1971: RICHARD BURTON on DYLAN THOMAS | Late Call | Classic Celebrity Interview | BBC Archive

Richard Burton chats to Ronnie Williams about his involvement in the screen adaptation of Under Milk Wood, and shares some of his memories of Dylan Thomas.
This clip is from Late Call, originally broadcast 15 February, 1971.
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[@catherine4970]

Richard Burton’s voice is like no other.

[@danvincent2600]

Speak to me. You’ll hear Richard

[@ipuya]

The voice of Burton..... wish it could somehow be sampled and used forever on movies and audiobooks.

[@elmar001]

It would have been absolutely electric listening to his voice in-person!

[@danvincent2600]

@@elmar001 I sound just like Richard burton! I’m a twisted Irish welsh man

[@marcmorrissey1147]

I’ve heard it described as cut glass & chiffon. Burton himself said it’s a very welsh voice, the deep, dark answer from the valley’s to the bloody lot of em!

[@TitoLukason]

@@danvincent2600 I bet u don't, u need to be born in the Valleys to sound somewhat similar 🤣

[@hunterluxton5976]

There are lots of people who have a burton like accent in Wales. It's a cultivated voice, but still distinctively Welsh. The interviewer here also has a splendid Welsh voice. I can't recall his name, but he was Welsh speaker and partnered Ryan in a TV show " Ronnie & Ryan" in the seventies. They recorded it in Welsh and English, it was very popular. He also started in the film " Twin Town" in the late 90s as a drug dealer! He has sadly passed away.

[@unclenogbad1509]

Remember that too (English version, ashamed to say). Also, of course, Ryan Davies was in the film. A part created for the film (and having no dialogue), he's in every scene with Burton, echoing his narration with mime, clowning and that wonderfully expressive face he had. Definitely adds an extra dimension, since Burton's narrator didn't have to be speaking to the audience at any time, putting him 'in' the story, rather than something separate from it.

[@zyxmyk]

very interesting. thanks.

[@SDSen]

how do you tell the difference between that and the london accent?

[@vanessahawarden9028]

The wonderful, modest, intelligent, irreplaceable Richard Burton; and his beautiful unforgettable voice.

[@behrangaliabadi4172]

Absolutely the best of the best

[@stephenpointer7572]

Absolutely fascinating.

[@harryrobbins6376]

Burton is great here - you can tell that it’s a subject he is passionate talking about, even if he did hold some element (unjustly) of guilt about Dylan’s end. Fantastic to hear him talk about his hero.

[@zyxmyk]

Welsh is a beautiful language. It sounds like Merlin doing an incantation.

[@laurabarzaghi1770]

Burton sei neraviglioso ma non Dovevi lasciare Elizabeth ❤❤❤❤

[@MrRatherino]

God he was good looking! what a cople those two were..sad..

[@DenkyManner]

Reading about this production of Under Milkwood, it seems it didn't come off that well after all.

[@unclenogbad1509]

No, go search it out. Even if you aren't too familiar, the voices and the rhythms of the language still shine right through. Despite a low budget, the cinematography is evocative, and leaves space for a cast that clearly love what they're doing. Elizabeth Taylor isn't very good, but you can't have everything.

[@danvincent2600]

I just realised- I sound exactly like Richard burton, an anglicised welsh accent for which I’ve been persecuted all my fxxking life. Cheers. I might as well be a fxxking transvestite

[@walmart_ar1567]

glorious genius at work

[@David-mg1yj]

@danvincent2600 - Back in my Punk days, I used to have a Glaswegian friend who moved to England as a child. He was bullied at School, so began speaking with an English accent. However, he was too ashamed to tell his family, so spoke with a heavy Scottish accent when at home. No matter how many times we (his English friends) got him drunk, we never once heard his Scottish accent. Until one day we ran into his parents in the local Arndale centre. He went through hell trying to keep his friends and his family apart so neither party heard him swapping accents. - Your Anglicised welsh accent, sounding like Richard Burton, doesn't sound too terrible to me.

[@TheAlmightyAss]

Any reason why Burton couldnt get the rights to Milk Wood, then? He throws that in briefly but it's surprising, as you'd assume he could afford it, and it's clearly something he was legitimately passionate about.