Richard Burton
Birth Name: Richard Walter Jenkins
Date of Birth: 10 November, 1925
Place of Birth: Neath, Glamorganshire, Wales
Date of Death: 5 August, 1984
Place of Death: Céligny, Geneva, Switzerland
Ethnicity: Welsh
Richard Burton was a Welsh actor, and singer. His roles included the films The Last Days of Dolwyn, Now Barabbas, Waterfront (1950), The Woman with No Name, Green Grow the Rushes, My Cousin Rachel (1952), The Desert Rats, The Robe (1953), Thursday’s Children, Prince of Players, The Rains of Ranchipur, Alexander the Great (1956), Sea Wife, Bitter Victory, Look Back in Anger, Ice Palace, The Bramble Bush, Dylan Thomas, The Longest Day (1962), Cleopatra (1963), The V.I.P.s, Zulu, Becket (1964), The Night of the Iguana, The Sandpiper, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Florence: Days of Destruction, The Taming of the Shrew, Doctor Faustus, The Comedians (1967), Boom!, Where Eagles Dare, Candy (1968), Staircase, Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Raid on Rommel, Villain (1971), Under Milk Wood, The Assassination of Trotsky, Hammersmith Is Out, Bluebeard (1972), Battle of Sutjeska, Massacre in Rome, The Voyage, The Klansman (1974), Exorcist II: The Heretic, Equus (1977), The Medusa Touch, The Wild Geese, Absolution (1978), Breakthrough (1979), Circle of Two, Lovespell, Wagner (1983), and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984); the made-for-tv movie Divorce His, Divorce Hers; and the series Ellis Island; as well as many works on stage, and on radio.
He was the son of Edith Maude/Maud (Thomas) and Richard Walter Jenkins, a coal miner. Richard was married to Welsh actress and theatre director Sybil Christopher, with whom he had two children, including actress Kate Burton. He was also married to British and American actress Elizabeth Taylor, and adopted two of her children. The couple was married and divorced twice.
Richard is said to have been a second cousin, once removed, of American writer and director Patty Jenkins.
Richard’s paternal grandfather was Thomas Jenkins (the son of Miles Jenkins and Mary Arthur). Thomas was born in Glamorgan, Michaelston, Glamorganshire, and was a coal miner in Pontrhydyfen. Miles was the son of Miles Jenkins and Alice David. Mary was the daughter of John Arthur and Anne Llewelyn.
Richard’s paternal grandmother was Margaret Walters/Walter (the daughter of Richard Walters/Walter and Jane Harries). Margaret was born in Margam, Glamorganshire.
Richard’s maternal grandfather was Henry/Harry Thomas (the son of John Thomas and Hannah Charles). Henry was born in Swansea, Glamorganshire. John was likely the son of Jacob or Thomas Thomas and Mary Jones. Hannah was the daughter of David Charles and Mary Rees or Rhoderick.
Richard’s maternal grandmother was Jane Morgan (the daughter of Rees Morgan and Hannah Davies). Jane was born in Margam, Glamorganshire. Rees was the son of John Morgan and Margaret William.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2026) stated that Richard’s daughter Kate’s genetic ancestry consists of:
*98% Wales
*1% Cornwall
*1% Sweden
Richard had evidently stated that he had a recent ancestor who was a Jewish immigrant to Wales. Given his daughter’s DNA results, this is not accurate.
Sources: Genealogy of Richard Burton – https://www.findagrave.com
Genealogy of Richard Burton (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Richard’s paternal grandfather, Thomas Jenkins, on the 1851 England and Wales Census – https://www.familysearch.org
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=46403&id=I40232
Correction.
Richard Burton had stated several times that his great-grandfather was Jewish.
“My great-grandfather,” Burton told a reporter, “was a Polish Jew named Jan Ysar, and that was the family name until they changed it to Jenkins. [Burton’s real name was Richard Walter Jenkins.] It’s true. I’m one-eighth Jewish. Elizabeth hasn’t a drop of Jewish blood. I’ve told her so. It makes her furious.” Earlier, during the making of The Night of the Iguana, in a thatched roof bar in Puerto Vallarta, a drunken Burton had announced, “I was born a Jew. I am perhaps the very oldest of the really ancient Jews.”
I’ve seen that before. I could find no evidence of it being true.
Richard’s great-grandfather Miles Jenkins was born c. 1814 in Glamorgan, to Miles Jenkins and Alice David. That Miles’ parents were Miles Jenkins and Margaret Harris. No evidence of Polish Jews or names changes anywhere.
It appears to be some kind of story he concocted in the 1960s, during his marriage to Taylor. Maybe he believed it himself. But it doesn’t look like it was true.