Posts Tagged ‘Richard Burton’

As mentioned previously, Michael Sheen attended the launch of the Western Mail’s campaign to raise the required £20,000 to install a star for Welsh actor Richard Burton on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

Please click on the thumbnail below to watch the video, or alternatively visit the new ‘Personal Appearances‘ Video Gallery

Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry at Westminster Abbey on Friday, 29 April, and it will have a soundtrack provided by the band of The Welsh Guards, who have just signed a £1m record contract to release the songs it will perform at the Royal wedding.

A Royal Tribute, showcasing the set list, is released before the big day on 4 April.

It includes a recital by Hollywood actor and Welshman Michael Sheen.

Sheen, who grew up in Port Talbot, follows in the footsteps of another Welshman, Richard Burton, by reciting an extract from Dylan Thomas’s Under Milkwood against a backdrop of the band playing All Through The Night.

The album also includes Treorchy Male Choir and Welsh singers Aled Jones and Gwawr Edwards, and a performance by the Choir of Westminster Abbey.

Maj Stephen Barnwell, the band’s director of music, said: “Guards bands are the backbone of royal ceremonies and are recognised the world over.

“Prince Charles is very close to the regiment and we are very proud to have his royal highness as our regimental colonel.”

Album tracks include God Save The Queen, Land Of Hope And Glory and Land Of My Fathers, and combines the themes of royalty and Welsh heritage.

God Bless The Prince of Wales features a blaze of trumpets, choir and timpani, while Men Of Harlech was described by Maj Barnwell as “the best version I’ve ever heard played by a band”.

Sheen said: “The Band of the Welsh Guards are a very loved and revered group and to be invited to work with them is wonderful and I’m in great company on this record.”

The Welsh Guards were formed in 1915 and are one of the most famous regiments in the British Army, serving during World War I to current operations.

Around a quarter of the current band, which is based at Wellington barracks in London, is Welsh.

The band is entrenched in royal tradition with the Queen being the regiment’s Colonel in Chief.

Michael Sheen last night described the absence of a star for Richard Burton on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as an “absolute outrage”.

He made the comments as he attended the official launch of the Western Mail’s campaign to secure recognition for the Welsh screen legend on the iconic Hollywood Boulevard by adding a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

Sheen was guest of honour at last night’s event, which was also attended by international soprano Rebecca Evans, former Welsh rugby international Gerald Davies and high-profile representatives from the arts and business world.

Sheen, who was raised in Port Talbot, described how Burton, who was from the nearby village of Pontrhydyfen, helped inspire him as he himself started out as an actor.

He said of Burton: “He is Wales, he is film, he is theatre, he is poetry, he is spirit, he is passion and he is hiraeth [translation]. He is everything that we aspire to be.

“The Hollywood Walk of Fame would be blessed to have his star on it. It is an absolute outrage he does not have a star there.

“He is the star that will shine the brightest.”

Sheen said he grew up hearing stories about the legend of Burton.

He said: “Growing up in the town, you can’t help but be affected by that legend.

“You heard stories of Burton landing by helicopter on Aberavon beach, you would see pictures of him as a film star walking alongside his father – a miner with coal dust on his face.”

Port Talbot and its environs is renowned for producing actors, with Sir Anthony Hopkins coming from the area, as well as Sheen and Burton.

And the Frost/Nixon star said the production line of stars was not a coincidence.

“There’s a kind of melancholy, a dark humour and obviously a drive,” he said.

Sheen is known for playing “real-life” figures, from Tony Blair to Kenneth Williams.  But when asked if he would ever consider playing Burton, he said it would be a very tough role to tackle.

“That’s a big ask – his would be very difficult shoes to fill.

“It would be fascinating to get involved in something like that, but it would be a case of finding the right story, but it would be very scary.”

Last night’s event was held at the Cardiff Arms Suite where guests watched a film montage of Burton’s life and career.

Sheen then took part in a question-and-answer session with Western Mail columnist Carolyn Hitt.

As well as commemorating Burton on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Western Mail’s A Star For Burton Appeal Fund will raise money towards scholarships for future students of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where a new theatre has been named in Burton’s honour.

Students from the Cardiff-based conservatoire – harpist Liv Dahren and flautist Matthew Mockford – entertained the guests during the official launch.

Visited by more than 10 million people every year, the Hollywood Walk of Fame in California honours the entertainment industry. Brass stars are laid to commemorate actors, musicians, directors, producers, musical and theatrical groups, fictional characters and others for their entertainment contributions.

The first permanent star to be unveiled was in 1960 for director Stanley Kramer and one of the most recent recipients was British actor Colin Firth, whose star was unveiled in January.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame committee is seeking nominations for June, when it will consider who should feature in a new batch of stars. About 20 are selected from nominations, including one posthumous honour. But those behind the nominations must pay $30,000 (around £18,000), which funds installation and maintenance costs.

The Western Mail has teamed up with the WRU and Principality Building Society to launch a £40,000 fundraising drive – half of the money raised will go towards Burton’s star and the other half will support scholarships at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Last night’s reception was sponsored by global technology group Logicalis UK. The company, which has its regional headquarters in Nantgarw, also handed over a cheque to the appeal for £3,000.

The campaign has also attracted interest from as far away as America, with businessman John M Thomas supporting the appeal.

The campaign is the brainchild of Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, director of enterprise and innovation at the University of Wales and a Western Mail columnist.

He said: “After visiting the States a couple of years ago, we were discussing with some friends the Hollywood Walk of Fame. When we discovered that Richard Burton was not honoured it was a big shock. Along with Sir Anthony Hopkins, he’s the biggest actor that Wales has produced.

“I felt that if Burton also had a star it would not only honour the great Welshman but also raise the profile of Wales as millions of people would see it.”

Burton was born in 1925 into a working-class, Welsh-speaking family and went on to become one of the greatest stage actors, playing everything from Hamlet to Othello, before conquering Hollywood.  His leading roles included My Cousin Rachel, Under Milk Wood and Cleopatra, when he famously met his future wife, Elizabeth Taylor. He died in 1984 at the age of 58.

How to donate to the appeal.

(source)

There is a video of the event which I shall be uploading later this evening.

Michael Sheen has revealed how Richard Burton helped inspire him as he carved out his own successful career on stage and screen

Michael, who grew up in Port Talbot, just a few miles from Burton’s birthplace in Pont-rhydyfen, later found himself following in his idol’s footsteps by playing several of the roles he portrayed before him, including Jimmy Porter (Look Back In Anger) and Prince Hal.

Now Michael, who is currently in Port Talbot working on The Passion for National Theatre Wales which will be staged this Easter, will officially launch the campaign to get a star installed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in memory of Burton.

He will be the guest of honour during a reception for invited VIPs at the Cardiff Arms Suite on Monday evening.

“I think that people already assume there is a star for Richard Burton on the Hollywood walk of Fame,” says Sheen, who’s now based in Los Angeles.

“If anyone should have a Hollywood star he certainly should and it needs to be put right.

“It’s also important that his work continues to be made available so that younger generations can be as familiar with it as we have been.”

Sheen, who will chalk up another role played by Burton when he tackles Hamlet later this year at the Young Vic, says he was aware of Burton’s talents from an early age.

“Coming from this area (Port Talbot), Burton was one of our icons, as he was throughout the world,” he says. “And the more I got into acting, the larger he loomed. My appreciation of him changed as I started to discover more about him.”

Growing up, he loved reading about Burton and his work, particularly theatre reviews.

“I was too young to see him on the stage but I remember getting a sense of what it might have been like to see him and being very impressed.

“I know members of his family now and it’s always a pleasure to meet them and talk to them.”

As well as commemorating Burton on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Western Mail’s Star For Burton Appeal Fund will raise money towards scholarships for future students of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where a new theatre has been named in Burton’s honour.

Visited by more than 10 million people every year, the Hollywood Walk of Fame in California honours the entertainment industry. Brass stars are laid to commemorate actors, musicians, directors, producers, musical and theatrical groups, fictional characters and others for their entertainment contributions.

The first permanent star to be unveiled was in 1960 for director Stanley Kramer and one of the most recent recipients was British actor Colin Firth, whose star was unveiled in January.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame committee is currently seeking nominations for June, when it will consider who should feature in the new batch of stars. Around 20 are selected from the nominations, including one posthumous honour. But those behind the nominations must pay $30,000 (around £18,000), which funds installation and maintenance costs.

Last night, on BBC Radio 2, Michael Sheen narrated a piece on fellow Welsh actor, the late great Richard Burton.

We have added a copy of this to our DOWNLOADS section for those outside the UK, and not able to catch it.  For those in the UK, if you prefer, you can listed again on the BBC iPlayer.

It is an excellent insight into an acting legend, and very well read by another.

Back in June, Michael Sheen kicked off BBC Radio 2′s documentary season with “Hello, Good Evening and Welcome – The David Frost Story”.  It was reported back then that Michael would also be narrating a feature on the late great Richard Burton.

Here is what Radio 2 have to say about it:

Michael Sheen grew up in the shadow of the steel and coal industries of South Wales but there was another towering figure in his youth as he started showing signs of what was to become a glittering acting career. That figure was his fellow South Walian Richard Burton.

In this programme Michael looks back at the Burton legacy with the help of a selection of family, friends and colleagues including his last wife Sally, his nephew Guy Masterson, his close friend Robert Hardy, his biographer Melvyn Bragg and the film critic Barry Norman.

The broadcast will be aired Wednesday 18th August 2010 at 22:00

(source)