An actor is something less than a man, while an actress is something more than a woman.
Meaning of the quote
This quote suggests that actors are not fully human, while actresses are more than just women. It means that actors have to play a character and pretend to be someone else, so they are not completely themselves. But actresses have to become something greater than just a regular woman to perform their roles on stage or in movies. The quote implies that the acting profession changes both men and women in unique ways.
About Richard Burton
Richard Burton was a renowned Welsh actor known for his mellifluous baritone voice and acclaimed Shakespearean performances. Despite being nominated for an Academy Award seven times, he never won, though he received numerous other accolades. Burton also became a top box-office star in the mid-1960s, known for his turbulent relationship with his second wife, Elizabeth Taylor.
More quotes from Richard Burton
Indeed he knows not how to know who knows not also how to un-know.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
How strange are the tricks of memory, which, often hazy as a dream about the most important events of a man’s life, religiously preserve the merest trifles.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
An actor is something less than a man, while an actress is something more than a woman.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
False friendship, like the ivy, decays and ruins the walls it embraces; but true friendship gives new life and animation to the object it supports.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
This diamond has so many carats it’s almost a turnip.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
I might run from her for a thousand years and she is still my baby child. Our love is so furious that we burn each other out.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
The Welsh are all actors. It’s only the bad ones who become professional.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
When I played drunks I had to remain sober because I didn’t know how to play them when I was drunk.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
They lard their lean books with the fat of others work.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
Little islands are all large prisons: one cannot look at the sea without wishing for the wings of a swallow.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
If you’re going to make rubbish, be the best rubbish in it.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
I’ve done the most awful rubbish in order to have somewhere to go in the morning.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
You may be as vicious about me as you please. You will only do me justice.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
A man that hoards up riches and enjoys them not, is like an ass that carries gold and eats thistles.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)
Travelers are like poets. They are mostly an angry race.
Welsh actor (1925-1984)