Richard Burton was a global icon – famed for his powerful, baritone voice and passionate yet tumultuous relationship with fellow megastar Elizabeth Taylor. But until now, few had ever heard of Philip Burton. Philip was Richard’s school teacher who spotted his potential, became his legal guardian, lent him his name and helped propel him to international stardom. “It was a friendship built for the ages, an unlikely friendship,” said Ed Talfan, a producer on new biopic Mr Burton, which was released in UK cinemas on Friday.
Philip grew up 30 miles from Richard in Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf. “Philip had a rather tragic and lonely childhood,” said historian and Philip’s biographer Prof Angela John, who acted as an informal consultant on the film. His father was killed in a pit accident when Philip was only 14… he wasn’t that close to his mother and he’d been very close to his father.
Philip was an avid reader and theatre lover who won a scholarship to Cardiff University to read Maths when he was only 16. “In a way he forged a whole new persona,” said Angela. “He had sort of ironed out his Welsh accent because unfortunately in those days, if you wanted to get on and if you wanted to be taken seriously in England… you had to sadly get rid of your accent.”
Philip went on to work on almost 200 radio programmes, producing work by Dylan Thomas. He reinvented himself in the mid-1950s, moving to the US where he became the first director of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. Richard and Philip remained close throughout their lives apart from a two-year period when they were not in contact. “Philip wouldn’t talk to Richard because he was so loyal to Sybil, Richard’s first wife,” said Angela.
It clearly helps to make Philip better known to the world, which I think he does deserve to be. He deserves to be known in his own right because he actually was a remarkable man.
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