Mr Burton: Film shines light on Richard Burton's Welsh roots
2025-02-14
Category: entertainment

A film telling the story of actor Richard Burton's formative years in a Welsh mining village is to be released during the centenary year of his birth. Mr Burton stars Harry Lawtey as a young Burton and Toby Jones as teacher Philip Burton who took the actor under his wing after spotting his talent for drama.Burton, who died in 1984, aged 58, starred in Hollywood blockbuster Cleopatra, and was known for his powerful performances in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood and Shakespearean stage roles.Producer Ed Talfan said the film shines a spotlight on a relationship which had a "profound impact" on Burton's life.
The film tells the true story of wayward schoolboy Richard Jenkins, born in Pontrhydyfen in the Afan Valley, Neath Port Talbot, in 1925.Burton's father Richard Jenkins was a miner and the film, which will be released in April, delves into the pressures his family faced as he was growing up.His talent for drama catches the attention of his teacher, Philip Burton, played by Bafta winner Toby Jones who starred recently as Alan Bates in Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Philip, with the help of landlady, Ma Smith, played by Lesley Manville, helps Richard to get his first acting role.He later became Richard's legal guardian, after which he took the Burton surname. Burton is well known for his alcoholism and turbulent love life - he was married five times, twice to Elizabeth Taylor with whom he starred in 11 films.But his rags-to-riches story, from poverty in a Welsh mining town to Hollywood fame, is one that continues to inspire."I think there is a huge national pride in Richard Burton," the film's producer Ed Talfan said. "He's the North Star in many ways of Welsh cinema.""He came from a very tough, impoverished background and made this incredible leap to global stardom," he said.
The film, which was directed by fellow Welshmen Marc Evans and written by Tom Bullough, focuses primarily on Richard in his late teens, during World War Two, when Philip Burton tutored him.It also stars Steffan Rhodri as Richard's father Dic Jenkins, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards and Aneurin Barnard as Cis and Elfed, Richard's sister and brother-in-law.The trailer hints at the roots of his alcoholism and shows the prejudice faced by working class actors in 1940s the early 1950s."It is very much the first chapter in his story," Mr Talfan said.Actors in previous generations would have been expected to speak "Queen's English", but Burton embraced where he was from, Mr Talfan said."He managed to change his voice and not jettison or sacrifice any of his Welshness. You hear the same thing in Anthony Hopkins," Mr Talfan said."He was just a huge breath of fresh air."