Richard Burton

Served in: RAF
Rank: Navigator
Best Known For: Cleopatra, Where Eagles Dare, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Est. Net Worth: $50 million

Welsh actor Richard Burton is one of the most famous actors from Hollywood’s classical era. Burton joined the Royal Air Force at age eighteen in 1944. He joined as a navigator, and he went to Canada for training, but WWII ended before he got any real combat experience.

However, he spent another two years on his contract waiting to be demobilized. It was only after that that he was able to start his acting career. Burton is remembered for movies like Cleopatra, as well as for his tumultuous and highly-publicized relationship with actress Elizabeth Taylor (who also starred in Cleopatra).