Angela V John spoke at The Oldie Literary Lunch yesterday about her book on Philip Burton Behind the Scenes: The Dramatic Lives of Philip Burton, Richard Burton’s guardian and mentor.
Angela was a "sort of" consultant on the latest film Mr. Burton, starring Toby Jones. “I knew Philip Burton well” said Angela who grew up in Wales and had access to Philip Button's unseen personal papers. Angela said "working on the book has been revelatory for me, never a dull moment. I'm pleased Philip Burton can emerge from being the scenes and take centre stage."
Philip Burton gave annual Shakespeare recitals which the press called “mesmerising”. In 1978 it was the turn of Macbeth to a 1000-strong audience. Philip was on the stage for 2 hours speaking without notes. The next year, his lecture on Lear raised over 10,000 dollars. Richard Burton, who planned to play Lear, but never did, spent 5 hours on the phone to Philip discussing his plans for the role. Richard wrote to Philip that word of his enormous success had reached him from many sources. Richard added to Philip, “I smiled modestly and said I taught you everything you knew!’
