ENCYCLOPEDIA OF IMAGES
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BURTON, RICHARD ACTOR, ENGLAND 1925 - 1984
Below, John Gielgud directs Richard Burton in "Hamlet," Toronto, 1964.
BURTON: I'm not sure what I do when I see the Ghost at this point. GIELGUD: I'm not either. Let's wait. Something will come when we run it.
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GIELGUD: Do you think you're too far away? BURTON: Well, you know me, John. I'd be out in the audience if you'd let me.
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BURTON: Do you think perhaps I could raise my arms at this point? GIELGUD: Well, I don't know. We don't want to get a laugh there.
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BURTON: Can I say "halfpenny"? Americans don't understand "ha'-penny." GIELGUD: Yes, do. Certainly. ...
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During rehearsals, Burton commented, "Elizabeth (Taylor) is a very clever girl about such things. She said 'It was absolutely marvelous to see how John made you better, made you easier.' Just like that."
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After opening night in Toronto, Gielgud commented, "They (the audience) only came to look at each other's frocks- shouting and screaming and admiring Elizabeth, instead of watching Hamlet." Burton answered, "Elizabeth can't sit out in the audience any more. She put eighteen minutes on the play. ... "Elizabeth told me some of the comments she heard about the play and they're extraordinary! Like the old lady who said, 'Isn't it full of quotations?'"
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Following an evening performance, morale was greatly boosted by an onstage birthday party for Elizabeth Taylor. Miss Taylor up to this time had spent most of her days in her hotel room, confined there by the crowds. She appeared at only two of the rehearsals and observed quietly from the rear of the hall. Once the show was into performances she was a backstage visitor almost nightly, watching from the wings and helping Burton and the other actors with make-up. A lovely and gracious person, she became fast friends with the actors and stagehands. The company presented her with a large, flower-decorated cake inscribed with the words "To our Mascot and Den Mother- Love and Happy Birthday- The Company." Miss Taylor, wearing a black V-neck sweater and black slacks, ran to the prop table and returned with Hamlet's sword. Giving a perfect imitation of Burton's reading of "Now might I do it pat, now he is a-praying- and now I'll do it," she swung the sword in an arc behind her head and brought it down on the cake, masterfully hacking it in two.
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(On March 15,) Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were married in Montreal. They returned to Toronto to find a dressing room full of wedding gifts from the company- an assortment of pots and pans and other useful kitchen wares, including an onion chopper, a mouse trap, and two rolling pins.
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From "John Gielgud directs Richard Burton in Hamlet, A Journal of Rehearsals" by Richard L. Sterne, Random House, New York, 1967.
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