Stan asked Hollywood star Burton to appear in town panto
WELSH icon Richard Burton is best known for his Hollywood roles and Shakespearean turns on the global stage – but a letter from 1971 shows how his talents almost returned to a stage much closer to home.
A letter shared by Stan Stennett’s son, Roger, reveals the late Cardiff comedian and panto legend once offered Burton the role of the Baron in Porthcawl’s pantomime, Cinderella.
“One day, in 1971, out of a wickedness and his sense of humour he thought, ‘Oh, I’ll write to Richard and offer him the part of the Baron Hardup, a classic part in Cinderella, and maybe Liz [Taylor} would like to play a very non-ugly sister,” Roger recalled.
“It was just a cheeky little tongueonguein-cheekness, nothing more or less.
“I don’t think he genuinely expected him to move over from Switzerland to Porthcawl for X weeks to do panto, but it was just a little bit of whimsy.
“Though I don’t know how w he had his address.”
Understandably, Richard and d his then-wife Elizabeth Taylor r did not return to the bright t lights of Porthcawl, with Burton n jokingly citing his commitment nt elsewhere for the next “hundred d years or so”.
However, he did share his is fondness of the seaside town in his response.
He wrote: “Dear Mr Stennett, “Thank you very much for your ur offer of the Baron in Cinders.
“I would love to do it – espepecially in front of a Welsh audience nce and particularly with you, as Eliz and I like your work very much.
“And that is not meant chauvinvinistically (Christ what a word!) ) I assure you.
“But lamentably I am heavily committed for the next hundred years or so. Also, the tax boys say that I must not work in Britain – which unfortunately includes Wales – until next summer – if then.
“Give my love to Rest Bay. I cannot tell you how many times I was lost in Porthcawl on Sunday-school ‘outings’ crying for my sister.
“Good luck for the pantomime and thank you again.”
The letter has been shared widely throughout Wales, including by comedian Rob Brydon.
Roger described the response as “wonderful”, and said: “I don’t honestly think you’d find many cinematic megastars now taking the time to do that. But I think it was a gesture of respect to my dad, which of course I prize.
“And, I think it was a gesture of respect for Wales, because it was a recollection of the fact that he dearly would love to work in Wales.”
Thankfully, Stan had his family ready at the helm to support his creative ventures, with h Roger recallll ing how the whole family would get stuck in.
“As a family, we were all involved in the business, my brother and myself, my mum wasn’t a performer, but she was the power behind the throne.
“It continues to my son as well, Sam who is a wonderful jazz guitarist, who my dad taught back in the day, having been a brilliant jazz guitarist.
“My son now has a quartet with a very funny name called the Schmoozenbergs.”
Roger shared his pride in the legacy his father – who died in 2013 aged 88 – had left in Wales through his entertaining of others.
“Whenever I publish something of his, like this letter, we get thousands of letters on Facebook, and not one person has a bad word to say about Dad. They say lots, but they always describe him – and this I think would be his proudest boast – as a gentleman.”