Richard Burton

About Richard Burton

Richard Burton (1925–1984) was a critically acclaimed Welsh actor celebrated for his resonant voice and intense stage and screen presence across five decades. His historical importance, ranked #898 globally by MIT's Pantheon project, stems from his significant contributions to both classical theatre, including iconic Shakespearean roles, and major motion pictures, where he often commanded leading roles in epics and dramas, earning multiple Academy Award nominations.

Despite this established historical weight, Burton's modern internet attention shows a notable over-indexing relative to his rank, registering an Attention Gap of +7x. In 2025, his annualized Wikipedia views reached 2.4 million. This level of modern online engagement is strikingly close to that of Jackie Chan (#926 importance), another celebrated actor, who accrued 3.9 million views, suggesting Burton's digital footprint remains robust within his contemporary field.

Furthermore, Burton is currently experiencing a surge in interest, evidenced by a significant Year-over-Year view increase of +51.0% and a +16% momentum increase from Q1 to Q3 in 2025, indicating renewed or sustained cultural relevance among modern audiences.