William A. Burton(1883-1958)
- Writer
Writer, Critic, Instructor. William A. Burton was born in Derby, England, 1883.
He moved to Canada prior to World War I, where he married Annie Ada
Belby in 1909. He served in the Canadian Infantry during the war, and
then moved to Hollywood in 1922. He joined the staff of the Palmer
Institute of writing and was the author of their course in fiction
writing. While at the Palmer Institute, he wrote several plays, as well
as the screenplays for The Fighting Smile (1925), a western starring Bill Cody and 'Jean
Arthur (I)'; and Easy Pickings (1927), adapted from his play of the same name, which
starred Anna Q. Nilsson and was directed by George Archainbaud. Burton returned to England
in the late 1920's, where he became the Scenario Editor for British
Instructional Films, which produced the critically acclaimed film
Shiraz (1928), from his original screenplay in 1928. Burton wrote several
more stage plays, including "The Spare Room", which starred 'Jimmie
James', before he returned to Hollywood in 1946. William Burton
rejoined the staff of the Palmer Institute, where he was named Director
of Education, and remained there until the mid 1950's. He and his wife
co-wrote the novel "The Years Between" prior to her death from cancer
in 1958. Burton then returned to Canada, where he lived until his death
at the age of 75. Burton's cousin was the Welsh stage director and
drama teacher Philip Burton, who in 1943, accepted as his legal ward 18
an year old youth named Richard Jenkins, who went on to lead a life of
stardom and fame as the actor Richard Burton.