Richard Burton

On the evidence presented here, both the author and Burton (ne Jenkins) himself perceived the late actor as a devoted member of his large, chauvinistic Welsh family. This is the thrust of retired police inspector Jenkins's rather prim book that otherwise mainly repeats widely circulated accounts of ``Richie'' before his death at age 58 in 1984. Again the reader finds the gifted youth leaving his native Welsh valley with help from his mentor, Philip Burton, and rising to international fame in classic stage performances before the scandal of his affair with Elizabeth Taylor turned media spotlights on them. The author, assisted by his daughter, quotes reviews of Burton's live and film roles, among them Becket , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? and Equus. The familiar facts are here but the writing comes alive only in excerpts quoted from Emlyn Williams, John Gielgud, other colleagues of Burton and from letters by the performer himself. Photos. (May)