What happened to Richard Burton’s Oscar-nominated co-star Geneviève Bujold?

Richard Burton was the leading man of the 1950s and 1960s, and one of his star turns came in Anne of the Thousand Days. The film, which was released in 1969, charted the courtship of Anne Boleyn by King Henry VIII.

The film was based on a 1948 play of the same name, and while Anne of the Thousand Days initially received mixed reviews upon its release, the film ended up gaining 10 Oscar nominations, and at the ceremony, it won Best Costumes.

Richard’s co-star in the film was the Canadian actress Geneviève Bujold, who was nominated for Best Actress for her role in the picture; she won a Golden Globe for the performance. Although Richard died in 1984 at the age of 58, Geneviève is still alive, now aged 83.

Here’s what happened to the star following the success of the film, as well as a look at her early career…

Early life

Geneviève was born in 1942 in Montreal and she trained at the Montreal Conservatory of Dramatic Art. The star claimed in an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 1974 that she initially studied at a convent, but was expelled after she was caught reading Marcel Pagnol’s novel, Fanny.

She ended up quitting her education two months before her graduation after she secured the part of Rosine in a production of Le Barbier de Séville. The star ended up acting in several French-language projects, including a lead role in The Earth to Drink. Ahead of her big break, she also acted in the likes of King of Hearts and The Thief of Paris.

Anne of the Thousand Days

Geneviève became close friends with the film’s producer, Hal B. Wallis, during filming, and she told Forbes in 2019 that the producer helped her navigate the set after she feared that she left a bad first impression. He also helped provide her with medical care after she ran into an issue with her eye while on set.

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The role had attracted the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, the wife of Geneviève’s co-star, and while Geneviève won the role, there were no hard feelings with the A-list actress. “She [Elizabeth] was playful…I didn’t know her very much but she was always supremely pleasant with me,” she said.

Career post Anne of the Thousand Days

Geneviève became an international star following her turn in the 1969 film, signing with Universal in a three-film deal. However, she ran into legal troubles when she refused to appear in Mary, Queen of Scots, leading to her being sued for $450,000.

The actress continued to star in major films throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including the likes of The Act of the Heart, The Trojan Women, Earthquake, Swashbuckler, Coma, The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark and Tightrope.

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During the 1990s, she decided to take more supporting roles, such as in The House of Yes, Last Night and Deliver Me, before starting to favour studio and independent films. Speaking to The Gazette, she said: “I like doing studio films, independent films. I want to step up to the plate and do it. The role doesn’t have to be long, but it has to be essential to the film. And it’s got to be truthful to me. I defend my characters. They’re like my babies.”

Her last appearance was in Two Girls in 2018, where she provided the voice of an adult Johanna.

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Despite her success as an actress, Geneviève doesn’t often end up watching her own films. Speaking in a rare interview in 2007, she explained: “I’m not good at seeing films I’m in. So far, I’ve been happy to be part of that experience but once it’s done, it’s done.

“Some characters linger and change me—in Deliver Me, I was a mother who was raising her granddaughter because her daughter-in-law had killed her son. I have two sons [in real life] and I hesitated taking the part. That part took a good year to shed.”

Marriages

In 1967, Geneviève married Canadian film director Paul Almond, who has worked on the likes of Seven Up!, Isabel and The Act of the Heart. The pair welcomed a son Matthew before divorcing in 1974.

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She later settled down with Californian carpenter Dennis Hastings with the couple first meeting while he carried out work at her home in Malibu. Although they never married, Geneviève and Dennis remained together for 40 years, before splitting in 2017.