Donald Burton


Donald Graham Burton was an English theatre and television actor. Burton was the husband of actress Carroll Baker.

Life and career

Donald was born in Norwich, England, on 10 February 1934. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts on a scholarship. He worked was an Associate Artiste of the Royal Shakespeare Company for many years. He appeared in such famous Shakespeare plays as The Wars of the Roses and Henry IV, Part 1 and 2. He played the character of the Duke of Exeter in the whole series of the 8 Shakespeare 'History' plays which were performed at the R.S.C. in 1964. In 1965 he appeared in the outstandingly successful RSC production of Gogol's The Government Inspector at the Aldwych Theatre, London, with Paul Scofield, Eric Porter, Paul Rogers, Stanley Lebor, Bruce Condell and other outstanding Shakespearian actors of the period
Burton's television roles included Big Breadwinner Hog, Warship, The Duchess of Duke Street; The Doombolt Chase; Upstairs, Downstairs, Public Eye, Minder and Fraud Squad. His more contemporary theatre roles included How the Other Half Loves and Educating Rita. He would have been best known amongst the British public for his role as Commander Mark Nialls, captain of the fictional in the BBC television drama Warship.
In 1990, Burton returned to Broadway in the production of The Merchant of Venice at the 46th Street Theatre.
Burton married actress Carroll Baker on 10 March 1978. The couple were married for 29 years until his death in December 2007.
Donald Burton died of emphysema at his home in Cathedral City, California, on 8 December 2007. He was 73 years old.

Filmography