I was so intensely shy then that when I made the initial step forward (and
Burton looked at me like, "Well, here's some one",) I thought to myself, "Oh
noooo, why did you do that? Are you stupid?" And you can imagine my heart-
pounding panic when I couldn't find the shutter release button for a second!
There were tears in my eyes I was so nervous.

Lisa <OckGal@...> wrote: Great stories! I loved the Margie
part!

It hadn't even occured to me why people wouldn't wanna take the photo for him. I
mean I'm reallllllllly shy and would never step up to do that for fear of
fainting (whether it be in front of him or generally anyone) so that's why I
never would. I didn't stop to think that others might be so wrapped up in the
moment that they wouldn't want to volunteer, lol! I bet a lot of people kicked
themselves once they walked away and the shock wore off.

Looking forward to hearing more!

~*~Lisa~*~
"I was absolutely gonzo. My eyes were rolling around like marbles.
Cars, yes. The wheels. They go around."
--Edward Herrmann
fansites[dot]hollywood[dot]com/~edwardherrmann
lisa[dot]larryhovis[dot]net
----- Original Message -----
From: lovedrichard
To: RichardBurton@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2007 12:29 AM
Subject: [RichardBurton] Revival of Camelot -1980

Okay, so my second Broadway experience with Burton was the revival
of "Camelot" in 1980. No "King Lear", but a happy relief after the
brutal "Equus". It ran for several weeks during a relentless,
blistering hot New York summer. I saw it twice. All Burton fans
were acquainted with the music and I already knew much of the
dialogue from reading a copy of the play. It was pretty emotional
to hear him sing live, and I remember saying a little prayer that
he would not crack a note. He didn't. I was not too crazy to see
him do this little dance in "What Do Simple Folk Do?", however. I
felt it was beneath his dignity. To tell the truth, I could not
tell anyone honestly if any of his performances were good or not. I
was too partial. After all, I was smitten. 27 years later, I still
have the yellow Camelot tee shirt that they sold at the
performances, featuring his quite handsome face. I wish I had
bought a few more.

Again, the city was brimming with excitement over his appearance at
Lincoln Center. Or maybe it was just me. But the excitement turned
to speculation and criticism when he took ill in the middle of one
performance. He froze in one spot, blanched and began to sweat
profusely, the newspapers said. He was quickly taken back to his
hotel. I don't believe he was able to finish that particular
performance. The nasty rumor was that he had a reaction to Antabuse
because he had taken a drink while on this medication. I do know
that he was suffering from shoulder, back and arm pain and later had
back surgery. So it might simply have been the beginnings of this
problem.

On one occasion I went to his hotel where his fans would gather
outside for a peek at him. There an elderly, eccentrically dressed
lady began chatting to me. She told me how she sent birthday and
Christmas cards to Burton and how she got cards in return and what
old friends they were. I doubted the veracity of what she was
telling me but listened and nodded politely. Suddenly, he exited
the hotel and she literally threw herself into his arms. "Margie!"
he greeted her. He picked her up, (all 85 pounds of her), twirled
her around, and planted a big kiss on her lips. My jaw dropped.
But I learned something more about Richard Burton. It seemed to me
that he was sincerely kind.

There was another occasion, when he was entering the stage door of
the New York State Theatre in Lincoln Center, that I learned even
more about him. A disabled man wheeled himself up to Burton and
asked if he could have a picture taken with him. Burton agreed but
no one stepped forward and take the camera from the man to snap the
picture. This infuriated Burton. He shouted at the crowd, "Oh, for
God's sake, someone take the picture!" I had always tried to keep
myself in the background. I didn't like to venture too closely to
him, out of respect, (and heaven forbid he should yell at me for
something) but I stepped forward and took the picture when no one
else offered. He thanked me as did the disabled man. I don't
think that Burton realized that it was not disinterest or
discourtesy that made people hesitate to take the picture. I think
everyone simply froze, as did I initially. But he took it as
repugnance for the handicapped man and reproved us for our
inaction. I was touched by it.

Again, he departed New York with renewed talk of returning for a run
in "King Lear". "Camelot" was fine, I thought, but "King Lear",
yeah, that would be the jackpot. I was drooling over this
possibility.

I will write more of my impressions of "Private Lives" and also of
his memorial in Manhattan.

Posthumous Oscar for Richard Burton Campaign
Sign Here!!
http://www.gopetition.com/online/7553.html
Yahoo! Groups Links

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