Actor's contribution

Sir – An Oxford tour guide made a disparaging remark about the actor Richard Burton as a student at Oxford University. Her remark set me off to do some research on this subject. Richard Burton was a student at Oxford in 1943. He was an 18-year-old RAF cadet assigned to an Oxford college for six months. He did not make good grades His English teacher, in his Welsh mining town, recognised Burton’s talent and urged him to apply to be an RAF cadet because it would give him a college experience that he would not otherwise have. While at Oxford he was in residence in Exeter College . His room was the first floor at staircase eight. His room was on the left as he entered from the quad. In March, 1964, he married the actress Elizabeth Taylor and brought her to Oxford. Here the two actors decided they would perform on a stage free in order to raise money to buy the drama students a theatre. They performed the tragic history of Dr Faustus. It was the first time Elizabeth Taylor had acted on a stage before a live audience. The Oxford drama students named their theatre The Burton-Taylor Studio. Let’s give Richard Burton credit for what he has done for Oxford.