LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Chamberlain, the good-looking hero of the Sixties tv collection “Dr. Kildare” who discovered a second profession as an award-winning “king of the miniseries,” has died. He was 90.
Chamberlain died Saturday evening in Waimanalo, Hawaii of problems following a stroke, in response to his publicist, Harlan Boll.
“Our beloved Richard is with the angels now. He is free and soaring to those loved ones before us,” Martin Rabbett, his lifelong partner, said in a statement. “How blessed were we to have known such an amazing and loving soul. Love never dies. And our love is under his wings lifting him to his next great adventure.”
Tall, with traditional attractiveness and romantic fashion, Chamberlain grew to become an instantaneous favourite with teenage ladies because the compassionate doctor on the TV collection that aired from 1961 to 1966. Photoplay journal named him hottest male star for 3 years in a row, from 1963-65.
Not till 2003 did he acknowledge publicly what Hollywood insiders had lengthy identified, that he was homosexual. He made the revelation in his autobiography, “Shattered Love.”
The actor grew to become often known as “king of the TV miniseries” in 1978 when he landed the starring position in “Centennial,” an epic manufacturing 24 hours lengthy and based mostly on James Michener’s sprawling novel. He adopted that in 1980 with “Shogun,” one other pricey, epic miniseries based mostly on James Clavell’s interval piece about an American customer to Japan.
He scored his biggest miniseries success in 1983 with one other long-form drama, “The Thorn Birds,” based mostly on Colleen McCullough’s best-seller. He performed Father Ralph de Bricassart, a Roman Catholic priest in Australia who falls in love with stunning Meggie Cleary (Rachel Ward). The ABC manufacturing, which additionally starred Barbara Stanwyck, reportedly attracted 100 million viewers.
Chamberlain received Golden Globes for his work in “Shogun” and “The Thorn Birds.” Years earlier, he acquired one for “Dr. Kildare.”
When the general public started to lose curiosity in miniseries, Chamberlain turned to the theater, the place he displayed a fantastic singing voice. He appeared as Henry Higgins in a 1994 Broadway revival of “My Fair Lady” and as Captain von Trapp in a 1999 revival of “The Sound of Music.”
He reprised his position of de Bricassart within the 1996 TV film “The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years.”
He additionally appeared in quite a few movies, together with “The Music Lovers” (as Tchaikovsky), “The Madwoman of Chaillot,” “The Towering Inferno” and “The Three Musketeers” and its sequels.
The “Kildare” collection was based mostly on a string of profitable Thirties and ’40s movies that had starred Lew Ayres within the title position.
Chamberlain’s hunky, All-American look made him an in a single day star. One other medical present that debuted the identical season, “Ben Casey,” additionally was a smash and made its main man, the darkly good-looking Vince Edwards, a star, too.
The “Ben Casey shirt” grew to become a style merchandise, each exhibits’ theme songs made the pop High 40 (the Kildare track carried out by Chamberlain himself) and there was even a pop track known as “Dr. Kildare! Dr. Casey! You Are Wanted for Consultation.”
However in his ebook, Chamberlain recounted how he was compelled to cover his sexuality. He would escort glamorous actresses to film premieres and different public occasions on the request of studio executives and dodge reporters’ questions on why he had by no means married with a inventory reply: “Getting married would be great, but I’m awfully busy now.”
“When I grew up, being gay, being a sissy or anything like that was verboten,” he mentioned in an NBC interview. “I disliked myself intensely and feared this part of myself intensely and had to hide it.”
The ebook additionally described a troubled childhood and an alcoholic father, and Chamberlain mentioned that writing it lastly lifted a heavy emotional burden. He additionally expressed aid that he was not hiding his sexuality.
“I played a cat-and-mouse game with the press. Game over,” mentioned Chamberlain, who for years was concerned with fellow actor Martin Rabbett.
Born George Richard Chamberlain in Beverly Hills on March 31, 1934, the actor initially studied at Pomona School to be a painter. However after getting back from the Military, the place he had served as an infantry clerk within the Korean Conflict, Chamberlain determined to attempt performing.
He studied voice and drama, and after showing in visitor roles in a handful of TV exhibits and within the 1960 movie “The Secret of the Purple Reef,” he received the Dr. Kildare position.
When “Dr. Kildare” was canceled he initially discovered it troublesome to shake the picture of the good-looking younger doctor.
He moved to England for a time to search out work and hone his performing expertise. Whereas there, he appeared in three of director Richard Lester’s movies, “Petulia” (1968), “The Three Musketeers” (1973) and “The Four Musketeers” (1974). He reunited with Lester in 1989 for “The Return of the Musketeers,” as soon as extra enjoying Aramis.
In 1969, Chamberlain performed the title position in “Hamlet” at England’s Birmingham Repertory Firm and repeated it in a TV adaptation that appeared on NBC in the US. He additionally appeared as Octavius in a movie model of “Julius Caesar,” which co-starred Charlton Heston and Jason Robards.
He continued to behave nicely into the twenty first century, showing on such tv exhibits as “Will & Grace,” “The Drew Carey Show” and “Touched by an Angel.”
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Bob Thomas, a longtime Related Press journalist who died in 2014, was the principal author of this obituary.
