Richard Chamberlain
George Richard Chamberlain (
Beverly Hills, California,
March 31,
1934) is an
American actor who became a
teen idol in the title role of the television show
Dr. Kildare (1961-1966).
Coinciding with his rise to fame on
Kildare, Chamberlain also had a brief but moderately successful career as a pop singer. Chamberlain subsequently became disenchanted with
Hollywood and turned to the theater, finding success in England among British audiences.
During the first half of the 1970s Chamberlain enjoyed some success in films with
The Towering Inferno,
The Last Wave,
The Three Musketeers and sequels and
The Count of Monte Cristo though was never regarded as an out-and-out leading man. In
The Slipper and the Rose, a musical version of the
Cinderella story, co-starring
Gemma Craven, he displayed his vocal talents, which had already resulted in a hit single during his days as
Dr. Kildare and the male lead in the famous musical flop
Breakfast At Tiffany's.
Chamberlain later appeared in several popular
miniseries, including
Centennial,
The Man in the Iron Mask,
Shogun, and
The Thorn Birds. In the late 1980s he experienced a belated breakthrough as a leading man with
King Solomon's Mines, and also played Jason Bourne in the original 1988 version of
The Bourne Identity.
He eventually "retired" to
Hawaii where he owns land with his partner, agent, producer, and director,
Martin Rabbett, but he never stopped working. Since the 1990s Chamberlain has mostly appeared in television movies and as a guest star on series including
The Drew Carey Show and
Will & Grace. In 2006, Chamberlain guest starred in an episode of the BBC drama series
Hustle.
Although it was generally known that Chamberlain was
gay, having been
outed by the French women's magazine
Nous Deux in December 1989, it was not until 2003, at age 69, that he
came out as such in his
biography entitled
Shattered Love (ISBN 0060087439), which describes how he felt obliged to hide his sexuality in order to have an acting career. He evidently ceased having any such inhibitions when he appeared in very high drag as Nigel Wick (played by
Craig Ferguson)'s (British) mother on
The Drew Carey Show.
Chamberlain's father, the late Charles Chamberlain ("Chuck C.") was well known within the fellowship Alcoholics Anonymous, he traveled far and wide for years speaking at A.A. conventions. He died in 1984.
*
*
Latest news about Richard Chamberlain*
Tribute to Richard Chamberlain*
glbtq arts: Richard Chamberlain by Linda Rapp
