The key to Port Talbot's creative crucible

Angela V John's new biography of Philip Burton reveals the true extent of his impact not only on his protégé Richard Burton, but also on the wider acting scene and creativity on both sides of the Atlantic. Jenny White reports

- 

PHILIP BURTON has been mentioned in various biographies of Richard Burton as an important influence in the actor's life: the inspiring English teacher who saw his talent and helped him to develop it. But Philip's influence on Burton's life, on Port Talbot and on acting was much wider-reaching than most people know.

This is what inspired Angela V John to research and write Behind the Scenes: The Dramatic Lives of Philip Burton, a biography that entirely focuses on Philip's story. The book was sparked by the response to one of John’s earlier books, The Actors’ Crucible (2015), which is about Port Talbot and the actors it has spawned.

They include not only Richard Burton, but also Anthony Hopkins, Michael Sheen, Rob Brydon, Di Botcher and earlier stars such as Ronald Lewis and Ivor Emmanuel. Her research for the book had revealed much about the true breadth of Philip Burton’s impact.

“One of the things that became apparent in that was that Philip Burton was the person who, in effect, kick-started the whole fascination with drama and the way in which so many actors were produced by this town - how it became a town of stars as well as steel,” she says. “That alerted me to his significance and how interesting he was.”

Then, during lockdown, she was sent a cache of audio and video tapes from Key West which had belonged to a friend of Philip’s, who had spent the last couple of decades of his life there. She had not been intending to write a biography, but this changed her mind.

“It was fantastic material,” she says. “In fact, when the film Mr Burton was being made, I let Toby Jones listen to some of the material, because it really was very, very useful for listening to his voice and his lecturing and all kinds of things. So that got me interested in him, and I decided to write a biography after all.”