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Inside Richard Burton’s Marriages: All About His Passionate Romances with Elizabeth Taylor to Sally Hay

Richard Burton was married five times — twice to Elizabeth Taylor

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Richard Burton was married five times, spanning from his early 20s to his mid-50s.

The Welsh actor was wed to his first wife, Sybil Williams — whom he met on the set of the British movie The Last Days of Dolwyn — from 1949 to 1963. Their marriage was Burton’s first and longest, but they split when he met Elizabeth Taylor on the set of Cleopatra that year.

Burton and Taylor then began what would become one of Hollywood’s most famous romances. The couple married twice, once from 1964 to 1974 and again from 1975 to 1976. The pair also worked on a dozen films together, and never truly left each other's lives.

In 1982, the actors reconnected at Taylor’s 50th birthday party, and Burton shared that although they wouldn’t walk down the aisle again, they remained in love. “I bred her in my bones, and I love her passionately,” he told PEOPLE. “She may marry someone else, and so may I, but we will always be drawn back to each other.”

Despite his connection to Taylor, Burton married two more times: first to British model Suzy Hunt (née Miller) from 1976 to 1982, and then to Sally Hay from 1983 until his death in 1984.

Here’s everything to know about Richard Burton’s spouses: wives Sybil Williams, Elizabeth Taylor, Suzy Hunt and Sally Hay.

Burton married his first wife, fellow Welsh native Sybil Williams, in 1949.

They met on the set of the British movie The Last Days of Dolwyn when Williams was 19 and Burton was 23, per The Hollywood Reporter.  It was Burton’s film debut, and Williams’ first and only film appearance as an extra, according to The Guardian.