“Role Models”

Actor Richard Burton, 1978, singing "Camelot" at a command performance.

I've had numerous role models over the years. Most have disappointed me. Even the best of them have been tarnished in my esteem as a casualty of my expanded ability, the result of decades of experience with human nature, to more clearly see blindspots, foibles, hobby horses and hidden agendas.

Although I can't say that any of my past role models have survived as such, I still look at some of those old ones and some new ones as resources to compare with or trail blazers in life with whom I can compare notes.

In recent years, there have been certain figures that have I have held up as beacons on an intellectual level. Gore Vidal is one of these for me. His wit and scalpel-like intellect with which he has written on a range of subjects has been a treasure trove for me.

Most recently, I have been surprised to gain much insight from the diaries of actor Richard Burton which have been published in 2012. His vocabulary is rich and his observations on life resonate with me as I peer behind the facade of his public persona.

 

Check out these terrific twitter posts:

 

Burton appears in "Lucy" TV episode

 

RB explains his inspiration as a Welsh Actor

 

Burton's last diary entry

 

One remarkable nugget of understanding that I have opened up in Burton's diaries is the strange incongruence of how a person's talents and performances are perceived compared with the perception of the performer him or herself. Burton marveled at the way he was treated by illustrious, intelligent, prominent people who would visit him back stage after he had performed that evening in the musical Camelot on broadway. These otherwise masters of intellect and letters would stammer and fall all over themselves in his presence. Burton was baffled at how what he considered to be his inane lines of lyric and dialogue (granted, in words he had delivered with a modicum of skill) could evoke such dumbstruck awe in the esteem of these men and women of high standing.

It's funny to remember Burton's perspective as I watch the video of him giving a command performance of the Camelot title song in 1978 to a standing ovation. Happy to oblige, I imagine he was nevertheless amused at the extreme fawning over the song that he considered just another gig.

I guess, if nothing else, I consider Richard Burton my role model in showing the often underestimated importance of being a good sport. 

 

 

By the way, it is said that what could be Burton's 'signature' song was the favorite of JFK whose bright, brief and ill-fated era is nicknamed "Camelot"

Here's the video of Burton's command performance of "Camelot", if you're interested: