Richard Burton Reflects on Childhood in Wales | Cavett |The Dick Cavett Show
Richard Burton discusses his poor upbringing in Wales, and his family connection to the coal mines.
Date aired - 8/4/1980 - Richard Burton
#RichardBurton #DickCavett
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Dick Cavett has been nominated for eleven Emmy awards (the most recent in 2012 for the HBO special, Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again), and won three. Spanning five decades, Dick Cavett’s television career has defined excellence in the interview format. He started at ABC in 1968, and also enjoyed success on PBS, USA, and CNBC.
His most recent television successes were the September 2014 PBS special, Dick Cavett’s Watergate, followed April 2015 by Dick Cavett’s Vietnam. He has appeared in movies, tv specials, tv commercials, and several Broadway plays. He starred in an off-Broadway production ofHellman v. McCarthy in 2014 and reprised the role at Theatre 40 in LA February 2015.
Cavett has published four books beginning with Cavett (1974) and Eye on Cavett (1983), co-authored with Christopher Porterfield. His two recent books -- Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets (2010) and Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic moments, and Assorted Hijinks(October 2014) are both collections of his online opinion column, written for The New York Times since 2007. Additionally, he has written for The New Yorker, TV Guide, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere.
#thedickcavettshow
Can we show some appreciation for Dick Cavett's excellence in interviewing this legendary man, too.
Tony England : always ..
@@tomreedyjr3631 Englishman here of 60+ years and never heard of Dick Cavett, but in a mere two hours of binging on his shows I have come to 100% respect his ability to interview, it's as good as it gets. A great man!
Mark: 1 of our best.
Yes, of course. Gladly and willingly !
We have Graham Norton. He is probably the best in his field. Lets his guest run the show.
While Richard Burton was talking about his father in the mines the audience were that quiet listening you could have heard a pin drop. A wonderful story teller.
The only time in my entire existence I've questioned my heterosexuality was when I heard Richard Burton speak.
Times have change. Personally, a form of respect, truly being engaged in the conversation. You don't sense that type of intimacy in interviews these days. I do remember Dick Cavett from when I was young. Even then, I liked his show and would watch when I could.
Another great characteristic of the Welsh , great storytellers as are all Celtic nations Scots & Irish too.
he was unique. i loved him and admired him.
What is says is truth. A mining engineer is a mechanical, electrical and civil engineer disciplines as well as geologist. Most highly trained engineer of all the trades.
I could listen to Burton's stories for hours. So nice that Cavett didn't interrupt nor talk over him. Fascinating childhood.
Molly Padion Cavett is the quintessential interviewer- Maybe Terry Gross comes close.
& no interruptions .. he was so classy handsome could listen to him speak forever
OMG that voice And soooooooo very handsome the One and only Richard Burton 🌹☘️
Aint that the truth. Cavett seems like a class interviewer.
@@GraemetheGuiriLordHaHa Best ever! In my humble opinion. Very generous with his attention to his guests. I can’t watch today’s American late night talk show hosts, so full of themselves that they sometimes seem to forget about their guests entirely.
Letting his guests express themselves fully without interruption is Cavett's great gift to us.
Yes definitely one of a kind .Seemed like he loved to hear the stories as much as the audience. Most interviewers these days need to watch the master at work
Michael Parkinson on this side of the pond was the same, he was a fantastic inteviewer.
yes, Cavett arguably the best interviewer. he understood when to just shut up
After his passing in 1984, the late John Hurt who made "1984" with him said "Richard was simply the most charismatic man I have ever met."
A movie critic said, back then, that Burton's voice made his reading of the line, "It's the worst thing in the World" the scariest thing in the movie.
I will never forget the picture taken of him and Elizabeth on location for Night of the Iguana. He spoke and she looked at him with love and admiration.
The great Richard Burton, who's childhood home, Pontrhydyfen, is about six miles from my home. Me and my group of childhood friends regularly walked the distance to visit it. Also the two great actors Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen were both born in Port Talbot, meaning these three legends were all born within about a 4 mile radius.
@@jmchez Richard Burton's voice was the type of voice that would hold his audience entranced. Listening to him narrate 'The War of the Worlds' is amazing. I very much doubt there could ever be anyone able to top that.
😪
I think this is a rare interview in that Richard is not “performing” but talking as I would imagine he would to a friend. I am English and in the 1970s I went on a geology field trip to Neath in South Wales. One day we went down a coal mine and it was an extraordinary experience. The miners were so friendly but, my goodness, it was literally another world. How they worked there year after year astonishes me and I think that we did not appreciate, each time we put a piece of coal on our fires, the sacrifice they made. Hard times. The mines are closed, I am glad to say, but those wonderful tightly-knit communities have gone. God bless them. I will never forget that day I spent down that mine and I regard it as a privilege to have met those men. It took three days before all the dust was out of my sinuses. I can see what a lifetime down there would do. Anyway, a lovely interview. Thank you for posting it.
Wow I live in neath butt glad you enjoyed mate🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴
0ⁿqr
Thats a lovely story Robert
It was "literally" another world. _No, it wasn't_
@@tombartram7384 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 you’re so funny!!!!😂😂
I live near to where he was born. I'm from a mining family. And, the way he speaks about miners is so spot on. What a beautiful speaking voice.
I've got to ask. The place where his father was in a hospital. Burton mentions it at 11:28. How do you spell it?
@@noeldown1952Penrhiwtyn
@@noeldown1952 Penrhiwtyn
God I just love the old generation of actors. Such class.
That is because they all had real lives, worked jobs, had families. Most of this generation served in the war, suffered. They did not view themselves as elite or better than others. They knew the trials of life. Some young ones(actors) are still like this. Many of the past couple generations are indeed spoiled and fake but not all nor were all of this old generation good people. Bust most of them were good folks. Harrison Ford was a framing carpenter. Even after his first few roles he was still doing carpentry.
@@danielheartfire614 We are now living in a world of utter philistines, clearly.
They were just as terrible as anyone today, but the press is no longer beholden to the studios!
@@catofthecastle1681 I'm sure you're right about some of them but I think there was a different attitude back then. IDK.
There will never be actors like that ever again.. They do not have the character!!
He speaks beautifully of his father.
He speaks beautifully in general. What a fascinating man
The way he's talking in Welsh is just as buitiful you can hear the way he feels about his father it's really nice
Never has 18 minutes of nigh-on monologue seemed to have passed so fluidly.
I agree. That was very interesting. I can't believe that 18 minutes of a talk show could pass without 10 commercial breaks!
True. Over 18 minutes and it flew by.
so true
@Watcher505 ...I´m not so sure about that, "nigh-on" means "almost", so we have 18 minutes of what is almost a monologue, as the chat-host intelligently minimises his interruptions in deference to Burton´s capacity as a consummate raconteur.
Watch Olivier's To Be Or Not To Be speech from Hamlet. It's on here. Olivier's speculative, dreamy, pensive, reflective. Then watch Burton's. He's FURIOUS! I mean, Burton was dangerous as Hamlet. Wild, un-tamed anger. Throwing the words out with a sort of burning contempt and self-loathing. Two incredible performances, as different as they could possibly be.
Dick Cavett really knew how to give an interview and to let his guests talk without butting in, a true host
He's one in million. These self obsessed morons such as Colbert, Conan and the like aren't fit to clean this mans dressing room floor.
@@63Baggies Colbert is great. What is wrong with you? Trumpanzee?
@@captain2ahab What's wrong with YOU? A person can't dislike your celebrities without being attacked? Everyone of the current late night hosts say the same thing, have the same views and the same politics. Can't we have one show without you people ruining it with your politics? Just entertain us, don't lecture us.
@@captain2ahab When you resort to insults you lose the argument.
They weren’t being pushed to have more commercials than content!
There's something tragic yet beautiful about this man. A remarkable man indeed.
It's the alcoholism, sadly.
He explained it in the video his family grew up poor working class coal miners
He could out drink a small town. It is what it is.
Liz Taylor.
Often good men get afflicted with alcoholism.
I've never heard anyone describe mining so beautifully.
I saw this a few years ago and remembered his description almost word for word.
Anyone who'd ever worked at a coal face would've had a much less romantic view.
John Munro my Great Grandfather was killed in a pit accident in the Welsh mines. 😔
@@KayEl58 Me too. He was a great narrator.
A great occupation coal mining, coming from an old coal miner.
Listening to Burton tell stories is just captivating. Just brilliant. The old school actors like him, Caine and Connery could really hold an audience in the palm of their hands. All working class men with bucket loads of charisma. They don’t make them like that anymore.
- AND ESPECIALLY NOT LIKE HIS FATHER !! LOL !
I was watching Caine on one of the British talk shows on line last night. What an incredible life and and speaker. And the guy would let him talk, also..
Indeed!
The difference between the genuine MEN of the time and the plastic society we have now where "talent" is how much fat and plastic you have in your buttocks and how many PED's you're willing to take so you look like a musclebound freak. It's all so shallow, so fake, not a speck of talent but plenty of looks. Fits the times I guess. An obese, disgusting society with little in the way of brains gets what it deserves.
@@alexG106 - A bit hard to argue with that . . .
I admired Richard Burton as an actor and a man, especially when I found out that he took care of and helped his family back home after he had "made it";
I worked with one of Burton's nephews, and we discussed him at every opportunity. He told me that Burton was indeed very generous to all his family members.
Unlike Quentin Tarantino lol
He was a great man one of my friends uncle's had to do work in a house that belongs to one of his sisters and he was in the kitchen having tea with Elizabeth his wife at the time and he was amazing to talk to apparently. True working class hero
Richard Jenkins never ever forgot his roots. He was a terrific Welshman and actor He sang brilliantly in Camelot on Broadway I understand Dick Cavett has Welsh ancestry
Most people who make it help their families.
RIP Richard Burton (November 10, 1925 - August 5, 1984), age 58 You will be remembered as a legend.
He is an incredibly captivating speaker.... I was so interested in his story that I forgot I was watching a KZhead video in 2021 lol.
One of the most recognisable voices in movie history.
I could listen to him forever. Such a talented man a magical voice.
Yes 85460
Burton's voice is mesmerizing...and Cavett is such a master of gently pulling the conversation along. Wonderful video...love my partially Welsh heritage!
Watching in 2022!! Great listening
Burton could speak about changing a tire and the recording would be worth archiving. The Great Atlantic Seam speech is an unbelievable performance. It was not scripted.
Actually, his worst movies weren't much more than that.
Yes, what a performance by the legendary Richard Burton. May God rest his soul. In my opinion the greatest of all time.
They talk about it in the movie PRIDE
👍👍👍❣️
The word is 'TYRE' :-)
God bless this Welsh Gentleman, who although from rags to riches NEVER forgot his working Class roots, or ever attempted to hide or be ashamed of them. In fact his pride in his upbringing is tangible whenever he speaks. A man who in my humble opinion who could fill a stadium simply just reciting a telephone directory, RIP Mr Burton.
He was poor, but he was not a hic. His family were all intelligent and elegant in a dignified way, that people who know who they are behave. There is an interview will Dolly Parton on here from 1977 with Barbra Walters. She described her family in a similar way. I think the Americans call it class. We refer to it as a kind of natural elegance and sophistication with no affectation.
Not rags, Mining communities were proud, organised and respectable. His surname was Jenkins
@@celtspeaksgoth7251 Yep I know what you mean CG, I come from a mining & seafaring town that lost many many men over the years underground, including 147 in the terrible Wellington pit disaster of 1910, I still have my grandads Davey lamps, he was a lifelong miner & on most of the rescue teams in the town for over 50 years. there were dozens of collieries here. They were most certainly proud, but by rags I mean communities about as poor as you could could get whilst in work, but certainly not meant as a derogatory term,. I didn't know Mr Burtons surname was Jenkins though.
@@jiggermast He took on the name Burton from his teacher Philip Burton. When married to Elizabeth Taylor he often referred to her as Liz Jenkins!
@@jaynemurphy1667 Haha, I suppose technically she was Jayne. Laal runny nosed Lizzie Jenkins from Milburn St, Hampstead.
What a beautiful, loving story of his home and father. It plays on the ear like liquid butterscotch and in the mind's eye like a Monet painting.
Liquid butterscotch….
Richard Burton was one of the finest actors of all time. And to hear him speak in his native Cymraeg is wonderful. He never forgot his roots. And his voice seemed to come from the same mines that his Father and brothers worked for so many years. A wonderful man.
One of the greatest voices in movies ever. He should’ve won at least 3 oscars.
M Shahnazi Absolutely, could listen to him read the phone book 📚
At least!!!! I loved he and Liz together....he was a great Shakespearian actor ...she was in awe of his talent.
Having spent the last six weeks watching a lot of 1940s/50s British Film Noir I can officially confirm that Richard Burton and James Mason have the most amazing voices in human history.
He had a wonderful timbre and resonance to his voice and despite his formal training and predominantly R.P. speech still maintained a certain degree of his native Welsh rhythm which lent to the musicality of his speech. A great actor and influence on Anthony Hopkins.
He was in 39 films and sounded the same in every film!
My hat off to all miners who worked very hard down the pits endangering themselves for keeping our homes warm during the cold seasons and keeping our industries rolling in those years.
To think the right wing media and Tories called miners'The Enemy Within' during the miners strike in UK of 84/85. It makes my blood boil to this day. I supported striking miners, they were such hard working decent people.
@@brianoreilly239 Well said!!!
@@brianoreilly239 Thank you for your wonderful kind comments,my father and uncles were on strike,my dad is retired now,and when he worked he worked at the front,water and rats around his feet,and came home coal dust acting as eye liner,now his hearing has been affected by the drilling,for me I proud of my mining family ,my town Bedworth is a coal mining town,the mines are underneath us,they are all closed now!!!!!🤗🇬🇧
Thank you,my family were coal miner's,my dad worked at the front with water and rats running around,my dad is now retired,and his hearing has now been damaged,by the drilling!!!!!🤗🇬🇧
@@brianoreilly239 I worked in Mine & Cave Rescue when I was younger. In the 80s when the media and some politicians called the striking miners _"The Enemy Within"_ I wanted to drag them down by their ears and force them to change working places with those guys just for one week, they'd never have used that phrase again.
My God -he was a striking man. And such intensity. They don’t make them like that anymore.
One of a kind 😀
Evening all, An extraordinary man, spoke 9 languages, drank 2 bottles of vodka a day, smoked incessantly and throughout his life read 4 "books a week. Handsome, intelligent, humorous, charismatic and humble - - 1 of a kind. No like Burton now. Felicitations Michael
They do you know but fame was not the aim of man. Garden building is
Michael Molony Yeh, yeh, but could he wipe a joint?
You're right there.
Great to hear Mr Burton talking proudly about his working-class roots here!
Being from South Wales myself and coming from a family of coal miners, i could listen to him speaking about this forever.
When Richard Burton used to stay at The Bell, in Aston Clinton,as soon as Elizabeth Taylor had gone to her room, Burton would go out the back to the kitchens and demand fresh bread, and then he'd dip it in the gravy saucepan and eat it direct out of the saucepan. The top chefs were outraged at this, but never stopped him. He was also incredibly friendly, talkative and nice to all of the ordinary staff.
This is how the working class eats! Nice anecdote--thank you.
You can take the boy out of Pontrhydfen but you... can't take Pontrhydfen out of the boy! (Lost his mother at age 2 and 11 brothers and sisters!)
that's a good story
Wow wonderful memory. There was a miners boy in him no matter how many diamonds he bought Liz --- to the very end! He loved his roots obviously.
Such an inward, introspective man--so charming and devoid of pretense. He brought that authenticity to all of his best roles. "He was a man. Take him for all and all, I shall not look upon his like again."
I too love the movie Gladiator ... and remember the closing speech !
@@susanficek1245 The quote is originally from Hamlet, not the Gladiator, which, if memory serves, uses only part of it. ;)
Oh my goodness, THIS VOICE, unbelievably sexy! He was one of the greatest actors of the century, yet, never honoured with an OSCAR! Rip, Richard. NEVER FORGOTTEN!
I still remember his voice when I first heard it - in Dylan Thomas's play for voices, "Under Milk Wood" set in a small town in south Wales. Burton was the Narrator = the First Voice, with some beautiful speeches by a great poet. The BBC broadcast this in Jan. 1954 and soon after, it was performed on stage - at the Edinburgh Festival and the New Theatre, London . On stage it was unforgettable, and Burton's voice moves me down the decades since!
You can see from this interview what attracted Elizabeth Taylor to Burton. Intensity, charisma, presence, voice and great story telling!
firenze55---Taylor was more interested in the size of his member than the size of his character. www.9types.com/movieboard/messages/4361.html
Elizabeth Taylor was not the only woman charmed by his beautiful mellifluous voice and rugged good looks, he was a serial shagger and had many women only too willing to 'submit' herself to his charms
@@brianoreilly239 I believe it - plus being the spellbinding storyteller. He must have had such presence in person.
The question is: why was Burton attracted to her?
@@davidc.2878 I could not understand why her over Claire Bloom ,who IMO, was a much more attractive and alluring woman and very much in love with him when in the late 50s they performed together in Edinburgh in 'Look Back In Anger'
Cavett had caught Burton in a rare and rich vein of reflective form.Wonderful; how Burton could paint pictures in one's mind of his past life so beautifully.
Splendid actor with a superb voice. Today's self-important actors pale beside such talent.
Check out the musical album Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds with Burton as the narrator.
@@andrewk2996 Burton recorded the poetry of fellow Welshman Dylan Thomas.
@@andrewk2996 my favourite actor and..tape
Burton belonged to by gone age; I wonder what he'd make of the 'Milk Toast wokery' of today?
Yes, and James Woods is the worst
When I was in the RAF half of the chaps in our hut were Welsh and they would always start singing Welsh songs as soon as they got out of their bunks. Loved it.
This is depressing. It reminds me how boring, phony, and absolutely vapid today's actors are. How could we have lost so much humanity in one generation? At least with old vids like this we have proof that there once lived actors with depth, class, and intelligence.
Very well said.
Couldn’t have said it better.
Amazing… Burton was a chain smoker and a notorious alcoholic. Yet Burton is more articulate than what Hollywood produces today. Plus the interview lasts over an hour
@@Idahoguy10157 Very well said.
The general ability to articulate oneself has declined, either the result of or simply reflected in the form interviews take today. Imagine seeing something like Firing Line today.
In those days it took five or six years to qualify as a miner, it was a very skilled and dangerous trade. Thanks for posting this, Burton is from my home valley, I can listen to him forever. ❤️
Just like anthony hopkins!!!
My dad’s father was a fine Welshman as well. The Welsh may be known as good singers, but their storytelling skills are truly exceptional.
I'm mesmerised watching and listening to him....a colossus of a man who oozed intelligence...they don't make actors like him anymore.
bless richard burton, a tremendous actor, and welshman, what an asset he was to mankind.
What Welshman “ means? Thanks if you can explain To me...🤗
@@dulcehajjar5826 Meaning he's from wales.
I could listen to him all day. It's not just the wonderful voice, it is the way he phrases and describes
Richard Burton was a great man as well as a great actor. Thanks for this.
I thought he was a drunkard and adulterer. How do you see him great?
You can see what Elizabeth Taylor saw in him.
@@TheSapphire51 He is so handsome. 😊🤗😊
God...what a voice!!!!😍😍😍😍
@Captain Brandon Punk & Horror Lover Captain Brandon Middleton from Tennessee go play with your stupid horror masks! Twerp.🤣
So I have a similar tale of older welsh speakers My mother (a welsh speaker) was talking to Mr Thomas an elderly Welsh farmer on Anglesey in the mid 60s and the conversation turned to Liz Taylor and my mother mentioned what a beauty she was.. his replay was "a field mouse is a pretty thing.. but can she mend a coat?"
''Aristocrats of the working class'' What perfect title to the professionals. I look at my father and grandfather the same way. Geniuses in anything they did. It just happens to be not becoming rich just comfortable with a love for work and a steady eagerness for perfection..
He had the bards’ gift. Every inch a Celt.
Every inch a welshman celt is such a new word
@@mrkitcatt2119 The word welsh is newer than the word Celt. It comes from the Saxon word Walas which means foreigner. You would think people would be more triggered by that word instead of Celt.
@@philomelodia not really since keltoi is the word adopted by the Romans from the Greek word of outsider to them anyone who wasn't Greek was a keltoi the only tribe with the name celt in it was the celtici tribe of Spain
@@mrkitcatt2119 anyone who is not Greek is actually Barbros. Keltoi was very specific referring to all the linguistically related pale skin people of western Europe at the time. Gauls, Britons, Cimbrei, Cimerians and later, a related people in Anatolia once called Galatians.
@@philomelodia the Britons were never called celt by the Romans the Britons are different we are not celts
What a modest and charming man!
What a great man. Despite his accent and the vocabulary he used you could still hear the Welshness and the valley in him.
Aye, well, you can take the man out of the valley but you can never take the valley out of the man
@@liarborisjohnsom4136 Isn't it how he died? Same as his father but younger? Coal miner & movie star.
Burton never tried to hide his Welshness . He wore it like a badge on his sleeve. As do I.
@@johnedington6083 ???
Nothing could be further from the truth. He had his accent drummed out of him. He sounds like Trevor Howard. Valley accents are dreadful and ugly. He maintains the Welsh tembre though.
I knew he was Welsh but up till watching this I didn't know he was a fluent Welsh speaker. He must've been electric on stage on the early years.
I didn't know he spoke Welsh and buitifully
I love Dick Cavett, completely at ease just letting his guests tell wonderful stories, not an urge in sight to constantly interrupt as modern hosts would do. As a result we have these incredible clips where you get a fascinating insight to lives of legends of stage, screen and sport. His modern contemporaries should take note!
Imagine Jimmy Fallon or Kimmell interviewing Burton or Olivier? The person I think could pull it off is Colbert
What a storyteller. Amazing man and talent.
Richard Burton is a beguiling story teller, and Dick Cavett is a great listener.
His voice was sweet music. Hard to believe he would die four years later.
Well unfortunately he had a whole list full of health problems by this point, stemming from his severe past alcoholism and also severe chain smoking for many many years, it's very tragic. It's not hard to tell that he definitely looked sick here compared to just 5 years prior.
Burton had the kind of magnetism that compelled one's attention - Brando had it too. But when they are gone you realise that they cannot truly be replaced and there is just this void where they once lived and raged and wept
Hamish McPenguin beautifully put x
Gravitas. They had gravitas. Lorne Greene and Orson Welles had it as well.
Indeed. I only realized that such men were irreplaceable when they were gone. Burton was like a passing comet--never to be seen again in your lifetime. And though he was often typecast, he had such range as an actor. I recall his pathetic, sardonic, cruel and ultimately humane George in Virginia Woolf and see (as if it were the first time) how damned much he could do with words on a page.
John Hurt was another. They don't make 'em like that any more
I liked him with John Hurt in 1984.
As a fellow Welshman, I am a huge admirer of Richard Burton. I particularly enjoy his interviews with Dick Cavett. Blessings
He was an extraordinary actor. That voice and presence... One of my favorite Dick Cavett's interviews
My Great uncle was killed in a coal mine (Dany Graig) not far from Pontrhydyfen in 1872 when a coal seam collapsed on top of him, dozens went the same way. It's interesting to hear Richard described how his father could bring down 20 tons of coal with one strike of a pickaxe, yeah it was extremely skilled work but also bloody dangerous !!!
I spent the better part of my girlhood absolutely in love with this man!!! And my dad was from Wales, Swansea!!! He and I loved watching these shows together! What a junk world we’ve turned into!
Burton could read the phone book and it would sound like poetry. Such a gifted orator. The tone and inflection and choice of words is incredible. It comes from his Welsh language speaking when growing up. So many Welsh speakers speak English so eloquently.
ah yes he did read the phonebook on a late night show. luckily i wathed and listened to it along with the mesmerized audjence. not another sound or movement from anyone until he finished.😊
lol
I love the way he grew up speaking Welsh but had such an amazing accent speaking English. He reminds me of many native Irish speakers, who also are amazing wordsmiths with English.
It's probably because normal usage English isn't expressive enough for us. Also, English is (relatively speaking) a recent arrival in Ireland. Until the 1860's (after the famine) Most people would've been native Irish speakers. So we see potential word play that English people was not have noticed. Then there's the different cultural perspectives. An example would be Spike Milligan who, though English, inherited his humour from his Irish dad.
velvetunderpants44 No need for silly insults now ,is there? Just enjoy the interview and the brilliance of Burton.
@@velvetunderpants44 That's an odd example - I'd have picked Louis MacNeice, W B Yeats, Seamus Heaney, any of those - or maybe Sean O'Casey, whose plays and autobiography certainly give the "different cultural perspectives".
Totally right, Ireland has given the English language amazing novelists and poets, so many Nobel laureates from that little island. Vladimir Nabokov, a Russian famous for his English prose, once said he ow ed his skill to his lack of the subconscious constraints native speakers have. He felt creative with something foreign like English, and that's probably true for the Welsh and Irish speakers too.
His accent would still sound the same whatever language he was speaking
There are no Hollywood actors left like this, an amazing voice and man, also David niven
Cara: glad you remembered Niven . Great actor, author..
@@tomreedyjr3631 Yes. Tom, re David Niven, what we miss now also is the kind of character played by David Niven. Where not all the character’s thoughts are said aloud. Where much is left for an audience to figure out. The same with Richard Burton. He could thunder away, but also be he master of silences.
Burton and Mason the most magnificent voices in films.
Good point ,great they certainly were.
I was born and brought up 1 valley over from Richard Burton I’ve driven through his village of Pontrhydfen many times, the Afan Valley is a stunning place.
Mr J W hi I'm from Caerphilly and used to live in Tonmawr
Yes, it's beautiful, I live a few valleys away and there's nothing like going for a drive/ride over the mountains.
I'm from this area and the Afan valley is stunning imo
Speaking as someone who only just discovered Dick Cavett recently, I think he maybe one of the greatest chat-show hosts I've ever witnessed.
Cavett did his research and knew how to set up a guest - and then sit to the side as the stories came out. He was a brilliant listener. His own ego was secure enough that he didn't feel the need to turn a monologue into a duet.
Just thinking those exact same thoughts.
I love love love this man. What an incredible asset he was to Hollywood. His voice is music to the ears.
THAT voice, THAT style and that "i'm so cool" attitude. A true welshman through and through. Elizabeth was lucky to have him twice.
It's called confidence.
He was lucky to have her.
"They look down on people from below" ... what a great turn of phrase (response). An excellent interview.
That haunted look... God Bless You Richard
I enjoyed this. My father was a coal miner in Pennsylvania, and Grandpa and Great Grandpa in Pa. and Wales. I've always been proud of that. Cavett can't seem to comprehend that working class people can be proud of their work and who they are, sad.
I'm grateful I never had to go into a coal mine. My grandfather died at 44 from black lung disease. I guess different people see it differently. For some it was the only job available.
Lost my beloved grandfather at age 52 due to lung disease. He has been in my heart and thoughts. Hope he will be there to meet me on the other side of life.
Maybe this reveals more of Dick Cavitt’s skill as an interviewer. He could understand the pride and love that miner’s had but he wanted Richard Burton to explain it for the audience. I like that Dick Cavett let Richard Burton speak uninterrupted and wasn’t afraid of silences.
@@gwenowens6727 well said. Sadly today, the interview is more about the interviewer than the guest. Dick had a great skill.
As posh as his voice was. You could always hear the Walsh accent. Brilliant, totally incredible actor.
@@ds1868 sorry for my mistake. I will concentrate a bit better next time.
The most beautiful male voice of his time
George Sanders also had a wonderful voice.
@@shifty2755 So did Jason Robards.
@@charmianskelton4745 So did Oliver Reed.
@@TonyEnglandUK best voices are Welsh. Burton, Anthony Hopkins and more that I can't think of now.
Of any time. The Celtic actors .... nothing can top them.
THis is a historical document of coal mining, and a totally lost period in history. Amazing. It's also amazing that he was fully aware of the appeal of his accent, and analyzed and explained it perfectly.
I loved that too. Not arrogant, just actually quite accurate and true. But since he was really describing his people, not just him it sounded like he wasn't trying to talk about himself but did happen to be.
he is such a wonderful story-teller.
This was therapy for Burton, no wonder he did several nights. Dick Cavett is probably the best interviewer I've seen. Witty but understated, leaving plenty of space for the celebrity to move into. Two great practitioners. x
Actors like Burton, O’Toole and Finney all came from tough working class backgrounds. Now in Britain all the key actors seem to come from very privileged backgrounds, privately educated in schools where the annual fees are in excess of $50,000 a year! Watch the ‘Spy who came in from the cold’ if you want to see just how great an actor this man was. Dick Cavett was a great interviewer. I
Abs...you can sense it in their manner, being and soul, the working class intellect of an independent mind ..very rare, esp in the privileged world of film today where it's predominately upper middle class types with very little of the soul and struggle those across eyes
Yes and they are not a patch on these great actors.
I think Michael Caine too, was from humble roots.
@@angelwings7930 He was. Father a fish porter at a London market, mother a cleaner. He himself fought in the Korean War.
@@carolinebaker5955 Interesting. I adored Michael Caine. Always though he was sexy 👍. Another immense talent. I remember him telling a story about a gangster relative of his who used razor blades in his hat. He’d throw the hat like a frisbee to cut someone. Sounds bizarre but it’s true.
“The arrogant face of the Lords of the coal face.” It’s not only Burton’s mellifluous velvet voice, it’s also his brilliant mind, here. I wonder what combination of the preservation of his immense talent and his stubborn determination kept his wit alive in spite of his profligate use of alcohol. “Only too bloody well.”
He was born thusly
Wow. An actor who had something to say.
I grew up watching talk shows”. There were great guests who talked about the depression, vaudeville, world war 2, other actors, etc. Talk shows now are unwatchable. Even talk show presenters like Chelsea Handler and Craig Ferguson said that they gave up their shows because they were bored with their formats.
I’ve never been so captivated to hear about coal mining in my life. The man was a legend.
Richard Burton an amazingly knowledgeable and intelligent man.
The man was a legend. The absolutely magical way he brought mining to life. The cadence and symphony of his voice was soothing. Kudos to Cavett for his consummate skill in allowing Burton the full flow of his narrative without interruption. That was another generation!
coming from Pennsylvania and being fascinated with Wales and the Basque country i was amazed to learn about the anthracite coal seam connecting all 3 as if for some subterranean purpose and magic !
@Gareth Lloyd as a matter of fact i did google it and found some good articles which discussed exactly what Richard Burton was talking about - this great seam of anthracite coal connecting all 3 places across the ocean
@Gareth Lloyd it is very easy to google and find out - what is your problem ? - you are a very weird person ! - please do something constructive with your time and your life !
@Gareth Lloyd as an example here is an article mentioning the Great Atlantic Seam that Richard Burton accurately describes (one of the links i found from google search yesterday) www.standard.co.uk/business/city-spy-miner-atlantic-coal-reckons-aim-s-the-pits-as-it-delists-a3143041.html i quote: "Bill Nighy’s character eulogises the Great Atlantic Fault, or the “dark artery” as it was known, that runs from Spain to Pennsylvania via the Welsh valleys."
Val Lamon They talk about it in the movie Pride. The black seam.
@@samanthab1923 very good info - thank u Sheila
What a wonderful story teller....best interview of Dick Cavett
The delectable Richard Burton could read out the telephone directory and make it sound like a work of Shakespear! What an amazing, beautifully Welsh and lyrical tone of voice! And sooooooo handsome he takes my breath away 💋xx There's gorgeous, boyo! xx
Burton's outlook on life was shaped by the way he faced it as a youth. It left him cynical at life's games and weary of nonsense. He never lost the scars of his past, but he never sought to hide them. Only in Shakespeare and other legends could he find beauty and truth. A great man.
An interesting reply. I think your spot on.
@@hunterluxton5976great insight.
Listening to him talk is mesmerising. I found my self getting closer to the screen. Pure class. I know the area that he came from. My wife is half Welsh. Fine people.
I love the Welsh people also
@@fancysfolly554 Remember, when he was a boy, any kid heard speaking Welsh at school was usually beaten - the English wanted to destroy the Welsh language and culture. And Philip Burton who promoted his education was not Welsh but English. There was a tension there from the start of Richard's life: Philip Burton was immersed in English literature and especially drama, and this was a huge influence.
CHARMIAN SKELTON was that his brother?
Actually, the English mine owners did subjugate the Welsh harshly. There was the fact that miners could only buy good from stores owned by the mines, the treason of the blue books, and the Welsh 'not'. I'm old enough to remember a neighbour who was subjected to the latter as a small child, for speaking Welsh in school. Research is your friend!
@@charmianskelton4745 Not so sure that one could class Philip Burton as English ; he was born in Mountain Ash ,South Wales; yes , he had an English father but a Welsh mother.....
I met his brother once ,and had tea and biscuits at his home. The biscuits were from Harrods in London,and a gift from Elizabeth Taylor.
That voice!!! One of the few people in this world who can mesmerise you the minute he starts a story. You just have to listen.
Christopher Lee, Peter O'Toole as well.
“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams...........
This is is the best voice there has ever been! I’ve listened to under milk wood several times just to listen to the voice!
What a great, talented and charming man. I could listen for hours.
He didn't look well in this interview, but still so driven and intense as one of the best actors of all time. Excellent interview by Cavett that made the conversation flow so smoothly.
Well he had a whole list full of health problems at this point, all due to his past alcoholism and his extremely heavy chain smoking, he passed away four years after this interview.
The shortness and bow legs are due to rickets which was very common among miners esp. when they started so young. The miners lore, when spoke of so eloquently by a gifted story teller, makes it so believable. Richard was special, his career speaks for it self.
He drank more then any other famous actor He had enormous pain You can feel it in his face His face is a story Lovely man
What was the pain?
Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Ollie Reed would disagree.
There’s a story that when O’Toole and Burton were making “Becket”, O’Toole got Burton out drinking so often and so long that Elizabeth Taylor scolded O’Toole, and made Burton promise not to see O’Toole socially again, at least while they were filming.
Al Bundy for President Peter O’Toole’s character in My Favorite Year was based on Errol Flynn. O’Toole had certainly had what one actor called “A lot of not necessarily related practice. 😉
@@terryallen9546 Hangovers.
Great from Sir Richard. Pity none of the modern day Yank talk show hosts are like Cavett.
Burton was never knighted, if I'm correct.
@@steelers6titles I ennobled him!
And you now have Rupert Murdoch's bunch DRAGGING Brits like Piers Morgan over to pronounce and pontificate about "Merica's" problems. Even Atlanta CNN is full of announcers I now need SUB TITLES for, like the movie Trainspotting! Do the math: half the Yang talk show outfits are Brits, now. And most (except maybe Craig Ferguson, who moved on) have NOTHING to say or contribute.
That voice is truly amazing
You can see it in his eyes how proud he was of his brother and father and the mines, I'm Irish but my grandad was from Newport...you can only imagine the types Burton met in Hollywood and his experiences in Wales..like two different world's
He is so much like my late husband. This was difficult to watch. Once you've had a man like this you never stop yearning for the sound of his voice.
An amazing voice and presence like Peter O'Toole
if Dick had been interviewing me, I would have had everyone, including DIck, bored to tears. Yet here Richard Burton talked on about his father and everyone was paying rapt attention. Amazing! What a talent and he was an incredible guy.
Oh, I dunno. Never put yourself down. That’s what critics are for!
what a beautiful man. incredible actor. incredible voice, incredible history. watched a documentary on him many years ago on his life, one of the best I have seen.
Couldn't you just listen to him telling his stories ALL DAY.....
One of the most fascinating interviews I have ever had the pleasure of watching.
Great personality Unique voice solid actor!!
I could spend a whole day listening to Sir Burton's talking...
Beautiful story teller. Loved every minute of this.