Richard Burton honoured with blue plaque

Local TV

A blue plaque on a building is a sign that something very important happened there, and the birth of Richard Burton 100 years ago definitely counts as something important. We speak to his daughter and granddaughter about his impact on Wales and Hollywood.

Transcript

00:00Three, two, one.

00:08It's really amazing, I think, you know, as someone that grew up fully in America,

00:12to have such an intense, immediate connection to your motherland is not always guaranteed when you're American.

00:18So to have a place to come back, to literally be able to come to the birthplace of my grandpa,

00:24the fact that the building is still standing, but then to also commemorate it with so many people in my family,

00:29is unbelievably lucky, we're so blessed.

00:32I've always visited, I've always come down here, I've been to this house so many times,

00:36and to have the blue plaque there is just really incredible.

00:39He was born here in the Valley's house, 100 years later he's being celebrated as one of the biggest talents to come out of Wales.

00:46A mega star of his time, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and millions of fans,

00:50Richard Burton is an icon like no other, and his legacy here is being cemented with a blue plaque.

00:56It's unbelievably surreal, very exciting, so, so many people have put in such hard work to make it happen,

01:02and I'm just so grateful that so many of my family members could be here today.

01:05Well, you know, it's a big deal. I mean, I guess blue plaques are not, you know, they're not put up all the time,

01:12so this is very significant that his blue plaque is on his 100th birthday, and also my grandfather,

01:18Philip Burton's blue plaque got put up down the hill in Tybach, so it's been very, very exciting.

01:25My mother is also from the Rhonda Valley near Cardiff, and in fact my daughter and I have a home together in Cardiff,

01:32so Wales is continuing to be a huge part of our lives.

01:37One point that anyone who tells you about Richard Burton would say is his incredibly humble beginnings.

01:42The Valley's boy through and through made it onto the biggest stage,

01:45and even those in his family and those who've studied his life find it hard to believe.

01:49Well, he really was, and you know, I mean, and the thing that, I mean, obviously, you know, he was a public figure,

01:57which was sometimes not so easy because that's not easy, but most importantly, he was a brilliant actor,

02:03and that, you know, and that comes from growing up here, meeting a particular person who would help him develop that talent,

02:13and it's an extraordinary journey. I mean, I really realized that, as I said over 20 years ago,

02:23was like, Dada's journey was unbelievable. Like, I can't even believe he did it.

02:27Yeah, I mean, I think to be Welsh, to be South Welsh, just to understand that we are very powerful, very talented,

02:34but we're often overlooked in many, many different arenas, and I think having someone like Grandpa,

02:41who exceeded the world stage and became one of the most famous people in the world,

02:45he was the most paid actor of 1965, so truly reach the greatest heights you can reach,

02:51and, yeah, it's just for it to all come full circle and be here is so wild.

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