Elizabeth Taylor ‘Destroyed’ Richard Burton as a Classical Actor, Author Says (Exclusive)

The creative partnership of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had a particularly damaging dynamic, according to author Roger Lewis. Ahead of the publication of his book Erotic wandering: all about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylorout March 26 from Mobius, Lewis explains why he thinks it is Cleopatra the actress may have prevented husband Richard Burton’s career.

The book is close to its title, offering a more than 600-page, thoroughly researched look at one of Hollywood’s most glamorous couples, who were married twice: once from 1964 to 1974 and then again from 1975 to 1976. Lewis takes readers to Taylor and Burton’s on-screen collaborations, their infamous breakups and courtships, and offers his own perspective on their dynamic.

Richard Burton in 1981.

Harry Langdon/Getty

“One of the big things that happened when Burton met Taylor was that it was the end of his stage career,” Lewis tells PEOPLE, admitting that Burton did make a few changes on the boards after meeting his future wife. “I know it was later Camelothe is Equus and then made a film about Equus…but basically that was it as far as his Shakespearean ambitions were concerned.”

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Burton, who had made a name for himself on the stage during the 1950s, was to become the next great “Laurence Olivier-style Shakespearean actor,” says Lewis. “Meeting Elizabeth Taylor, it destroyed him as a classic actor,” he continues. “On the other hand, all his roles in the movies he’s done, he still has that beautiful voice and that beautiful presence and that big swagger.”

Elizabeth Taylor.

API/GAMMA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty

In contrast, the author says that Taylor prospered professionally in her marriage to Burton. Although Taylor was a child actress in films such as 1944 National velvetshe will become known for her later roles, such as the one from 1958 Cat on a hot tin roof and the 1960s Butterfield 8, for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress. Lewis says that the 1963 drama-comedy film VIP personshowever, she showed her talent in a new way.

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“She’s the one who becomes, in a way, a more serious actress,” Lewis says of the film, in which Taylor plays Frances Andros, an actress who plans to leave her millionaire husband, played by Burton. “You can see that Taylor is a really good actress now. She is not only beautiful in profile, she wears beautiful furs or bathing suits. She is present now. She has control and depth. And whatever was going on in her mind, you could feel it through her presence as an actress. She’s getting really good.”

‘Erotic Wandering’ by Roger Lewis.

Mobius

One thing the pair did well together, according to Lewis, was the opposite of what was expected of them. The book takes its title from the Vatican, which, shocked by Taylor and Burton’s open statements about adultery, said they would end up in “erotic vagrancy” in a Vatican newspaper in 1962. how to behave, producing their private lives for public consumption,” Lewis explains. “Burton and Taylor just threw it all out.”

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When it came time for films like Mike Nichols’ 1966 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?which also starred Burton and Taylor, as well as George Segal and Sandy Dennis, the pair largely excelled as a unit, says Lewis.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’

FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty

“I think they learned from each other, maybe took a little from each other and added something to each other,” he says of their performance as husband and wife George and Martha. “They’re in perfect harmony as artists… it’s like we’re watching their marriage [in the film], but somehow stylized. It has been turned into art.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Erotic wandering hits shelves on March 26 and is available for pre-order now.

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Source: HIS Education