Early Life

Richard Walter Jenkins was born in Pontrhydyfen on 10 November 1925. The family home stood in the shadow of the old aqueduct in the dramatic landscape of the Afan Valley. Richard - the twelfth of thirteen, eleven of whom survived - was named after his father and grandfather. At the age of two, he lost his mother Edith, who died from septicaemia six days after giving birth to Richard’s younger brother Graham.

Their father, Richard senior, known as Dic Bach (‘Little Dick’) was a coal miner and became an alcoholic. Luckily for Richard, he was taken in by his older sister, Cecilia (Cis) and her husband Elfed, also a coal miner. They lived four miles down the valley in Taibach, in the steel town of Port Talbot.

The world of fourteen-year-old Richard Walter Jenkins is recorded in his 1939-40 pocket diary. The brief daily entries give a rare glimpse into an ordinary boy’s life in south Wales during the Second World War, when air raids and homework shared the same diary page.

But what is life like for teenagers in Port Talbot today?

At eleven years old, Richard passed his scholarship exam, becoming the first in his family to go to Grammar School. However, in 1941 when his brother-in-law Elfed became ill and unable to work, Richard was forced to leave school to work in the men’s outfitters department at Taibach Co-operative.

Luckily for Richard, his former teacher at the Eastern Boys School, Meredith Jones, who had previously mentored Richard for his exam saved the day. Meredith persuaded the headmaster to readmit Richard to the secondary school 18 months after he had left.

When sixteen-year-old Richard returned to the ‘Sec’ his teacher, Philip Burton, became the central influence on his life.

Original programme for Port Talbot’s Secondary School performance of Pygmalion (October 1943).

Richard was given a small part as an American in the school play, directed by Philip Burton and performed at the Port Talbot YMCA. A year later Richard got the lead role of Professor Higgins in the school performance of Pygmalion. The play tells the story of the rigorous training of a young woman to change her accent – a story that resembled Richard and Philip’s relationship.

Original programme for Port Talbot’s Secondary School performance of Pygmalion (October 1943).

Philip Burton decided that if Richard were to become an actor, he would need to change his voice. He trained Richard to tame his Welsh accent when he spoke English. He would take Richard to the top of nearby Margam Mountain so that he could practice his voice projection.

With Philip Burton’s connections, Richard was accepted to Exeter College, Oxford for six months as part of an RAF training course.

Richard’s short time at Exeter College was a period of great achievement and lifelong friendships. When he was cast as Angelo in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Richard trained hard for the role, and Philip Burton came up from Wales for last-minute coaching. It paid off. Among the audience were actor John Gielgud and theatre producer Hugh ‘Binkie’ Beaumont who invited Richard to discuss an acting contract following the war.

After Oxford, Richard began his RAF training, serving on bases in Norfolk, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire but occasionally obtaining leave of absence to perform some radio productions. He also spent a period with the RAF in Canada before finally being demobilised in December 1947.

Richard Burton became one of Hollywood’s most recognisable stars. But, after spending time learning about his childhood, can you pick him out of a school photo?

Just click the start button below, then tap on a face to select who you think Richard is. Good luck!

Many of Richard’s childhood memories were encapsulated in the book he wrote in 1964. A Christmas Story, tells the tale of a child living in a South Wales mining village during Christmas.

Click here to see the film adaption on BFI player.