The Richard Burton Diaries (214 page)

Sweet Liza is here which makes up for a great deal of the pain.

I don't think E should stay very long. She will go mad with boredom, for Gwen, much as I adore her, is not exactly a laugh a minute.

I couldn't sleep at all last night and feel like taking a swift kip now which would be catastrophic. Oh, that lovely Janine was there. Paul is apparently able to walk with the aid of crutches.
¹¹⁴

Very warm. By English standards a heat wave. Too lazy to write more.

MARCH 1972–APRIL 1975

Richard Burton ceased keeping his 1972 diary in late March. For over three years he appears not to have made any attempt to maintain his personal record.

After Ivor's funeral Richard seemed to go into a deep depression. This was manifested both in a return to heavy drinking and in a cavalier attitude towards his marriage to Elizabeth. By May he may have been unfaithful, having affairs with some of his co-stars in
Bluebeard
, including Nathalie Delon. Elizabeth responded by being seen in public with Aristotle Onassis. Burton and Taylor spent an increasing amount of time apart: he had to return to Yugoslavia and to
The Battle of Sutjeska
while she made
Night Watch
in London. Burton did spend some time at St Peter's College, Oxford, but his plan to write a micro-history based on the Peregrina Pearl was not executed. Richard and Elizabeth teamed up once more in the autumn of 1972 to make the double TV film for Harlech Television
Divorce His, Divorce Hers
, shot in Rome and Munich. This was an unhappy experience and, again, did nothing for their critical reputation when it was broadcast the following year.

The year 1973 opened with Richard once more in Rome, making
Massacre in Rome
, while Elizabeth filmed
Ash Wednesday
in Treviso and in the ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo. By the summer the rift between them was serious. An attempt at reconciliation in New York failed and on 3 July 1973 their separation was announced. Elizabeth went to Beverly Hills, where she began a relationship with businessman Henry Wynberg. Richard initially based himself at Aaron Frosch's home at Quogue, Long Island, and then returned to Italy to start work on
The Voyage
, co-starring alongside Sophia Loren. Loren and her husband Carlo Ponti (who had produced
Massacre in Rome
) hosted him at their estate near Marino, where he was visited by Elizabeth in late July, but any attempt at reconciliation was short-lived. Divorce papers began to be drafted.

While filming
The Voyage
in Sicily in November, Richard learned that Elizabeth had been taken into hospital in Los Angeles, and he flew to California to be with her. Upon her recovery Elizabeth visited Richard in Naples, and over the following weeks they spent time together in New York, Hawaii and then in Gstaad. Early in 1974 they were together in Puerto Vallarta, and in March Richard began working on
The Klansman
in Oroville, near Sacramento, California. His disintegration was becoming a public spectacle, and rumours of liaisons with young women were widespread. In April he was taken into St John's Hospital in Santa Monica in order to ‘dry out’. Elizabeth filed for divorce and this was granted at Saanen in Switzerland on 26 June 1974.

A single man for the first time in more than a quarter of a century Richard left hospital and sailed to Europe, staying for a while at his home in Céligny
before travelling to Winchester to work alongside Sophia Loren once more in
Brief Encounter
. In October 1974 he became engaged to Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia (herself married to Neil Balfour), and began work on a drama-documentary about Winston Churchill – titled
The Gathering Storm
/
Walk with Destiny
. A public furore followed the appearance of two articles by Burton in the
New York Times
and the American
TV Guide
, both of which were unrestrained in their attack on the former British Prime Minister. Shortly afterwards Richard's relationship with Princess Elizabeth collapsed, Burton having begun seeing Jeanne Bell, an African-American actor and former
Playboy
centrefold, whom he had first met on the set of
The Klansman
.

At the beginning of 1975 Burton, along with Bell (1943—), Charlotte Rampling and James Coburn, started filming
Jackpot
in Nice, but this project remained unfinished owing to financial difficulties. Burton returned to Céligny with Bell, and again took up his pen.

APRIL

Friday 11th
Taylors arrived from Leningrad.
¹
[...] E has dysentery and may have to go to England.
²
Career sounds perilous if absence prolonged. Filming chaotic she says.

Monday 14th
Jane Swanson arrived with clothes and papers to sign. Became thoroughly sloshed. [...]

Tuesday 15th, Céligny
Brook arrived.
³
Very T and E by evening.
⁴
Film (
Jackpot
) still hanging on. Personally have no hope.

Wednesday 16th (78kg)
⁵
Brook left. T and E again. Went to see Maria's school. Welsh-speaking headmaster (Thomaster) seems efficient. Goes in next September together with friend Tournesol.
⁶

Thursday 17th, Céligny (78kg)
Sunbathed. Biked.

Friday 18th
Fasted all day. While we biked to Founey, E'en So unprecedently walked to Café de la Gare.
⁷
Astonishing found eating in kitchen. Cycled from Nyon. [...]

Saturday 19th (77kg)
Maria starts school tomorrow evening.

Tuesday 22nd (78kg)
Talked E and Liza. Liza begs me to go see Elizabeth. Said would think about same.

Wednesday 23rd (77
¹
/
₂
kg)
Fasted all day talked E in London hospital. Sounds v. little. Can't keep anything down. [...]

Thursday 24th (76
¹
/
₂
kg)
To Gstaad for the night. Drove M-Moke. Froze and wind-burned. Bed early with book. Felt terrible. Awoke feeling splendid. How and Mara talk and talk and talk.

Friday 25th, Gstaad
Felt immensely better. Left Gstaad noon [...]. Bis still blowing but this time at my back so made good time.
⁸
Went ahead of hired Merc as latter so much faster. Had lunch between Vevey and Lausanne.
⁹
Good food. (Le Vieux Moulin) Place – village yclept Epesse.
¹⁰
Mara says Howard to give straight talk to E. Wish he w'nt [
sic
] put her misplaced loyalty on defensive.

Saturday 26th, Céligny (78
¹
/
₂
kg)
Sunbathed all day. Read new sympathetic
Napoleon
also D. Francis thriller. JB, Maria and friend [...] came by train from Gstaad for weekend. [...]
¹¹

Sunday 27th (78kg)
Had a Gibson.
¹²
First for weeks. Hated it though well made by JB. Sunbathed, read, bicycled all day. Bise still blowing therefore weather perfect. Cold in the shade. Garden a riot of colour. Cherry, apple, pear, peach blossom. Talked E in hospital: Sounds much chippier. [...]

Monday 28th (77
¹
/
₂
kg)
Yesterday sunned, read, new biography of Coleridge by one Fulman.
¹³
Fascinating. Rode on bike to Commugny and back.
¹⁴
Non-stop. Don't feel going on 50 at all. More like 40. [...] Had raclette at Village near Nyon.

Tuesday 29th, Céligny (77
¹
/
₂
kg)
Yesterday sunned, read went to airport to see off Howard and family keeping Layton with us to take him interview at Int. School Gen.
¹⁵
Shopped in Nyon. Read Parkinson's book on footballer Best.
¹⁶
Horribly common. Talked to E last night. Sounds very depressed. Her film like mine seems doomed. [...]

Wednesday 30th, Céligny (77
¹
/
₂
kg)
Yesterday saw Layton to school. Lunched at airport. [...] Bought JB watch (automatique) bought myself Power Certina for deep sea diving.
¹⁷
When I am going to do that nobody knows. New watch
stopped during night! Furious. Coffee'd and bicycled break-neck speed around block. Weather patchy. Read.
Times
crossword. Biked couple of miles. Martini at lunch. Ugh! Read. Read. Read no writing.

MAY

Thursday 1st, Céligny (77kg)
Dinner with Stross and wife?
¹⁸
Yes. Their place 6.30. Perfect content. At peace. Film still on officially but personally give it no chance. Had above dinner with Strosses at Cully (Hotel de Raisin) good food and cosy room.
¹⁹
Stross same as all producers. Full of rubbish. Offered me another script. Will read. JB drove both ways. Early to bed.

Friday 2nd (76kg)
[...] Rode bike to Founex for milk for JB's breakfast. Couldn't carry other odd and ends on bike so biked back and drove back to pick up goods.
Had one martini
(vodka). All fuzzy. Wrote Aaron. Wired Kate on acceptance in colleges. Am giving her car. Weather still miraculous though farmers want rain. Very sunburned. JB a delight.

Saturday 3rd (75
¹
/
₂
kg)
Heard from Brook and (later) Solowicz that I start work again on Monday in Nice.
²⁰
Mixed feelings but chiefly (a) money and (b) might as well get it over.

Picked up Maria at Montreux. She is smoking very heavily. Bit much at her age – 14 – and shall say something though it's a bit kettle and pot. Watched West Ham beat Fulham in English Cup-final.
²¹
Soccer's very dull even on this occasion. Can't understand its popularity.

Sunday 4th (75
¹
/
₂
kg)
Arrived Nice.

Tuesday 13th
Arrived from Nice. Private jet. On health kick. Euphemism for on wagon.

Wednesday 14th, Céligny
Had shock when Solowicz called and said they want me back in Nice tonight. Said NO! unless money actually in bank. Will await results today with trepidation. Wanna stay home and read and write!

Thursday 15th
Phew! T. Young called Solowicz to tell me not come.
²²
For this relief much thanks. Weather gorgeous.

Friday 16th
Read all day.
Mosley
by one Skidelsky.
²³
Talked E in Leningrad. Sounded fine. Her film moving at last. No news of mine. Hope there never is. Odd feeling reading
Mosley
corresponding so much to own childhood in 30s.

Saturday 17th
Sunned, read, biked.

Sunday 18th
Booze.

Monday 19th
Booze.

Tuesday 20th
Booze.

Wednesday 21st
Booze.

Thursday 22nd
Booze.

Friday 23rd
Booze.

Saturday 24th
Went into clinic late afternoon.

Sunday 25th
Tests and books.

Monday 26th
More tests hate clinics.

Tuesday 27th
Home from
three
day check-up in clinic. OK everywhere except for slightly enlarged liver. No wonder.

Wednesday 28th
Lunch and chat with one Goldman – potential producer of Dustman.
²⁴
Dread it. Turned out to be nice but callow. Too much so for a producer perhaps. We shall see. Saw Leeds beaten by Huns.
²⁵

Thursday 29th
Wrote E. Read and read. Strange request from Elish to deposit two books and script at Hotel President.
²⁶
Puzzling. Weather bad. Might go to Gstaad. If weather good. Gareth asking for money again.
²⁷
No chance.

Friday 30th
Weather abominable practically confined to house [...]. Read three books. None much good but one (Warlock) readable. Another by Auchinloss. Lawyers and law etc.
²⁸
Readable. Just.

Saturday 31st, Céligny
Walked, read, went to airport to pick up papers and lunched. Rain, rain, rain. Called Gstaad for Maria. All out on a ‘course’. Weather same there. How weather affects my moods. Bad weather bad mood etc. Born of the sun despite the valleys.

JUNE

Sunday 1st, Céligny
Read, read, biked. Latent (consciously latent) desire to write a book keeping me awake at nights. The creative, or may be the destructive urge is building up to a rape of words. I start and stop and start again. There is a furnace of ideas that must be put out. But what form do I take?

Monday 2nd
Weather foul. Reading, as Somerset M. said is a disease.
²⁹
Found paperback by Romain Gary called
White Dog
.
³⁰
Brilliantly evocative. He writes with great facility. Wish I could. Every word I write I suspect the next day. Talked to Elisheba. Very self-sufficient. Brittle.

Tuesday 3rd
This is like a ship's log. Weather half and half. Mont Blanc crystal clear. Shopped in Nyon for pens and drank tea while waiting for Anna to buy the staples. Talked to ETB.

Wednesday 4th
Wrote, read, tried desperately to get Solowicz on phone to put bets on Derby.
³¹
To our fury Jeannie's horse an outsider would have won 4000 FRS with 500 each way. Great fun. Had one Martini which knocked my brains out combined with mild sleeping pill. Slept eleven hours!

Thursday 5th
Brilliant weather. Sat in the sun and read. Listened to BBC. Found bright red face didn't realize I'd been out so long. Dined Hotel de Lac, Coppet.
³²
[...] Still shaky from withdrawal. Very much better though. Reading new biography of Mao. More and more fascinated with China.