Sybil Christopher Biography

Sybil Christopher (27 March 1929 " 7 March 2013) was a Welsh actress, theatre director, and founder of popular celebrity New York nightclub "Arthur". She first came into the public eye as the first wife of Richard Burton.

Biography

Sybil Williams was born on 27 March 1929, in Tylorstown, South Wales. She attended the London Academy of Dramatic Arts (now LAMDA), meeting Richard Burton during the filming of The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949). After their marriage, she retired from acting, performing only a few times, and generally on stage rather than on film. The marriage ended famously in 1963, when Burton began a liaison with Elizabeth Taylor. She divorced Burton in 1963 on grounds of "abandonment and cruel and inhumane treatment", receiving a $1million settlement and custody of their children.

In 1965, Christopher founded a nightclub in Manhattan at 154 East 54th Street, the site of "El Morocco"; numerous celebrities and well-known artists contributed, including Julie Andrews, Leonard Bernstein, Roddy McDowall, and Stephen Sondheim. "Arthur", as the club was known, (the pre-cursor to Studio 54) became a popular nightclub for celebrities during its short tenure from 1965 to 1969. Frequent habitués included Truman Capote, Wilt Chamberlain, Roger Daltrey, Princess Margaret of Britain, Rudolph Nureyev, Lee Remick, Andy Warhol, Angela Lansbury and Tennessee Williams. D.J. Terry Noel claimed to have invented "mixing" in the club, layering music from two separate turntables.

Christopher then returned to theatre, founding the New Theatre on 54th Street in New York, and Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor in 1991.

Christopher, then "Sybil Burton", initially came to public attention as the spouse of Richard Burton, but they divorced when he left her to marry Elizabeth Taylor. Christopher had two daughters with Richard Burton, Katherine "Kate" Burton (born 10 September 1957) and Jessica Burton (born 1959). After her divorce, she married Jordan Christopher in 1966, and the couple raised his daughter and had another child, Amy Christopher (born May 1967).