Richard Burton Avoided Laurence Olivier | The Dick Cavett Show

Richard Burton discusses how he used to avoid Laurence Olivier's performances.

Date aired - 8/4/1980 - Richard Burton

#RichardBurton #LaurenceOlivier #DickCavett


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

[philiphamer]

Evidence here of how dumbed down we've become. There are no remarkable interviews like this in the media any more. This is simply wonderful. What an extraordinary actor and raconteur Burton was.

[ralphfurley]

I think Richard Burton passed away in 1984, yet here I am in 2020 being captivated at watching an interview of him! I really like the way Mr. Cavett interviewed his guests! ☮️🖖🏽

[mrlfhill]

The voice, the cadence and the thoughtfulness in his delivery. Even in an interview it's like he is reciting Shakespeare.

[jeremypearson]

One of the greatest actors of all time and definitely one of the most recognizable and powerful voices.

[showtunestarpower]

What a wonderful storyteller is Richard Burton - so lucid, so intelligent, so humorous, so warm!

[sB-sfod]

It's so great to see an interview where the guest gets to finish a sentence and the interviewer doesn't try and hog the interview. Richard Burton was a very fine actor and more than a little handsome too.

[jenniferelainewebster]

This man could read a damn phone book and make me cry. I saw him in Camelot in the very first month he played Arthur. He WAS Arthur. He read/sang his role, and I could see eternity in his acting. I cried like a baby. Long live the King!

[raydavies]

My dad lived a few doors up from Richard Burton and they played together as children back home in South Wales.

[philsarkol]

Dick Cavett is so well informed, well prepared and absolutely one of the best to engage in a conversation rather than an intervieuw. He is capable of taking time and let the story be told by his guests in a natural flow, whilst asking the right question, or giving suggestions at the right time.

[AndyK]

I love Burton's storytelling abilities so much. What an extraordinary artist.

[lulusaintly]

Such a wonderful interviewer - quiet, respectful but penetrating. And how I miss Burton - such a larger than life, charismatic man. Hard to take your eyes off him.

[integral]

One of those voices that can engage you regardless of what's being said.

[Timbergal]

What an incredible REAL Man. That smirk/smile, fabulous cheekbones, sexy presence, lovely dimples and voice that could keep me mesmerized for hours.

[LPMAN]

RIP and long live Richard Burton (November 10, 1925 – August 5, 1984), aged 58
You will always be remembered as a legend.

[thelittlebluecar]

Richard Burton. A wonderful yet troubled soul, who, from meagre beginnings reached the firmament and shone so bright and burned away so fast.

[MariusRiley]

: Cavett's one of, if not the best interviewer ever to be on television. He always handled guests, topics, etc. so deftly, so expertly that it made it look easy as 1, 2, 3. And he's famously intelligent as well.

[theboywithathorninhisside.]

Imagine a current US Chat Host even etempt this level of 1). Engagment. 2). Interaction. 3). Personal Wit and intelligence to even dare ask such informative Questions, and expect a resemblance of an answer. Never. These were Real Shows. That actually left you fulfilled with a sense of true Experience. Wonderful

[mccloysong]

Cavett: asks a question and gets out of the way of the eloquence he instigates.

[johnschlosser]

I was privileged to see Burton in a revival of Camelot in 1980 and can still remember his speaking voice filling the huge theater. Even in decline he was a commanding presence on the stage.

[richardclarke]

what a presence that man has - compared to today's 'actors'