Richard Chamberlain

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Richard Chamberlain, right, as John Blackthorne, and John Rhys-Davies, left, as the Portuguese Pilot Vasco Rodrigues in the Shogun television miniseries.
Richard Chamberlain, right, as John Blackthorne, and John Rhys-Davies, left, as the Portuguese Pilot Vasco Rodrigues in the Shogun television miniseries.

George Richard Chamberlain (born March 31, 1934 in Beverly Hills, California) is an American actor who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare (1961-1966).

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[edit] Biography

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.

In 1966, Chamberlain was cast opposite Mary Tyler Moore in the ill-fated Broadway musical Breakfast at Tiffany's which, after a torturous out-of-town tryout period, closed after only four previews. It is considered one of the most notorious flops in theater history. Decades later he returned to Broadway in a revival of The Sound of Music.

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.

Chamberlain later appeared in several popular television miniseries, including Centennial, William Bast's The Man in the Iron Mask, Shogun, and The Thorn Birds playing Father Ralph de Bricassart opposite Rachel Ward. 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-director Martin Rabbett, but he never has 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 the fall of '05, Chamberlain appeared in the title role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the Broadway National Tour of Scrooge: The Musical alongside Larry Adams, Roberta Duchak, Todd Gross, George Keating, and Ben Ratskoff as Tiny Tim. In 2006, Chamberlain guest starred in an episode of the hit 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 0-06-008743-9), 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's (played by Craig Ferguson) (British) mother on The Drew Carey Show. He lives with his partner Martin Rabbett.

[edit] Filmography

Original 1985 version movie poster

The Thorn Birds (1982/1983)

[edit] Singles discography

The following are songs which were popular for Chamberlain during his stint as a singer:

"The Slipper and the Rose" (CD)
"The Slipper and the Rose" (CD)

From Richard Chamberlain Sings:

From Twilight of Honor:

From Richard Chamberlain (aka Joy in the Morning):

From The Slipper and the Rose:

[edit] Charles Chamberlain

Chamberlain's father, Charles Chamberlain ("Chuck C.") was well known within the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. He traveled far and wide for years speaking at A.A. conventions. His book, A New Pair of Glasses was the transcript from a weekend retreat at his Laguna Beach home. The book is a highly regarded and noteworthy piece of complementary literature for those in 12 Step recovery programs. He died in 1984.

[edit] External links

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