Philip Burton

Philip Henry Burton (30 November 1904 – 28 January 1995) was a Welsh teacher who became an acclaimed radio producer and theatre director. In his later life, he emigrated to the United States where he helped found the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. Despite Burton's successes in many fields, it is for his role in helping Richard Burton to pursue his career as an actor, that he is best remembered. Early history Philip Henry Burton was born in 1904 in Mountain Ash, Glamorgan, South Wales. His father, Henry, was English, and came to Wales to work as a collier, but died in a pit accident when Burton was 14. Burton's mother, Emma Matilda, was Welsh and was a large influence in his academic achievement, as was his Maths teacher, Ted Richards. He attended Caegarw Elementary School then Mountain Ash Intermediate School. Aged just 16, Burton gained a scholarship to study at the University College of Wales, Cardiff, from where he graduated in 1925 with a double honours degree in History and Mathematics. His years in Mountain Ash and Cardiff are described in the first two chapters of his autobiography, Early Doors. Burton's first experiences as a schoolboy of performance came through the chapel and from the touring companies that played at Mountain Ash's two theatres. In Cardiff, he went frequently to the city's theatres, but took no part in the college's Dramatic Society. He played rugby for the college. After leaving university, Burton became a teacher at the Port Talbot Secondary School, where he taught English (and, briefly, Games and Maths) and developed the school's drama activities. He also taught for the Workers' Educational Association and chaired the Port Talbot branch of the YMCA, as well as founding its Drama Society. He was a leading light as an actor in the Society, both in its Port Talbot productions and in drama competitions, and he was soon attracting attention in the national press: his portrayal of Othello was “perfect in make-up, appearance and art…Othello had a tremendous personality. There was action in every muscle. He was the only true Othello I ever saw…whose noble bearing and character personified manhood at its best.” Burton's first play for the BBC, Granton Street, his first feature, Margam Abbey, and his first appearance as an actor, in Antigone, were all broadcast in 1937, the last two being produced by T. Rowland Hughes, a features producer with the BBC in Cardiff.