OCR Text |
Show Family Weekly Elizabeth knows a lot about apparently she still has TAYLOR much to learn about Richard Burton. eight-year-o- she would not have permitted their relationship to become a headline affair. She would have enjoyed the attention shown Otherwise, lief citing personality in show business:' But she would not have expected it to be anything more than a temporary romance. Many beautiful women have flitted through. Burton's life. "but as an old friend of his say&I "Nothing really counts with Dick except his marriage and his work. He adores, his wife Sybil arid their daughters, Katherine, 4y2, and Jessica, 2y2. And you should see how the little girls love him and his impudent sense of play. He is so amazingly adept with them, much more so than most men are. Why, he even bathes and feeds them." People who know Burton well are sure he never made any false promises to Elizabeth. They point ojut that one of his dominant characteristics is a blunt, almost cruel, honesty. . He is even honest about his weakness for women. "The instant. I see a lovely girl, I" .start telling her the nicest possible things, meaning to please her,'-- ' Burton has said. Until his misadventure with Elizabeth in Rome, none of his momentary romances has had a serious effect on his family life. scandal broke because le Burton-Taylo- r and Elizabeth is an exceedingly woman who never before had enstrong-wille- d countered a man who was unattainable to her. And never before had Richard become involved witha woman who reacted so violently when he displeased her. Her anger culminated in stretcher junkets to a clinic, where her hys- terical didoes were variously reported as resulting from exhaustion, food poisoning, and an injured nose. The difficulties were compounded when these events threatened the production of "Cleo-patrathe movie that brought: Richard and Elizabeth together in Rome. More than has been invested in the troublesome film, with the very future of the 20th Century-Fo- x empire at stake. self-indulge- nt theater that day. Richard and slumped in their chairs,-clos- e had lost the game. As .Sybil room, Richard lifted his f aee glared, and demanded,' "Well, you .want?" Until Elizabeth threatened the marriage, Sybil could always dismiss Richard's flirtations with the remark, "He would bejust as charming to woman." girl-o- r an an Sybil Williams met Richard Burton while they were playing in Emlyn Williams' "The d Last Days of Dolwyn." Riehai waiMihe-jiBwile- ed old Sybil had a bit part. Five months later, on Feb. 5, 149 at 8:4.5 a.m. they were married. After a wedding breakfast at a friend's flat, v Sybil had to rush off to do a matinee of "Har- 80-year-o- Jd ld - AomairtdBe y 4 - Thetruth about the well-bre- d gur0jf-iYerc- a i me toth ethate&mueh4 she was not a stage wife," Haft says. "But when she was there, she didn't fade into the scenery. ' In spite of the much-publicize- The Burton marriage was never convention idyllic. But whatever outside problems may have beset it, it was always basically stng. Roman romance, d Burton seemed as devoted as ever to wife Sybil he Last Christmas, he. turned down fantastic sums for guest appearances on the Dinah Shore and Perry Como television shdws. Instead, he appeared elsewhere to read the work of the late Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas for which he received no pay. The, stage is.Burton's, favorite metier. He vey." Richard and his brother stayed on at the flat to listen to a championship rugby match between Wales and Scotland. She was not a bit disturbed because her husband of a few hours didrimiu)r was something she had to do. The radio broad cast was, for rugby-ma- d Richard, something he had tolisten toIf simplyiaicoiir. ventional husband, she would have married someone else. Sybil likes to tell about her return from the she-hadvant- She-waseve- rjtt " i The Burtons were invited to join the expensive clubs where the Hollywood swim in abbrein most heated pools and the viated attire. Instead, they chose to bask in the sun while seated on the curb outside Richard's dressing room. A studio executive found them there one day, Richard in rumpled slacks and a T shirt, Sybil in the simplest cotton dress. He was horrified. This behavior alone would have been enpugh to give the Burtons a bad name in Hollywood. But there was more. During an interview, Richard called attention to the socks he was wear-in- g and announced that he had "swtped them" from, the studio wardrobe department. "They have so many!" he said. Then he added: "I don't spend a penny unless I have to; I'm the meanest man in the world." Neither statement, of course, is realty true. When he feels like it, Burton can be very cava- ier about money. And, as many persons know from personal experience, he can be the soul of kindness and generosity. sun-bat- tempestuous Welshman is: he likes the ladies his wife most of all Reckoned With charm, vivacious humor, and prematurely white hair which is dramatically beautiful against her flawless complexion. Svhil is woman to he reckoned with. She is recalled vividly by Bernard Haft, stage man ager of "Camelot," the Broadway musical in which Burton starred before going to Rome. woman of from his hands, woman, Swhat do for Free Sun-Bathi- ng 00 Another factor was that never before had a rival underestimated Sybil Burton, a striking walked into the high-price- ." $30,-000,0- Wale.4 . Burton and Liz in tense scene from "Cleopatra," the movie that brought them together in Rome. "ST" V 2 lf"',tf" V ' to tears What Sybil wanted, has always wanted, and all of appaftlytilJvaii his strange contradictions of modesty and a need to be "on stage," his devotion and his : shocking errancy. "She's mad about him," her friends say, as with one voice. Hollywood, however, was not so" mad ahout Richard when he arrived there in 1952. The blase film colony is not easily shaken by the eccentricities of actors. But it was taken aback by one Burton peccadillo his frugality. Heand Sybil horrified theHvnwhen they moved from the penthouse a friend had rented for them into a smaller place totally lacking in chic. Soon they also deserted the d Chasen and LaRue restaurants, which had been recommended to themr-io- r a little place where the Tood'wa'sTgood and" the prices""mo3estr Twenty-two-year-ol- ft- - his brother were ed went into the movies, where the big money lies, t)hly after seeing the best parts on the stage go to actors who had scfeeir credits. He wanted the parts and believed he should have them. AsJtoJIurtoft by an English girl who fell ill while working as a technician in-Hollywood studio. She was well known to all of the town's British col- bny. But it was Richard who gave her money, visited her regularly, and when she was un-- v conscious, sat beside her quoting Bible verses. a (Continued on page 9) Family Weekly, July 8, 19C2 7 |