Gorgeous Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor is known not only for her outstanding acting talent, “hot” temperament, bright appearance and collection of luxurious jewelry, but also for her numerous romance novels, which the whole world watched with interest.
Passionate and beautiful woman In my entire life I have been married 8 times! Moreover, she married the same man twice. His name is Richard Burton, and this is the most beautiful and brightest Hollywood lovestory of the twentieth century...
First meeting
Like many acting couples, Elizabeth and Richard first met on the set. It was 1962, filming took place in Rome: Taylor was chosen to play the role of Cleopatra in the film of the same name by Joseph Mankiewicz, and Barton received the role of Mark Antony. Elizabeth at that time was already a famous actress, and Richard was not yet popular in Hollywood, but the man managed to become a real star of the London theater stage.
Barton was already married then. The actor even took his wife and two children with him to the shooting. Elizabeth was also not free: her husband, Eddie Fisher, was waiting for her at home.
Liz didn’t remember the first meeting with the love of her life at all, but the actor was very impressed.
“She was so beautiful that I almost laughed out loud. Elizabeth was amazing. Magnificent. She sucked in like a black hole. And she didn’t care about me.”
Richard Burton
Passion flared up suddenly during the filming of one of the first love scenes. Members of the film crew immediately noticed that sparks were flying between the actors playing the main roles: kisses lasted longer than they should have according to the script, Richard and Elizabeth constantly disappeared somewhere between filming, and then began to miss filming days altogether due to... for your dates.
Passion
The lovers had a furious temperament: they often quarreled, heatedly reconciled, and then, without saying a word to anyone, disappeared again for several days. To be alone, they had to run away from the whole world: from work, friends and legal spouses. One day, Richard and Elizabeth ran away from the set and went to a villa in Porto San Stefano. About where the actors are and how their romance is developing in full swing, the public might not have found out if it weren’t for the nosy paparazzi who captured the celebrities’ vacation on a rented yacht.
On March 15, 1964, Barton and Taylor, under the surname Smith, checked into the Ritz Hotel in Montreal and on the same day became legal spouses.
Costume designer Irene Sharaf created a soft yellow chiffon dress as a wedding dress for the bride. Elizabeth decorated her head with flowers: lilies and hyacinths.
Brand
Elizabeth and Richard were truly happy. Both assured that it would be forever. It was a relationship for show, but it was sincere.
“Since childhood, I believed in destiny for every person, and if it really exists, then my destiny is Richard Burton!”
Elizabeth Taylor
Their couple has become a kind of brand. The whole world wanted to know what was new with the Taylor-Bartons. And this was only to the advantage of the actors. When one of them was offered a role, they set a condition: filming would take place if their spouse also took part in this film. Thanks to the fact that their romantic tandem also became creative, in 1967 the Taylor-Barton family earned $200 million. They invested in expensive real estate, works of art and jewelry, which the actress adored so much. Having grown up in a miner's family, Barton could now afford to buy a silver Rolls-Royce and give a green one to his wife.
The man idolized his wife. One day he beat Aristotle Onassis at an auction and bought a Cartier diamond worth one million one hundred thousand dollars for his Liz.
“This diamond should be worn by the most beautiful woman in the world. How could I allow Jackie Kennedy or Sophia Loren to be considered such?”
From Richard Burton's diary
Divorce
The actors' strong relationship and their all-consuming love survived many trials, but ultimately, over time, still turned into ruins. The main reasons for their breakup were said to be the successful career of Elizabeth (who had already won as many as 2 Oscars, while her husband unsuccessfully competed for this award with more successful rivals), the infidelity of the actor, who periodically left his aging wife for young aspiring actresses, as well as the explosive characters of both. Quarrels sometimes reached such proportions that not only neighbors heard the details, but the whole world read them in the press the next morning. Richard went on a spree, started drinking, and Elizabeth threw him hysterics and kicked him out of the house. Ultimately, both allowed themselves to publicly humiliate each other with dirty insults. When Taylor's patience ran out, she proposed a divorce.
One more try
No one wanted to believe that the most beautiful Hollywood couple broke up. And how quickly the actors’ new romances ended further fueled the rumors: Elizabeth and Richard still loved each other.
“All I care about now is whether you are happy. And who you are with is not so important. Never forget about your virtues, do not forget that your sharp tongue hides a wonderful and puritanical lady. Don't forget that you are probably greatest actress in the world. I love you and always will. Come back."
From a letter from Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor
Neither of them built any new strong relationships. One day they met again. They discussed work, got into conversation, hugged tightly, and a few weeks later flew to Africa to remarry. The ceremony took place in the presence of the leader of an African tribe.
The second attempt was unsuccessful: the couple quickly realized that remarriage was a reckless impulse. They could not live together and practically did not communicate all this time. A second divorce followed 16 months later. Despite the presence of more and more novels and even marriages in their lives, Liz and Richard continued to periodically call each other and sometimes met.
Before his death, Richard Burton wrote Elizabeth a letter in which he called her only love his life, and Elizabeth in hers last interview she said: “At first sight in Rome, we were always madly in love with each other.”
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
The romance between Richard and Elizabeth, which began in 1962 on the set of Cleopatra, immediately became the event of the century. In comparison, the passions of the number one modern Hollywood clan - the Brangelinas - look like a sluggish plot of a play from a provincial drama club. It was “Liz and Dick” that ushered in the era of the paparazzi. They were expected to show whims, quirks, and nonsense. And more - so that later you can savor the details and again look at the keyhole with your insatiable eye.
Evil tongues said that not only good sex was to blame for the rapidity of this romance. And certainly not a kinship of souls. For an English theater actor, a relationship with the main Hollywood beauty became a ticket to the big world.
If so, then the calculation soon changed true love. The letters that Burton wrote to Taylor during their marriage are proof of this: “My eyes go blind without seeing you. You don’t realize how fantastically beautiful you are...”
In the early fifties, Burton, the twelfth child in a family of Welsh miners, competed for the stage championship in London, and then, together with his then wife Sybil, set off to conquer Hollywood, where he quickly acquired a reputation as a tireless lover, drunkard and slob. One day Burton found himself at a lavish party. He drank, chatted and gazed around, stunned by the tons of glistening female flesh. “Suddenly, one girl at the other end of the pool put down her book, lowered her sunglasses and looked straight at me. She was so beautiful that I almost laughed out loud. She was amazing. Magnificent. Sucked me in like a black hole. And she didn’t care about me.” Actually, I don't really care. The stern indifference with which Elizabeth then looked at men served as armor against empty attention. In addition, she had been married to her second husband, English actor Michael Wilding, for a year. Apart from a few occasional incidents, Burton and Taylor did not see each other for the next nine years. 
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (still from the film Cleopatra)
Their real meeting happened in Rome on the set of Cleopatra. Elizabeth prepared to give her partner the cold shoulder: his affairs (preferably with brunettes) were endless, and Liz was going to immediately make it clear that she was not “one of those.” Burton, at first, also seemed to ignore her, and then gathered his courage and blurted out: “Did anyone tell you that you are beautiful?” Taylor couldn’t believe her ears: “Great lover? Witty? Intellectual? And here it is on you. Gave it out." It was a brilliant gambit: everyone was trying to please Taylor, Burton just made her laugh.
In the very first scene with the kiss, the actors felt as if they were in a drug haze. The director long ago commanded: “Cut,” but the scene continued.
However, Elizabeth was not ready to go through another public divorce (her then-husband "number four" Eddie Fisher left his wife for Taylor), so for some time she and Richard tried to stay away from each other. On set, the actors didn't say anything to each other that wasn't in the script. But it didn't last long. Soon they secretly fled to a tiny villa in Porto San Stefano, and these were the happiest moments in their lives. “I grilled meat. The shower barely dripped and the sheets were always damp. But we all just loved it." 
Elizabeth Taylor with daughter Elizabeth Frances Todd by Michael Todd and Richard Burton in Gstaad (1973)
The crew then went to Ischia to film the naval battle between Mark Antony and Octavian. There, on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea, a photograph was taken that spread around the world: she is in a swimsuit, black hair fluttering in the wind, he is lying down kissing her, two packs of Marlboro are lying at their feet.
In March 1964, Elizabeth received a divorce; Richard divorced in December. After all the formalities were settled, the couple flew to Montreal and settled in the Ritz under the name Smith. That evening, in a small circle, they registered their marriage. Elizabeth wore a yellow chiffon dress designed by Irene Sharaf, the designer of the costumes for Cleopatra, and hyacinths and lilies in her hair. An emerald brooch worth one hundred and fifty thousand then dollars, donated by Burton, shone brightly. It was complemented by a pair of equally catchy earrings - also a gift, but for the wedding. This was Richard's second marriage. For Elizabeth it is the fifth.
They left for Toronto, where the next day Burton was to play Hamlet. When the performance ended, the actor led Elizabeth to the front of the stage by the hand. In a vibrating voice, he once again uttered the Prince of Denmark’s remark addressed to Ophelia: “I say: no more marriages!” The spectators were crying. 
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor on the set of The Taming of the Shrew, 1973
In 1967, Richard and Elizabeth, together and separately, earned two hundred million dollars. They were not just husband and wife, they were a brand. For a million dollars they bought a twin-engine jet designed for ten passengers and named “Elizabeth”, began collecting Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and even picked up a Rembrandt. They each had a Rolls Royce: a silver one for him and a green one for her. They invested in real estate: in Tenerife (for growing bananas), in Ireland (also in business: horse breeding). We bought the villa Casa Kimberly in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, which was even put on the map for the occasion. Plus three houses - his in Celigny and Hampstead in England and her chalet in Gstaad. 
The two weddings of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor
However, the couple lived mainly in hotels, occupying an entire floor to accommodate their children and retinue: three from Elizabeth’s previous marriages, a jointly adopted girl and Burton’s daughter (his second daughter was in a hospital for the mentally ill, and the actor regularly paid considerable bills for medical care ). Someone estimated that Burton supported forty-two people at a time, including his brothers and sisters. And he didn’t spare money: in Rome, Liz wanted chili from a restaurant in Beverly Hills - the order was delivered by plane. In Paris - pork sausages from London. He loved to find the rarest jewelry for his wife, setting price records at auctions, which he himself later broke. Burton bought a thirty-three-carat Krupp diamond for three hundred five thousand dollars (now worth two million). Then he washed Aristotle Onassis himself, taking away his Cartier diamond for one million one hundred thousand. “This diamond was to be worn by the most beautiful woman in the world,” Burton wrote in his diary. “I couldn’t allow Jackie Kennedy or Sophia Loren to be considered that way.”
And then their films stopped making money. "Doctor Faustus", "The Comedians" and especially "Boom" and "His Divorce - Her Divorce" were so closely connected with the private lives of the actors that critics reproached them for parodic voyeurism. Burton discovered that much more money they bring him action. And in order not to send his relatives back to the coal mines, he no longer disdained either TV series or outright film trash. In letters to Elizabeth, he lamented: “I have never given up the thought that acting for a man is ridiculous and shameful. Of course, I won’t escape Ponty and Lauren for one reason: I desperately need money. But, unlike you, I never put my heart into it.” Alcohol and Elizabeth were the few things that gave Richard strength. He honestly tried to quit drinking several times and failed every time.
In April 1970, the Burtons flew to Los Angeles for the Oscars in the hope that Richard would finally win the coveted trophy. This was his sixth nomination - for his role as King Henry the Eighth in The Thousand Days of Anne. 
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (June 1977)
The brilliant couple did everything to win the award. They attended the official Golden Globe luncheon, Elizabeth flashed her new large diamond there and agreed to announce at the ceremony “ Best Film", dressed by the most fashionable costume designer at the time, Edith Head. And for what? John Wayne wins!
After the Oscar failure, Elizabeth and Richard continued acting, but separately. Burton started drinking again. From the set he wrote: “My dear chirping fool, I was shaking so much that I decided not to go to the studio at all. I've already drunk, but I promise - not another drop until you come. Try to come home early and watch the Cassius Clay fight together. I love you, my little thorn.”
By that time, it was obvious that their divorce was not far off. But despite Richard's quarrels and drunkenness, his sexual energy was visible to the naked eye. Elizabeth's leg flashing under the blanket “in those blue pajamas that I like so much” meant that the door was about to slam shut and the couple would begin to play tricks. They felt like they did back in the sixties secret lovers, indulging in forbidden passion to spite the whole world. And this excited them terribly. 
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (September 1970)
A few months before the divorce was announced, Burton wrote to Elizabeth, who was sleeping in the next room: “My dear sleeping child. I was used to treating women badly, using them more as an exercise in my own masculinity. But I felt how stupid it was of me to even try to treat you the way I was used to. One day I just woke up in love. It was damn hard to give my all to another person."
Here is another letter of grief, marked “very personal.” “All I care about now is whether you are happy, and with whom it’s not so important. Never forget your strange virtues, do not forget that your sharp tongue hides a wonderful and puritanical lady. Don't forget that you are probably the greatest actress in the world. I would like to borrow a moment of fire and passion from you, but take me as I am: cold as ice. I love you and always will. Come back."
Still on a drinking binge, Richard called Elizabeth and demanded that she meet him on Long Island. As soon as Elizabeth got into the limousine at Heathrow Airport, she realized that her husband was drunk. On the way, Richard turned to her and grumbled: “Why the hell did you come here?” By the time the car reached the house, a furious quarrel was in full swing inside. Elizabeth ordered the driver to take her back to New York. She took up residence at the Regency Hotel on Park Avenue, where a few years earlier both spouses had enjoyed their happiness and the triumph of Hamlet. Now Elizabeth has written an official press statement here. “Having lived away from each other, perhaps we will become ourselves again - and this is the guarantee that we could be together again. Pray for us."
Richard began to drink more than ever, and his casual girlfriends were countless. However, despite the outward bravado, he had a hard time parting with Elizabeth. From Venice he wrote to her: “Prometheus was punished by the gods for procuring fire for people, stealing it from the gods, and was doomed to eternal torment. And I am doomed to torment for missing the fire given by the gods. You".
Elizabeth returned to Los Angeles and tried to start over. She began dating Henry Weinberg, a charming Dutch businessman with a reputation as a rake. And in November 1973, the actress was admitted to the hospital - she had to undergo surgery to remove a cyst in the ovaries. Richard flew to California, rushed to the hospital, threw Henry out of the room and... reunited with Elizabeth! “I’m her husband and I need a bed here,” he told the shocked staff.
They got back together and got married a second time (the ceremony took place in Africa). But Richard never curbed his demons, and after alcohol nearly killed him (the actor spent six weeks in the hospital with shaking hands and an ashen face), Elizabeth decided on a second divorce from Burton.
The divorce took place in a small, wood-paneled courtroom in the Swiss town of Saanen. Richard was not present at the meeting. But the judge, out of duty, asked the inescapable question: “Is it true that further life together doesn’t it seem possible to you with your husband?” "Yes. It’s impossible to live with Richard,” Elizabeth answered quietly, dressed in a brown suit. Her tears were hidden by her sunglasses. This was the most painful thing: admitting in official terms that nothing could be done.
Four months later, Richard announced his engagement to the Yugoslav princess. Elizabeth resumed her affair with Weinberg. But none of them managed to turn their love affair into a lasting relationship. Richard's engagement was called off after paparazzi caught him walking with black actress and model Jean Bell, and Elizabeth finally broke up with Weinberg.
When ex-spouses arrived for a meeting with lawyers to discuss their business projects, a crying Elizabeth fell into Richard's arms. A few days later, the press officer announced that his clients were planning to get married again. They decided to hold a repeat ceremony in Botswana. During this most modest action, Elizabeth, fooling around, wrote: “Dear husband, how do you like all this? You really are my husband again. And I have news for your honor: no more marriages - and no more divorces. Your wife." But, of course, there were later marriages and divorces. Nine months later they separated again and Richard married twenty-seven-year-old model Susan Hunt. Elizabeth married John Warner, a future senator from Virginia. But in the early eighties, both were free again, and the public rushed to wonder whether Liz and Dick would get together.
And many years later, after Burton’s marriage to Taylor collapsed and diamonds, yachts and jets left the actor’s life forever, he and his new wife Sally settled in the Swiss town of Seligny. Work on the film based on Orwell's 1984 has been completed. Tormented by headaches, Richard increasingly retired to his attic. There, surrounded by hundreds of books that had once been given to Elizabeth, he once wrote a letter to his former lover. Didn't wait for an answer. An overnight cerebral hemorrhage brought Burton to his grave. 
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton on the set of Cleopatra (1962)
Http://www.tatler.ru/nashi_lyudi/
He was the 12th of 13 children in a Welsh miner's family, but this did not stop Richard Burton from leaving his small town and taking a scholarship to Oxford. With a captivating voice, he has become one of Britain's leading actors. Many called Richard Burton the new Laurence Olivier, but his greatest fame was brought to him by Elizabeth Taylor, with whom he married twice. In honor of the actor’s 95th birthday, we invite you to remember the most interesting pages biography of the inimitable Richard Burton.
Richard Walter Jenkins, known throughout the world as an actor, was born on November 10, 1925 in the small town of Pontrydyfen in Wales. He became the twelfth child in a family of thirteen children. Their mother died when Richard was not even two years old. And his father, Richard Walter, was a miner and often liked to go on weekly sprees, wasting the already meager family budget on booze and gambling. People close to Burton claim that Richard once said: “My father was a lot like me. That is, he was gap-toothed, cunning and knew how to put on the most magnificent smile when he was in trouble. But, besides this, he was a man of extraordinary eloquence, terribly passionate and damn cruel.”
Childhood Richard Burton passed in poverty, and the boy was very lucky that on his way he met someone who was not indifferent to the fate of Richard school teacher Philip Burton. Many teachers encouraged the boy's acting abilities in every possible way, but only one took his future seriously. A few years later, Richard would take his last name as his stage name.
Having spotted the young talent in one of the school productions, Philip Burton began in every possible way to develop in the boy a love of stage and literature, especially the works of Shakespeare. By own initiative he gave Richard a lot of extracurricular lessons, worked a lot on his pronunciation and, in the end, was even able to save future star from a Welsh accent. It was also Philip Burton who helped Richard enter Oxford University after graduation.
Beginning with World War II, from 1944 to 1947, he served as a navigator in the Air Force. To do this, he completed a special six-month course at Oxford University assigned to Royal Air Force cadets.
After graduating military service, Burton settled down to work in one of the London theaters, with which he entered into his first contract. But stage debut Richard Burton took place much earlier, in 1943. Then he played one of the main roles in the play “Druids' Rest” by the famous Welsh playwright and director Emlyn Williams. The actor’s first film debut is also associated with his name: the film “ Last days Dolvina,” released in 1949, in which Burton played one of the main roles, was based on one of Williams’s productions.
Richard Burton in The Last Days of Dolwyn
Thanks to the softness and at the same time strength of the voice Richard Burton his theatrical career was rapidly going up. In addition to the success of numerous stage roles, thanks to his magnificent voice, he was often invited to read plays, poems and some educational programs on the radio. Years later, this side of his work would receive a Grammy Award in the category “Best Recording for Children” for his reading of “The Little Prince.”
Real glory Richard Burton brought his debut on the stage of the Shakespeare Memorial Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon. He played the role of Prince Hal in the production of Henry IV. After this, Burton was often offered roles on Broadway. His first American performance was “A Lady Not to Burn,” based on the play by Christopher Fry, directed by John Gielgud. This success attracted the attention of Hollywood producers to Burton.
Kenneth Tait, an English playwright and theater critic, already described his acting style: “Burton is a calm, brimming pond, and surprisingly deep. At twenty-five years old, he masters the pause perfectly, and his silence is unusually eloquent.”
Richard Burton as Hal
His first film in the United States was the 1952 film My Cousin Rachel, directed by Henry Coster. The main role in this film brought Richard Burton his first Oscar nomination, as well as a win for New star of the Year" according to the Hollywood Association foreign press"Golden Globe". It was then that the press first began to compare Burton to Laurence Olivier.
America immediately fell in love with the British charm of the actor, so the subsequent films “The Rains of Ranchipur”, “King of Players” and “Alexander the Great” were crowned with huge success. After success overseas, Barton began to be invited to British cinema. He played in the films “Bitter Victory”, “The Sailor’s Wife” and “Look Back in Anger”.
The last film became one of best roles in film career Richard Burton. The role of Jim Porter, a young intellectual from the bottom, suited the actor very well. It was as if he was playing himself, telling the story of a guy who had to face all the difficulties of social injustice, alien surroundings and the indifference of loved ones.
Richard Burton in the movie My Cousin Rachel
Richard Burton in Look Back in Anger
But he showed real talent only on stage. Despite the fact that the actor acted a lot, he never abandoned theatrical career, and has played on stages in both the US and UK. In 1960, for his magnificent portrayal of the role of King Arthur in the Broadway production of Camelot, he received one of the most prestigious theater awards, the Tony. This is what cemented his position as a worldwide star.
Richard Burton as King Arthur
On stage, no one could compare to Burton. His voice forced the viewer not to take his eyes off the stage for a second. Moreover, the actor was equally good in both classical and modern productions. When John Gielgud decided to stage Hamlet in a modern interpretation on Broadway in 1964, he never doubted for a minute who to cast. main role. This performance became a real highlight of the season on Broadway, and for Richard Burton the role of Hamlet was one of the most iconic he has ever played.
Although, to my acting career Burton didn't take it very seriously. In an interview with Life magazine, he stated: “The art of acting is universally regarded as a craft, and I maintain that it is nothing else, except in the hands of those few who, just once or twice in their lives, raise it to the level of something unusual, mystical and deeply touching the soul.”
Richard Burton in the production of Hamlet
The brightest page in the biography Richard Burton began in 1961 on the set of the historical drama Cleopatra. He got to play the role of Mark Antony, and the brilliant Elizabeth Taylor played the role of the Queen of Egypt. By this time, he had been married to actress Sybil Williams for 12 years, with whom they raised two daughters. Taylor was also married to her fourth husband, Eddie Fisher. Initially, the actors almost did not communicate with each other, since Burton had a low opinion of his partner, considering her just another beautiful doll. But one day changed everything.
On January 22, 1962, while Burton and Taylor were filming their first intimate scene in Cleopatra, Richard showed up to filming with a terrible hangover. There was nothing to do, work could not stand still, so Liz, without hesitation, brought him a cup of coffee. And, according to eyewitnesses, at that moment something happened between them. For a long time the actors could not come to their senses, and when they finally came to their senses and played the scene, Joseph Mankiewicz, the director of the film, smiling, asked Taylor and Burton a question: “Am I disturbing you?”
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in the film Cleopatra
This novel did not promise anything good for filming. In one of the dialogues with the producer, Mankiewicz remarked: “I’m sitting on a volcano... Liz and Burton are no longer just playing Antony and Cleopatra.” Taylor and Burton's romance led to numerous scandals. The actor somehow tried to save his marriage, which, however, he failed, despite Sybil’s extreme complaisance. Moreover, his older brother came to the shooting and got into a fight with Richard because of his immoral behavior. Elizabeth Taylor also found their whirlwind romance difficult. After Burton went to see his wife, the actress had to be urgently hospitalized after an overdose of sleeping pills.
Richard Burton and Liz Taylor on their wedding day
Their romance continued after filming. Both actors ended their previous marriages and married in Montreal in 1964. and Elizabeth Taylor became one of the most famous couples throughout the history of Hollywood. Each of their joint actions immediately caused a violent reaction from the press. Almost their entire personal life took place under camera flashes. They did not have children together, but after the wedding the couple adopted a 3-year-old girl from Germany, they named their daughter Maria.
By the way, in 1964 he also published an almost autobiographical book, A Christmas Carol, about life in a Welsh village during the Depression.
The union of Burton and Taylor was very fruitful in creatively. Together the couple played in such films as “Very Important Persons”, “Kulik”, “The Taming of the Shrew”, “Comedians” and “Boom!”. But their best working together The psychological drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, directed by Mike Nichols based on the play of the same name by Edward Albee, is rightfully considered. But a film in which their heroes literally turn inside out the seemingly perfect marriage, had a negative impact on the real-life relationship between Burton and Taylor.
Still from the film "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
"I shouldn't have taken this role," Barton said. “It was after her that I was labeled as the type who grovels before his wife.”
However, their joint career did not end there. They played together in the films "Doctor Faustus", "Emmersmith Unleashed" and the television film "He's Getting Divorced - She's Getting Divorced."
And in July 1973, Liz suddenly announced: “Richard and I are breaking up for a while. Maybe we love each other too much... Pray for us! In 1974, after 10 years of marriage, Elizabeth Taylor divorced. Less than a year had passed when the actors decided to tie the knot again, but their union was very short and ended in 1976. Over the years, many articles and television programs were devoted to their relationship.
But this union brought Burton not only creative success. Life with the extravagant Liz Taylor greatly aggravated the actor’s addiction to alcohol, and the shame of his profession was increasingly visible in his conversations. “There’s something unnatural about it,” Burton argued, “to smear your face with makeup, put on medieval costumes and recite other people’s words. That’s why you drink so that the shame goes away.”
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor
Subsequently he married twice more. They lived with model Susan Hunt until 1982. And in 1983, Burton married make-up artist Sally Hay, who became his last life partner.
Since the 70s career Richard Burton began to fade away little by little. There were fewer and fewer good offers, so, in pursuit of fees, Burton took on any role offered to him. However, for this he gained not the best fame from critics, who often called him indiscriminate in choosing roles and sometimes did not pay due attention to truly worthwhile acting works. Among the most famous works of this period: Bluebeard, Voyage, Exorcist 2: The Heretic, Absolution, Touch of the Medusa, Enchanted Love and Wagner.
Richard Burton in the movie "1984"
The brightest in a row latest works became the psychological drama “Equus,” directed by Sidney Lumet, and the film adaptation of George Orwell’s novel “1984,” in which Burton played O’Brien. This film was the last in the filmography Richard Burton. The actor died on August 5, 1984 at his home in Geneva. He died in his sleep from a cerebral hemorrhage.
The Academy nominated him for the Oscar 7 times, but he was left without this award. At one of the awards, John Wayne, who had just received a statuette, pretended to throw it to Burton with the words: “You deserve the statuette.” was inimitable on stage, but only his own self-confidence prevented him from achieving the same success on screen. The actor played many great roles, but the fame of Elizabeth Taylor, with whom he married twice, overshadowed both Burton himself and his entire life.
March 15 is the date of the 50th anniversary of the first wedding of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and an occasion to remember the romance of one of the brightest couples of the 20th century.
Richard and Elizabeth met on the set of the film Cleopatra, where they immediately began a whirlwind romance. The development of their relationship was not hindered by the fact that both actors were married at that time. They also showed their passion on the set - Taylor played the Queen of Egypt, and Burton played her lover Mark Antony.
Still from the film "Cleopatra" Not knowing about the upcoming meeting on the set, Elizabeth initially refused the role, but the 20th Century Fox studio insisted: there were no fewer legends about the beauty and violent temper of the actress than about Cleopatra herself. Taylor joked that she would only agree to act for a million dollars, and in the end, this was the amount they offered her as a fee. At that time, this was an unusually huge amount of money - for comparison, Richard received “only” 250 thousand.
The actors played their first wedding in a narrow circle in 1964 in Montreal, Canada. The couple held the ceremony 9 days after Elizabeth officially divorced Eddie Fisher. The bride wore a yellow dress, adorned with an emerald brooch worth $150,000, a gift from her loving groom.
IN biographical book"How to Become a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood" William Mann talks about the special event:
Roman hyacinths were woven into the bride's hair. She literally shone in a yellow chiffon dress from Irena Sharaf, who made her costumes for Cleopatra. In an interview, Richard recalled their first marriage, talking about how madly he was in love with 30-year-old Elizabeth:
She was incredibly beautiful! Sometimes I was so nervous around her that I almost laughed out loud. She was like fire, famine, plague... She was pure inspiration. She was incredible beautiful figure. Undoubtedly, she was flawless! 
This couple was probably the first to be frantically hunted by the paparazzi. Richard's love letters written during this period were later published as quotations.
That same year, the actors adopted a girl from Germany and named her Maria. The couple became a Hollywood brand: they were paid high fees, and they spent them on a luxurious life. Elizabeth and Richard bought paintings by Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and Rembrandt, and invested money in real estate - in Tenerife, Ireland, Mexico, England, France. The tabloids wrote that the actors were competing to see who would give their other half a more luxurious gift - another Rolls-Royce or a diamond piece of jewelry. So, Richard presented his wife with a diamond ring worth one million one hundred thousand dollars, which he bought at auction, beating billionaire Aristotle Onassis.
This diamond was supposed to be worn by the most beautiful woman in the world. I couldn't allow Jackie Kennedy or Sophia Loren to be considered that way. 
Million dollar ring bought by Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor
But at some point luck turned away from Elizabeth and Richard. Their films ceased to bring wild commercial success; Burton acted wherever he was offered in order to maintain his usual standard of living. At this moment his problems with alcohol began. As a result, after 10 years of marriage, the actors divorced in 1974.
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton with their daughter in 1973
But, as it turned out, not for long. Richard and Elizabeth were married for the second time on October 10, 1975 in national park Botswana in Africa. The ceremony was performed by a representative from the Tswana tribe. During the separation, both actors tried to start new romances, but to no avail - both continued to love each other.
True, the second marriage lasted even less than the first: in 1976, Taylor and Burton divorced again. According to journalists, main reason Elizabeth and Richard's divorce resulted from his addiction to alcohol and violent temper.
In an interview, Elizabeth said:
I love Richard Burton with every fiber of my body, but we can't be together. In 1984, Richard Burton died in a house in Switzerland from a cerebral hemorrhage. This was a huge shock for Elizabeth, despite the fact that at that time she had a new lover. Taylor lived to be 79 years old - the actress died in a Los Angeles clinic from heart failure in 2011.
86 years ago, on February 27, 1932, the legendary beauty and talented actress Elizabeth Taylor. Besides wonderful roles and she also became famous for her amazing beauty whirlwind romances. One of the most discussed was her relationship with British actor Richard Burton.
About 7 years ago, Elizabeth Taylor published the last love letters of the legendary actor Richard Burton, who passed away in 1984. The couple married each other twice, but their relationship always remained passionate.
To write the book “Fierce Love. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Sam Keshner and Nancy Schoenberger look at 40 never-before-seen love letters that chronicle the long, tumultuous Hollywood romances of yesteryear.
The novel by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is often called the novel of the century. His characteristic features are wastefulness, drunkenness, debauchery, incredible jewelry and passionate love that bewitched the world for 16 years while they were together. When the couple reunited, Elizabeth was at the height of her popularity and Richard was being hailed as Sir Laurence Olivier's successor on the London stage.
It all started with a kiss scene during the filming of Cleopatra. The couple continued to kiss even after the director said, “Cut!” Since then they have become inseparable.
At the time of their meeting, Taylor had already earned a million dollars for her role as Cleopatra and had been married four times. With her second husband, Michael Wilding, she had two sons: Michael (pictured with Elizabeth) and Christopher (foreground right), and with her third husband, Michael Todd, she had a daughter, Elizabeth, known as Lisa (not pictured).
When their relationship began, both actors were not free. Barton was married to Sybil Williams, a native of Wales, and Elizabeth was married for the fourth time. Her husband was Eddie Fisher, whom she said she stole from American fans.
In front of everyone, the couple took a walk on a yacht, and the paparazzi recorded every moment. The lovers attracted public attention after a scandalous photo in which they were basking on a ship off the Italian island of Ischia.
In their book, Keshner and Schoenberger examined the love language that Elizabeth and Richard used in their letters to each other. In one of his first letters, Barton wrote to his lover: “Your smell excites me... your round belly and tender inner surface thighs, a baby's bottom, lips, a somewhat aggressive twinkle in the eyes when you're very excited, when you're with your Welsh lover."
Taylor and Barton would sneak away and make love wherever possible. She said of his hypnotic charm: “Just imagine Richard Burton whispering something in your ear while you make love. All problems and troubles immediately disappear.”
Six days after the actress's divorce from Eddie Fisher, Taylor and Barton got married at the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal. The bride's yellow chiffon dress was accessorized with an emerald and diamond brooch that Barton gave her for her 32nd birthday.
Hopelessly in love Barton wrote: “In my poor and painful youth, I dreamed of only such a woman. And now, when from time to time the dream comes back to me, I reach out my hand and realize that it is here, next to me. If you haven't met or known her, you've missed out on a lot in your life."
The intensity of passions increased, and there was strong evidence, which included addiction to alcohol and infidelity. In one of the letters, Barton wrote: “I know that sometimes I am a terrible liar, but please believe that I have never betrayed you in either word or deed. I love you too much."
Taylor is in New York celebrating her 32nd birthday with Barton, who is currently starring in John Gliefeld's Hamlet on Broadway. The cake says: “To our Mascot, the leader of our team, love and happy birthday. Colleagues".
During their marriage, Taylor and Barton starred in several films together. famous films. For his performance in the film "Who's Afraid" Virginia Woolf? Elizabeth received her second "", and Richard was nominated for this film award for the sixth time. The roles they played on screen often reflected their real-life relationships.
After divorcing in June 1974, the couple reconciled and secretly married again 16 months later in Chobe National Park in Botswana. Their second marriage was much shorter than the first, and the actors separated less than a year after registration. But they stayed good friends until Barton's death in 1984.
Many years later, Taylor will tell you what place Barton occupied in her heart: “At first sight in Rome, we were always madly and deeply in love with each other.”