The Richard Burton Diaries (242 page)

Read The Richard Burton Diaries Online

Authors: Richard Burton,Chris Williams

Tags: #Non-Fiction, #Biography

56
Philip Burton.

57
Pierre Folliet was a Genevan lawyer who acted for Burton in Switzerland.

58
Guy Green (1913–2005), cinematographer and director.

59
Different hand; pencilled sad face. Could have been drawn by Sybil.

60
Probably Harvey Orkin (1918–75), theatrical agent, with whom Burton was in correspondence at the time.

61
Presumably Bernard Greenford.

62
Paul Scofield first played the part of Sir Thomas More in the stage production of
A Man For All Seasons
, written by Robert Bolt (1924–2005), in 1960. It seems likely that this refers to its pre-London tour.

63
Gareth Owen, Richard's nephew, and his first wife Moira.

1965

1
Encyclopaedia Britannica
.

2
Sara Taylor (née Sara Viola Warmbrodt) (1896–1994) Elizabeth's mother. ‘Palace Hotel’: the Gstaad Palace Hotel.

3
John Sullivan was aspiring to a career as a film producer.

4
Daliah Lavi (1942—), actor and singer.

5
Francis Taylor (1897–1968), Elizabeth's father.

6
Grand Hotel Park, Gstaad.

7
Natalie Wood (1938–81), actor. ‘Young Niven’ is David Niven Jr., a talent agent for the William Morris Agency, and son of the actor. He and Natalie Wood were enjoying a brief fling, staying at the Niven family home at Château d'Oex, 15 km west of Gstaad.

8
Tuberculosis.

9
Hostellerie Chesery, Gstaad.

10
Berne or Bern, Switzerland. Saanen is 3 km west of Gstaad. A
permit de séjour
was an official document required by non-Swiss nationals.

11
Burton had been ranked 10th in the
Motion Picture Herald
list of the top box-office stars in America, Taylor 11th.

12
Gaston Sanz was Burton's driver and bodyguard. HÔtel Le Meurice, Rue de Rivoli, Paris. Lancaster Hotel, Rue de Berri, Paris.

13
André ‘Bobo’ Besançon, the caretaker and housekeeper at Pays de Galles (d. 1968).

14
The
Golden Arrow
was a Pullman rail service linking London and Paris.

15
John Heyman (1933—) was Burton and Taylor's British agent (as head of the International Artists Agency) and adviser on tax havens. He was also a film producer, having produced the film version of Burton's
Hamlet
(he also co-produced the stage production in New York) and would produce
Boom!
, the Taylor film
Secret Ceremony
and
Divorce His, Divorce Hers
.

16
Burton and Taylor stayed at the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London, while Burton worked on the London filming of
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
.

17
Samuel Pepys (1633–1703), English diarist. ‘And so to bed’ was a phrase Pepys commonly used.

18
Louis Alexandre de Raimon (1922–2008) was a renowned Parisian hairdresser, known as Alexandre de Paris. Taylor was one of his regular and most celebrated clients.

19
Bermans was a professional costumiers (owned by Monty Berman, 1912–2002), supplying film, television and theatre companies located on Shaftesbury Avenue. Wardour Street, off Oxford Street, central London. Martin or Marty Ritt (1914–90) was producing and directing
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
.

20
Oskar Werner (1922–84) played Fiedler in
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
. Werner was older than Burton by three years!

21
Isow's restaurant, Brewer Street, Soho. Claire Bloom (1931—) played Nan Perry in
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
. She and Burton had played opposite each other in the stage play
The Lady's Not for Burning
(1949, 1950), in the Old Vic productions in 1953–54 of
Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Coriolanus
and
The Tempest
, and in the films
Alexander the Great
(1956) and
Look Back in Anger
(1959). They had been lovers during the 1950s.

22
Sausages and mashed potato.

23
Battersea Park, on the south bank of the River Thames, opposite the Chelsea Embankment. Michael Hordern (1911–95) played the part of Ashe in
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
. He had played with both Burton and Taylor in
The VIPs
(1963), would do so again in
The Taming of the Shrew
(1967), and alongside Burton alone in
Where Eagles Dare
(1968),
Anne of the Thousand Days
(1970) and
The Medusa Touch
(1978). He and Burton had appeared on stage together in the Old Vic productions of
Hamlet, King John, Twelfth Night
and
The Tempest
.

24
John Springer (1916–2001) was a publicist who headed the East Coast branch of the Arthur P. Jacobs public relations company, and worked as a press agent for Burton and Taylor. Hugh French was Burton's London agent who also became Taylor's agent, and who later moved to Hollywood.

25
Raymond E. Palmer of the Associated Press's London office.

26
The Six Bells was at 195–7, King's Road, Chelsea. Peter Sellers (1925–80), actor. Burton was to make a fleeting appearance in the Sellers film
What's New Pussycat?

27
Paddington station is the terminal for railway lines entering London from Wales and the west of England.

28
Taylor underwent minor surgery of an undisclosed nature. From the evidence of her note on 6 May it might have been something gynaecological.

29
Mansion House tube station is on the District and Circle lines, located on Cannon Street. Telegraph buildings were the offices of the
Daily Telegraph
and
Sunday Telegraph
, then on Fleet Street.

30
Mirror Building was the offices of the
Daily Mirror
and
Sunday Mirror
.

31
South Kensington tube station.

32
Mirabelle, Curzon Street, Piccadilly, London.

33
Peter Glenville (1913–96), stage and film director. He had directed Burton in
Becket
and would direct him again in
The Comedians
. Hardy William (‘Bill’) Smith (d. 2001) was a theatrical producer, and Glenville's lover. Glenville had also sacked Richard from
Adventure Story
in 1949.

34
Reflections in a Golden Eye
was to be made in 1967, starring Taylor and Marlon Brando (1924–2004), directed by John Huston (1906–87), based on the novel by Carson McCullers (1917–67).

35
La Méditerranée Place de l'Odéon, Paris.

36
Rolls-Royce.

37
Bangs: a hairstyle involving fringes across the forehead.

38
Baron Elie de Rothschild (1917–2007), financier.

39
Hôtellerie du Bas Breau, Barbizon, Fontainebleau, France.

40
Hôtellerie de la Poste, Avallon, Yonne, France.

41
Chateau de la Rochepot, south of Breaune, Côte d'Or.

42
The Man Who Would Be King
, based on the short story by Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), which would eventually appear in 1975 starring Sean Connery (1930—) and Michael Caine (1933—).

43
Ray Stark (1915–2004), producer, 7 Arts films. He was to produce
Reflections in a Golden Eye
.

44
The Emperor Napoleon (1769–1821), on escaping from exile on Elba, stayed at the Hôtel de la Poste, Saulieu, before his confrontation with Marshal Ney (1769–1815) at Auxerre, some 90km to the north-west, on 14 March 1815.

45
La Côte d'Or, Saulieu.

46
Literally, ‘honeymoon’.

47
Hôtel de France, Chalon-sur-Saône. The Copperhouse is a pub in Cwmafan. The Savoy Hotel, the Strand, London, is a five-star establishment.

48
Auberge Bressanne, Chalon-sur-Saône.

49
The town of Nantua, west of Geneva.

50
This refers to Taylor's house, the Chalet Ariel, at Gstaad. Sold in 2001 ‘Chateau De C’ may mean Chateau D'Oex.

51
Michael Wilding (1953—) and Christopher Wilding (1955—): Elizabeth's two sons by her marriage to Michael Wilding Sr (1912–79). Liza Todd (1957—), Elizabeth's daughter by her marriage to Mike Todd (1907–58).

52
'Woolf’ refers to the script of
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
that Burton and Taylor were to film (later that year). Initially, in 1964, Taylor had been approached to act the part of Martha. Subsequently it was agreed that Burton would also play the part of George.

53
Hotel Olden, Gstaad.

54
The Hotel Alte Post, Weissenburg, near Darstetten. Weissenburg is 30 km from Gstaad.

55
A dice game, this version using poker dice.

56
The Côte d'Azur, or French Riviera, on the Mediterranean coast of south-east France.

57
Gstaad is 1,100 m above sea level.

58
St Tropez, Provence, France.

59
Yahtzee, a dice game, first released in 1965.

60
Elie de Rothschild.

61
Paul Neshamkin was the children's tutor.

62
L'Abbaye is in Talloires, on the eastern shore of Lac d'Annecy, Haute Savoie, France. Cassius Clay, later Muhammad Ali (1942—), knocked out Sonny Liston (1932–71) in controversial circumstances in a world heavyweight championship bout in Lewiston, Maine, USA, on 25 May 1965.

63
L'Auberge du Père Bise at Talloires.

64
Poularde de bresse
is a celebrated chicken dish.

65
The Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse
, selected with an introduction and notes by Kenneth Allott (1912–73), published in 1950.

66
Postcards.

67
Villa La Reine Jeanne, Les Baux de Provence, Provence. South of Avignon.

68
Probably L'Oustau de Baumanière, Les Baux.

69
Commandant Paul-Louis Weiller (1893–1993), aviator, engineer, industrialist and philanthropist. Owner of the Villa La Reine Jeanne, built for him in 1928.

70
'Burt’: one of Burton's many nicknames for Taylor.

71
Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), actor; other famous family members and actors include Sydney (1885–1965), Charles's older brother; Sydney Earl (1926–2009) Charles's son; and Geraldine (1944—) his daughter. Merle Oberon (1911–79), actor; Margot Fonteyn (1919–91), ballerina.

72
Le Lavandou, east of Toulon.

73
Possibly the liqueur Poire William.

74
The Ile de Porquerolles is an island just off the French coast, south of Hyères.

75
The novel
A Clergyman's Daughter
(1935) by George Orwell (1903–50).

76
Bathing costume.

77
Richard Grenier (1923–2002), newspaper correspondent, screenwriter, and novelist.
Yes and Back Again
, novel, (1966).

78
Probably Bormes-les-Mimosas, inland from Le Lavandou.

79
Richard (often ‘Dick’) Hanley (1909–71) was Taylor's secretary, who became press secretary for both Burton and Taylor. He had been Mike Todd's secretary's assistant. He performed a wide variety of tasks for the Burton/Taylor household, including helping to look after the children.

80
A Yiddish expression conveying shock or amazement. Often written ‘oy gevalt’.

81
Hôtel Les Roches Fleuries at Aiguebelle, east along the coast from Le Lavandou.

82
Kleenex: tissues.

83
This refers to the second manned spaceflight by the US spacecraft
Gemini 4
. The astronauts were James Alton McDivitt (1929—) and Edward Higgins White (1930–67). White was the first American to walk in space.

84
Alexander the Great.

85
Rex Harrison (1908–90) had played Julius Caesar in
Cleopatra
and would play alongside Richard Burton in
Staircase
(1969).

86
Moules marinières: mussels.

87
Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes, on the Cap d'Antibes, west of Nice.

88
Richard's former wife Sybil married the musician Jordan Christopher (born Jordan Zankoff, Youngstown, Ohio, 1942–96), lead singer of The Wild Ones.

89
'Tidy’ is a South Walian colloquialism (in this context) for ‘decent’, ‘good’.

90
The mistral is a strong wind associated with the Provence region.

91
Michel Jazy (1936—), silver medallist in the 1500m at the Rome Olympics in 1960, set a new world record for the mile of 3 min. 53.6 sec. on 9 June 1965.
Le Figaro
is a French daily newspaper.

92
Aaron Frosch (1925–89), Richard's lawyer.

93
Roddy McDowall (1928–98), actor, friend of Richard, Sybil and Elizabeth. He had played alongside Burton in an adaptation of
The Tempest
for NBC television in 1960, also in the New York production of
Camelot
(1960–1), had shared a villa with Richard and Sybil in Rome during the making of
Cleopatra
, and had had a part in
The Longest Day
.

94
Helen Greenford (b. 1941): Sybil's niece, daughter of her half-sister Linda, who had married Bernard Greenford.

95
Philip Burton had moved to the USA in 1954.

96
La Paillotte, Avenue Gavine, Hyères.

97
Leï Mouscardins, 1 Rue de Portalet, St Tropez, east along the coast from Le Lavandou.

98
Carlton Hotel, Cannes, just west of Antibes.

99
The editor of the
Sunday Mirror
at the time was Michael Christiansen (1926–84).

100
Hôtel du Cap Eden Roc, Antibes.

101
'Bea’ interlined. Bea was the children's governess. Nice is a short distance east of Antibes.

102
Juan les Pins, between Antibes and Cannes.

103
Christian Dior the fashion house.

104
Dick being Dick Hanley.

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