Editing Richard Burton (section)

=== Philip Burton years ===
[[File:6 Connaught Street, Port Talbot SA13 1ET.jpg|right|thumb|Home of Elizabeth 'Ma' Smith in Port Talbot where both Philip Burton and Richard Jenkins, later Burton, lodged.]]
Richard was bolstered by winning the Eisteddfod Prize and wanted to repeat his success. He chose to sing Sir [[Arthur Sullivan]]'s "Orpheus with his Lute" (1866), which biographer Alpert thought "a difficult composition". He requested the help of his schoolmaster, [[Philip Burton (theatre director)|Philip Burton]],{{efn|Philip taught Arithmetic and English at Port Talbot Secondary School in addition to holding plays for the school.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|pp=27–28}}}} but his voice cracked during their practice sessions. This incident marked the beginning of his association with Philip.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=27}} Philip later recalled, "His voice was tough to begin with but with constant practice it became memorably beautiful."{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=37}} Richard made his first foray into theatre with a minor role in his school's production of the Irish playwright [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[The Apple Cart]]''. He decided to leave school by the end of 1941 and work as a miner as Elfed. However he ended up with a job, which he came to dislike intensely, at the local [[Taibach]] [[Co-operatives UK|Co-operative]] retail store as a [[draper]]'s assistant in the menswear department, limited at that time by war-time rationing. He also simultaneously considered other professions for his future, including boxing, religious ministry and singing. It was also during this period that Richard took up smoking and drinking despite being underage.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|pp=29–30}}
{{Quote box|bgcolor=#FAE7B5|quote=One day in 1964 when Richard [Burton] was playing in ''Hamlet'' on Broadway, he and I were interviewed jointly in a private corner of an Eighth Avenue bar and restaurant much frequented by theatre people. We had a live audience of one, Richard's wife, Elizabeth Taylor. One of the questions aimed at me was, "How did you come to adopt him?" [...] Richard jumped in with "He didn't adopt me; I adopted him." There was much truth in that. He needed me, and, as I realised later, he set out to get me.|source=Philip Burton in his 1992 autobiography ''Richard & Philip: The Burtons : a Book of Memories''.{{Sfnm|1a1=Bragg|1y=1988|1p=33|2a1=Burton|2y=1992|2p=184}}|align=right|width=35%}}
When he joined the Port Talbot Squadron 499 of the [[Air Training Corps]] section of the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) as a cadet, he re-encountered Philip, who was the squadron commander. He also joined the Taibach Youth Centre, a youth drama group founded by Meredith Jones{{efn|Jones was instrumental in helping Richard pass his scholarship test for admission to Secondary School.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=26}}}} and led by Leo Lloyd, a steel worker and avid amateur thespian, who taught him the fundamentals of acting. Richard played the role of an [[Jean Valjean|escaped convict]] in Lloyd's play, ''The Bishop's Candlesticks'', an adaptation of a section of [[Victor Hugo]]'s ''[[Les Misérables]]''. The play did not have any dialogue, but Alpert noted that Richard "mimed his role".{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1p=30–31|2a1=Bragg|2y=1988|2p=40|3a1=Munn|3y=2014|3p=26}} Philip gave him a part in a radio documentary/adaptation of his play for [[BBC Radio]], ''Youth at the Helm'' (1942).{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=30}}<ref name="Philip Independent">{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-philip-burton-1572514.html | title=Obituary: Philip Burton | work=[[The Independent]] | date=11 February 1995 | access-date=16 April 2016 | first=Graham | last=Jenkins | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416062030/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-philip-burton-1572514.html | archive-date=16 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> Seeing the talent Richard possessed, both Jones and Philip re-admitted him to school on 5 October 1942.{{Sfnm|1a1=Ferris|1y=1981|1p=42|2a1=Alpert|2y=1986|2pp=31–32}}{{efn|Elfed was against Richard going back to school for they could not afford to send him. Richard retaliated by simply walking out of the house, saying he wasn't coming back. He stayed with Philip for a year from 1942 to 1943.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=34}}}} Philip tutored his charge intensely in school subjects and also worked at developing the youth's acting voice, including outdoor voice drills which improved his projection.{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1p=32|2a1=Bragg|2y=1988|2p=38}} Richard called the experience "the most hardworking and painful period" in his life.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=32}} Philip called Richard "my son to all intents and purposes. I was committed to him",{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=34}} while Burton later wrote of Philip, "I owe him everything".{{r|Philip Independent}}

In the autumn of 1943, Philip planned to adopt Richard but was not able to do so as he was 20 days too young to be 21 years older than his ward, a legal requirement. As a result, Richard became Philip's legal [[ward (law)|ward]] and, aged 18, changed his surname on 26 November 1943 to "Burton", after Philip's own surname, by means of [[deed poll]], which Richard's father accepted.<ref name="Philip Independent"/>{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1p=35|2a1=Bragg|2y=1988|2p=41}} It was also in 1943 that Richard qualified for admission into a university after excelling in the School Certificate Examination. Philip requested Richard to study at [[Exeter College, Oxford]], as a part of a six-month scholarship programme offered by the RAF for qualified cadets prior to active service.{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1p=35|2a1=Munn|2y=2014|2p=41}}