Richard Burton

For an Academy Awards nut like me, the Best Actor nominees of 1964 were among the strongest of Oscar history.

Looking at the list of names with the knowledge of their performances and talent, I have a hard time choosing who I would have chosen as Oscar recipient. One movie in particular that makes that choice all the more difficult is Becket.



Among the film’s 12 nominations, including Best Supporting Actor John Gielgud, both Peter O’Toole & Richard Burton were nominated for Best Actor.

While browsing a video store a few days ago, Becket was on the shelf and I decided to watch the film on DVD this time.

Ten years ago, I saw Becket and wanted to be as great an actor as Burton. I had not seen the film since then. I remember there was a near scare that the movie may have been lost and it explained why it had taken so long to reach the DVD format. I would have bought a VHS copy of Becket if I had to.

I had meant to buy the movie on DVD when the opportunity presented itself but with my focus on The Suite Delight radio show and blog, Becket was buried in the back of my mind.

The DVD allowed me to revisit some of my favorite scenes with ease. Among them is when Burton’s Becket prays for guidance with the murdered priest issue and when he denounces the charges against him.

Burton naturally deserved to be nominated for his work in Becket. However, as I have come to learn and experience, two nominees from the same camp cancel each other out. It would have been awkward to have awarded Burton or O'Toole the Oscar when they both contributed to the other's performance. 

Both actors are the most nominated and Oscar-less in the Academy's history. 

I always had a lot of respect for Elizabeth Taylor. I saw her as the Queen of Hollywood. She was one of the most beautiful, elegant women I knew of but would never meet. Every photograph of her was iconic in some way or another. The classic, black & white swimsuit photo of her from Suddenly, Last Summer comes to mind first. Next is the photograph of her during the filming of Cleopatra where she reveals her tracheotomy scar.

I re-discovered Richard Burton’s work and admire him greatly.

It would have been nice if Richard Burton had received the Oscar for his work in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It appears that Elizabeth Taylor winning Best Actress was the closest he’d ever get to an Oscar.

I dreamed of being as legendary an actor as Richard Burton. I hoped to be nominated as many times as Burton but hopefully winning at least one Oscar at some point. I dreamed of marrying as beautiful and elegant a woman as Elizabeth Taylor. I may never act professionally in my life, get nominated for an Oscar or win one but I think I can get myself a beautiful bride on my own terms.

At this time, Richard Burton takes center stage.

I had a rough draft about Richard Burton sitting around for a few months but as history has proven, it was probably not my ideal post or too long. With Elizabeth Taylor’s passing, this is the best way to write about him.

The first thing that struck me about him was he had a great voice like most Welsh celebrities.

Next, I admired the fact that he was nominated numerous times for Oscars but won none. This interesting quality, tied into the fact that he was one of the best actors of our time, fascinates me as an Oscar nut. I naturally start thinking about which he should have won for or how many but his death makes that discussion moot. However, I will get back to him and the Oscars a bit later. Lastly, the fact that he married Elizabeth Taylor twice earned my respect.

His first Oscar nomination was for his supporting role in My Cousin Rachel. I aim to see the movie one day. No disrespect to Anthony Quinn in Viva Zapata! but after the few seconds I saw of Burton on screen, I would have given him the Oscar.

Next came his first Best Actor nomination for The Robe. He again was solid in his role but lost to William Holden for Stalag 17.

The 1960s saw Richard Briton nominated more times than any actor. In fact, he was nominated three years in a row for Becket¸ (1964), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). He would later be nominated in 1969 for Anne of a Thousand Days.

Becket is a particular film because two of the 1960s best actors, O’toole & Burton, starred opposite each other. I want to own Becket on DVD. Both leads were nominated and cancelled each other out. Even I wouldn’t know which to have given the statue. The most memorable scenes of Becket are when Burton’s character excommunicates a priest and when he silences the angry soldiers surrounding him by warning them their souls are at stake for any harm that befalls him.

I have only seen a few seconds of The spy. It was a scene where Burton is seated on a couch with a drink in hand and speaking in the disgruntled tone of his character.

What I remember most about Anne of a Thousand Days is the scene where Burton’s character silences the character that tries to persuade him not to get involved with Genevieve Bujold’s Anne.

I haven’t seen Equus but wished he had finally won the Oscar on his last chance nomination.