Richard Chamberlain - Biography

Actor, born in Los Angeles, California, USA. Trained as a dramatic actor, he appeared in television series in the 1950s including Gunsmoke, then gained great popularity as the lead in Dr Kildare (1961–6). Desiring to change his image as a lightweight television actor, he moved to England, where he played serious roles, including Hamlet, in various British stage productions. He then returned to the USA to assume the role as a romantic leading man in television films and mini-series including Shogun (1980), The Thorn Birds (1983), and The Bourne Identity (1988).

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).

Biography

Coinciding with his rise to fame on Kildare, Chamberlain also had a brief but moderately successful career as a pop singer.

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.

Chamberlain later appeared in several popular television miniseries, including Centennial, The Man in the Iron Mask, Shogun, and The Thorn Birds playing Father Ralph de Bricassart opposite Rachel Ward. Since the 1990s Chamberlain has mostly appeared in television movies and as a guest star on series including The Drew Carey Show and Will & 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.

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.

Chamberlain's father, the late Charles Chamberlain ("Chuck C.") was well known within the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Singles discography

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

From Richard Chamberlain Sings:

"Theme From Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight)" (1962) "Love Me Tender" (1962) "All I Have to Do Is Dream" (1963) "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo" (1963) "I Will Love You" (1963) "True Love" (1963)

From Twilight of Honor:

"Blue Guitar" (1963)

From Richard Chamberlain (aka Joy in the Morning):

"Rome Will Never Leave You" (1964)