Richard Chamberlain

In the 1970s, Richard Chamberlain was believed to be in a relationship with television actor, Wesley Eure.

He then dated actor Martin Rabbett for a long time after 1977. He legally adopted Rabbett to safeguard his property.

Richard Chamberlain was always secretive about his sexuality. However, he came out of the closet in 2003 when he publicly declared that he is gay in his autobiography, ‘Shattered Love’.

George Richard Chamberlain was born on March 31, 1934 in Beverly Hills, California, to Elsa Winnifred and Charles Axiom Chamberlain. His father worked as a salesman while his mother was an actress and singer.

He had a difficult childhood with his father battling alcoholism. But, Richard Chamberlain was a good sportsman who excelled in track. He graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1952 and went on attend Pomona College.

In college, he studied painting and art history and passed out in 1956 with a degree in arts. While in college, he grew passionate about drama and earned recognition for his portrayal of Bluntschil in the successful stage drama ‘Arms and the Man’.

He was accepted into the Army on December 7, 1956 and was assigned to serve in Korea for 16 months.

Soon after his discharge from the military, Richard Chamberlain headed to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting. He first took acting lessons from the famous acting guru, Jeff Corey. Together they established the Los Angeles theater group ‘Company of Angels’.

Throughout the late 1950’s and early 1960’s Chamberlain made small appearances in numerous TV shows. He was seen in an episode of ‘Riverboat’ here he played the role of Lt. Dave Winslow. He also made small appearances on shows such as ‘Gunsmoke’, ‘Mr. Lucky’, ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’, ‘Rescue 8’, ‘Bourbon Street Beat’, ‘Thriller’, ‘Paradise Kid’ and so on.

In 1961, his career saw a major breakthrough after he bagged the titular role in the medical TV show ‘Dr. Kildare’. Chamberlain looked every bit of the handsome, kind, and caring medical intern which made him an overnight phenomenon with an envious spike in female fan-base.

He then went on to record several pop singles which further added to his growing fandom. His ‘Theme from Dr. Kildare’ entitled ‘Three Stars Will Shine Tonight’ showed up at number 10 in the Billboard Hot 100 Charts.

In attempt to try something different from the goody image of Dr. Kildare, Chamberlain tried his hand at movies. He was cast in the courtroom drama film ‘Twilight of Honor’ in 1963. He played the role of the lawyer David Mitchell who defends a man charged with murder.

Richard Chamberlain sang the title song in the movie ‘Joy in the Morning’.

He was placed at number 7 in the 2005 list of ‘TV's 25 Greatest Teen Idols’ by TV Guide.

He was the original Jason Bourne from ‘The Bourne Identity’ miniseries.

Chamberlain’s frequent appearances on TV shows earned him the nickname, ‘King of the Miniseries’.