Editing Richard Burton (section)

=== Health problems ===
Burton was a heavy smoker. In a December 1977 interview with Sir [[Ludovic Kennedy]], Burton said he was smoking 60–100 cigarettes per day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFC_xPOkhXY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/NFC_xPOkhXY| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Richard Burton 1977 Interview. |publisher=YouTube |date=5 November 2013 |access-date=3 July 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> According to his younger brother, as stated in Graham Jenkins's 1988 book ''Richard Burton: My Brother'', he smoked at least 100 cigarettes a day.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jenkins |first1=Graham |title=Richard Burton, my brother |date=1988 |publisher=Joseph |isbn=0718130103 |page=197 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ELsdAAAAMAAJ|access-date=24 October 2018}}</ref> After his father died from a cerebral haemorrhage in March 1957,<ref name="richardburtonmuseum.weebly.com"/> Burton declined to attend his funeral.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.welshwales.co.uk/burton.htm|title=Richard Burton|work=welshwales.co.uk|access-date=12 January 2007|archive-date=16 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216104332/http://www.welshwales.co.uk/burton.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Richard%20Burton|title=Richard Burton|work=everything2.com}}</ref> Burton was also an [[alcoholic]] most of his adult life. According to biographer Robert Sellers, "At the height of his boozing in the mid-70s he was knocking back three to four bottles of hard liquor a day."<ref name="Raising Hell">{{cite web|last=Reiner|first=Jon|title=Raising 'Hell' In Dramatic Richard Burton Style|website=NPR |date=29 June 2011 |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/14/137149219/raising-hell-in-dramatic-richard-burton-style|publisher=National Public Radio|access-date=29 September 2013}}</ref>

After nearly drinking himself to death during the shooting of ''The Klansman'' (1974), Burton [[Alcohol detoxification|dried out]] at [[Saint John's Health Center]] in [[Santa Monica, California]]. Burton was allegedly inebriated while making the movie, and many of his scenes had to be filmed with him sitting or lying down due to his inability to stand upright. In some scenes, he appears to slur his words or speak incoherently.<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert J.|last=Lentz| title=Lee Marvin: His Films and Career| publisher=McFarland| year = 2000|page=148 | isbn= 0-7864-2606-3}}</ref> Burton later said that he could not remember making the film. Co-star [[O. J. Simpson]] said "There would be times when he couldn't move".<ref name="cahill19770908">{{Cite magazine |last=Cahill |first=Tim |date=8 September 1977 |title=O.J. Simpson: A Man for Offseason |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/features/a-man-for-off-season-19770908 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref>

According to his diaries, Burton used [[Disulfiram|Antabuse]] to try to stop his excessive consumption of alcohol, which he blamed for wrecking his marriage to Taylor. Burton himself said of the time leading up to his near loss of life, "I was fairly sloshed for five years. I was up there with [[John Barrymore]] and [[Robert Newton]]. The ghosts of them were looking over my shoulder."<ref name=Hellraisers/> He said that he turned to the bottle for solace "to burn up the flatness, the stale, empty, dull deadness that one feels when one goes offstage".<ref name="Raising Hell" /> The 1988 biography by Melvyn Bragg provides a detailed description of the many health issues that plagued Burton throughout his life. In his youth, Burton was known for being exceptionally strong and athletic.{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=Front cover of book}}

By the age of 41, he had declined so far in health that by his own admission, his arms were thin and weak. He suffered from [[bursitis]], possibly aggravated by faulty treatment, [[arthritis]], [[dermatitis]], [[cirrhosis]] of the liver, and kidney disease, as well as developing, by his mid-forties, a pronounced limp. How much of this was due to his intake of alcohol is impossible to ascertain, according to Bragg, because of Burton's reluctance to be treated for alcoholism. In 1974, Burton spent six weeks in a clinic to recuperate from a period during which he had drunk three bottles of [[vodka]] a day. Health issues continued to plague him until his death.