupp] was proposing to load his barrels from the rear. The officer corps considered the idea funny as a crutch.’

  220 This is a reference to Hamlet, Act III, scene ii: ‘trippingly on the tongue’.


  221 Wolfgang Preiss (1910–2002) had previously appeared in The Longest Day, although not there playing the part of Rommel.

  222 Churchill had cited ‘the saying’, ‘The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet’, in a speech before a Joint Session of Congress on 19 May 1943.

  223 A meerschaum is a name for an ornate pipe.

  224 William Faulkner (1897–1962), A Fable (1954), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and a National Book Award.

  225 Burton means a Kojah mink pelt.

  226 Ross MacDonald (1915–83).

  227 'Charro’: Mexican horseman.

  228 Allen Welsh Dulles (1893–1969), American intelligence operative in Switzerland during much of the Second World War, later the first civilian Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

  229 Super Chief: passenger train from LA to Chicago. QE2: Queen Elizabeth II, ocean liner.

  230 Edward Gibbon's (1737–94) The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–89).

  231 Burton means Frank Beetson, unit production manager on Raid on Rommel.

  232 Laurence J. Peter (1919–90) and Raymond Hull (1919–85), The Peter Principle (1969) suggested that ‘in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence’.

  233 Cyril Northcote Parkinson (1909–93) expounded the notion, in his book Parkinson's Law (1958), that ‘work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion’.

  234 Hedda Hopper (1885–1966), actor, radio and television host and Hollywood columnist for the LA Times. Haber (no relation) had taken up this post in 1968.

  235 Burbank Airport, Burbank, Los Angeles County, California.

  236 Henry Wilding, Michael's father.

  237 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), directed by George Roy Hill (1921–2002) and starring Paul Newman (1925–2008) and Robert Redford.

  238 Beau Bridges (1941—) was to take the part of Billy Breedlove in Hammersmith Is Out.

  239 The Landlord (1970), directed by Hal Ashby (1929–88) and starring Beau Bridges.

  240 Jim Bouton (1939—), Ball Four (1969).

  241 Gallup and Albuquerque, both in New Mexico.

  242 Arthur Hailey (1920–2004), Airport (1970).

  243 The Broadway Limited was the passenger train operating between Chicago and New York.

  244 Penn Station, New York.

  245 Regency Hotel, Park Avenue, New York.

  246 Rumpelmeyer's was located in the St Moritz Hotel, Central Park South and Sixth Avenue.

  247 Shake Hands with the Devil (1959), directed by Michael Anderson (1920—).

  248 The Colony Restaurant was at Madison Avenue and 61st Street, New York.

  249 Alan Jay Lerner (1918–86), writer and lyricist, co-author (with Frederick Loewe, 1901–88) of Camelot (stage play and film). Lerner wrote an adaptation of The Little Prince which Burton narrated in 1974. The original work was a novella, Le Petit Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–44) (1943).

  250 Clint Eastwood did not appear in the film.

  251 John le Carré (1931—), The Looking-Glass War (1965). Le Carré had previously written the novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963).

  252 National Velvet (1945), directed by Clarence Brown (1890–1987).

  253 A reference to the island of Elba, where Napoleon Bonaparte (‘Boney’) was exiled from April 1814 to February 1815. The ‘hundred days’ refers to Bonaparte's final campaign, which began with his escape from Elba on 26 February 1815 and ended shortly after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815.

  254 Theodore Harold White (1915–86), The Making of the President 1968 (1969).

  255 A blend of champagne and stout, usually Guinness.

  256 A brand of tear gas, often used for personal defence.

  257 Burton means Portoferraio, Elba.

  258 Villa dei Mulini.

  259 Burton means ‘motoscafona’ – motor boat. Piombino is the port on the Italian mainland closest to Elba from which ferry services operate.

  260 Rashomon (1950), directed by Akira Kurosawa (1910–98).

  261 Burton must mean the island of Gorgona, approximately two-thirds of the way between Portofino and Elba.

  262 Burton means a milometer and speedometer.

  263 E. F. Goldman (1916–89), The Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson (1969).

  264 Rio Marina, on the east coast of Elba.

  265 Burton is referring to a mutinous incident aboard HMS Iveston, berthed in Ullapool, Scotland.

  266 Hotel Les Aloes, Sal Les Aloes, Calvi.

  267 On the west coast of Corsica roughly equidistant between Calvi and Ajaccio.

  268 Hotel La Verniaz, Neuvecelle-Eglise, Evian-les-Bains, on the southern shore of Lake Geneva.

  269 Burton is referring to the filming of Villain.

  270 Elliott Kastner was executive producer of Villain.

  271 Not entirely true, as also appearing in Villain were T. P. McKenna, Cathleen Nesbitt, and Brook Williams.

  1971

  1 Burton was playing the part of Yugoslavia's Marshal Tito, born Josip Broz (1892–1980), President of Yugoslavia (1953–80), in a film recreating the 1943 battle of Sutjeska (also known as the fifth anti-partisan offensive) between Tito's Partisans and German forces.

  2 Saturday Review was an American weekly magazine published from 1924 to 1986.

  3 Heathfield School, London Road, Ascot.

  4 W. C. Fields (1880–1946), actor, comedian, writer. He is credited with a number of lines disparaging children, including ‘I like children – fried’.

  5 Christy Brown (1932–81), novelist, poet and artist who suffered from severe cerebral palsy. His autobiography, My Left Foot was published in 1954, and in 1970 was used as the basis for Brown's novel Down All the Days.

  6 Mrs Diana Ladas (1913—), headmistress of Heathfield School.

  7 Stan Stennett (1925—), actor and comedian. Porthcawl is a seaside town in South Wales, eight miles south-east of Taibach.

  8 Stan Smith (USA) (1946—) beat Tom Gorman (USA) (1946—), 6–3, 8–6, 6–2 and John Newcombe (Australia) (1944—) beat Ken Rosewall (Australia) 6–1, 6–1, 6–3.

  9 At the Swiss Open championships.

  10 Anthony Shaffer, author of the screenplay for what would become the film Absolution, in which Burton starred. His brother Peter (later Sir Peter) would write Equus, which Burton would act in on stage and on film.

  11 Joseph Losey would direct Burton in The Assassination of Trotsky, Burton playing the title role of Leon Trotsky (1879–1940).

  12 Beatrix Miller was the editor of the British edition of Vogue from 1965 to 1983. By the ‘Snowdons’ Burton means Princess Margaret and her husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, the 1st Earl Snowdon. The article (which is bound amidst the pages of the diary) is a draft of ‘My Day’, an article that appeared in Vogue, 1 September 1971.

  13 John Newcombe (Australia) beat Tom Okker (Netherlands), 6–2, 5–7, 1–6, 7–5, 6–3 at the Swiss Open in Gstaad.

  14 John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006), economist and writer.

  15 Kingsley Amis (1922–95), The Green Man (1969).

  16 George Thomas (1909–97), Labour MP for Cardiff West, later Speaker of the House of Commons, and Viscount Tonypandy. Thomas had written to Burton in connection with the flotation on the Stock Exchange of HTV, asking Burton to use his influence to place HTV's business with the Hodge financial group, based in Cardiff.

  17 Llew Heycock (1905–90), a leading figure in the Labour Party in South Wales, who had been elevated to the peerage as Baron Heycock of Taibach in 1967.

  18 Telegram from Beatrix Miller enthusiastically accepting Burton's article.

  19 Assimil, a French publishing house specializing in language learning.

  20 Ici Paris: a weekly magazine.

  21 President Nixon (1913–94) would actually visit China in February 1972.

  22 A reference to the song ‘California, sweet homeland of mine’, which includes the lines ‘N
eath the palm of the sheltering pine / California, sweet homeland of mine’.

  23 This film is probably Absolution.

  24 Dubrovnik, city on the Adriatic coast, in the then state of Yugoslavia (now in Croatia). Jersey, the Channel Islands.

  25 Maurice B. Solowicz, Fert & Cie, Voyages/Transports, of Rue Fendt, Geneva, Burton's car dealer.

  26 Tribune de Genève: Geneva's daily newspaper.

  27 Manège: a riding school.

  28 Absolution would eventually be made in 1978 but not released until 1981.

  29 ‘Tamping’ meaning mad, furious.

  30 Villefranche-sur-Mer: resort and port between Nice and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

  31 Stavros Spyros Niarchos (1909–96), shipping tycoon. Creole was his luxury yacht, which he sold following the death of his wife in 1970.

  32 Beth Clutter, wife of Michael Wilding Jr.

  33 Nikola Popovic, producer of The Battle of Sutjeska.

  34 Burton had owned 2, Squire's Mount Cottages, Hampstead, London since 1960, and it had been used as a home by Ivor and Gwen and, after Ivor's accident, by Gwen alone.

  35 Sir William Deakin (1913–2005), The Embattled Mountain (1971).

  36 Mad, a satirical magazine published in the USA. Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), novelist, perhaps most famous for Steppenwolf (1927). Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), writer on the occult, philosopher, mountain climber and explorer.

  37 Cuernavaca, Mexican city.

  38 By ‘Blacke’ Burton probably means William Blake (1757–1827), poet, mystical writer, artist.

  39 By ‘the Brass’ Burton presumably means ‘the top brass’ – the highest-ranking officials.

  40 Bevin boys were men conscripted to work in the coal industry, as opposed to being enlisted into the armed forces, during the Second World War.

  41 The Official Secrets Act is a piece of legislation aimed at ensuring the restriction of sensitive information usually related to national security.

  42 For more, in the same vein, see Anthony Shaffer, So What Did You Expect? (2001), pp. 14–17.

  43 Christopher Miles (1939—). Sarah Miles (1941—). This could be intended to be either humourless or humorous.

  44 Claude Gill Books, Oxford Street. The ‘nameless’ one being the baby.