Richard Burton was a noted Shakespearean actor of stage and screen and received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for seven Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Burton was nominated for seven Academy Awards for his roles as Philip Ashley, the protagonist in the romantic mystery My Cousin Rachel (1952), a Roman officer in the Biblical epic The Robe (1953), the title characterin the historical drama Becket (1964), a British MI6 agent in spy thriller The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965), a history professor in a troubled marriage in the drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), King Henry VIII in historical drama Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), and a psychiatrist treating a young patient in psychological drama Equus (1977).
For his roles on stage, he received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as King Arthur in the original Broadway production of Camelot (1961). He was Tony-nominated for his roles in Time Remembered (1958), and Hamlet (1964). He won a Special Tony Award at the 1976.