Richard Burton: Prince of Players

"This all-inclusive biography of Hollywood's original movie star is a fascinating, headlong dive into the complex world of starlets, directors, drugs, and drinking that dominated Burton's rise to the top." "Richard Burton was a man of contradictions. He wanted to escape the mining community of Wales, yet his heart never left it. He wanted to live life to the fullest, but knew that he was drinking himself into an early grave. He was an avid reader and a lover of poetry, yet he seemed to squander his talents and find happiness at the bottom of a beer glass, giving up all hopes of becoming a great actor when he sold his soul to Hollywood and his heart to Elizabeth Taylor." "Munn recounts Burton's darkest thoughts and secrets, revealing hell-raising stories that Hollywood quashed in order to save Burton's early film career-including affairs with Marilyn Monroe and Lana Turner, being caught in a brothel with Errol Flynn, and a fist fight with Frank Sinatra. Covering everything from Burton's early days on the London stage, to his star performance in Broadway's Camelot, to his wild nights in Hollywood, Munn also movingly recalls nursing Burton through an epileptic seizure, and witnessing a terrifying encounter that Burton had with a gangster that ended in violence." "Burton was known for his charisma, his explosive temper, his excessive carousing, and, above all, his stunning command of stage and screen. This in-depth look at the real Richard Burton draws on Munn's friendship with Burton over the years as well as on formal interviews and informal conversations with a great many of the stars who knew and worked with Burton. It is a must-read for any follower of film, history, and the rise of celebrity in America."--BOOK JACKET.