Richard Burton later told had saved his life, saying: “I wouldn’t have survived without Marvin

RICHARD BURTON was permanently drunk while shooting The Klansman that he had to be filmed sitting or lying down. Elizabeth Taylor’s husband almost died, was rushed to hospital and later said he had no memory of making the movie with Lee Marvin and OJ Simpson at all.

Back in 1974, Richard Burton starred in race drama The Klansman as a liberal landowner opposite Lee Marvin’s Southern sheriff in the aftermath of a rape in a town dominated by the Klu Klux Klan. Terence Young, best known for his work on James Bond movies, directed what would also be OJ Simpson’s acting debut. The shoot took place just outside Sacramento, California, where Burton and his wife Elizabeth Taylor rented a house during production in the weeks prior to their first divorce.

Despite the pleasantries, the acting legend – who was approaching 50 – was in poor health, suffering from depression and sciatica.

Aside from smoking around 60 cigarettes a day, the star drank two or three litres of vodka a day to kill the pain of his mental and physical conditions.

As a result, he was essentially drunk the whole time he filmed the movie, which he later had no recollection of making it.

A lot of the time, Burton couldn’t even stand, so his part – for which he was paid $40,000 a week for 10 weeks plus box office profits – was shot seated or lying down.

You can even see in some scenes he’s slurring his words. Simpson later recalled: “There would be times when he couldn’t move.” But despite this, he “could change the meaning of a scene with just his voice. I studied that. We used to play a game: try to ignore Richard Burton when he’s talking. It’s impossible.”

Yet he wasn’t the only heavy boozer on set with co-star Marvin also often being inebriated.

In a 1977 interview, Burton said they bumped into each other at a party after making the movie but had no memory of working together on The Klansman.

Burton later told Michael Munn that Marvin had saved his life, saying: “I wouldn’t have survived without Marvin.”

According to Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger’s Furious Love, the co-star observed: “[Burton] was drinking not for pleasure of it but because he had a great need, and I doubt he knew what that was himself. Maybe it was for Elizabeth. But whatever it was, he was in pain, and he drank to kill that pain. I used to do it too.”

When it came to filming his death scene, the director was very impressed with the makeup artist’s work only to find that none had been applied. It turned out the star was on the verge of death.

BY MOVIES