Richard Chamberlain, the award-winning actor who played TV’s “Dr. Kildare” and starred in popular miniseries including “The Thorn Birds” and “Shōgun
,” has died at 90.
Harlan Boll, Chamberlain’s representative, confirmed to USA TODAY on Sunday that the actor died Saturday from complications following a stroke. He would have celebrated his 91st birthday on Monday.
Born in Los Angeles in 1934, Chamberlain was a U.S Army veteran who served in Korea before he began to pursue acting, getting his start in a 1959 episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” After popping up on episodes of shows like “Gunsmoke” and “Riverboat,” Chamberlain landed his breakthrough role as Dr. Kildare, a young medical intern, on the medical drama of the same name, which ran on NBC from 1961 to 1966. He won a Golden Globe Award for the role.
Chamberlain went on to star in TV movies such as “The Count of Monte Cristo,” for which he received an Emmy nomination. In 1980, he starred in the original “Shōgun” miniseries as John Blackthorne, the role later played by Cosmo Jarvis
in the 2024 version. The actor, dubbed the “king of the miniseries,” later played Ralph de Bricassart in 1983’s “The Thorn Birds.”
Both “The Thorn Birds” and “Shōgun” were among the most successful miniseries in television history. ABC said at the time that “The Thorn Birds,” which followed the relationship between a woman and a Catholic priest, was the second most-watched miniseries ever after “Roots,” with 110 million people viewing at least some of it,
according to The New York Times. Chamberlain reprised the role in a 1996 follow-up, “The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years.”
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Before Matt Damon took on the role of Jason Bourne, Chamberlain played the character in the 1988 television miniseries “The Bourne Identity.” His memorable movie roles included the villain Roger Simmons in “The Towering Inferno” and Aramis in “The Three Musketeers,” “The Four Musketeers” and “The Return of the Musketeers.”
The actor had more recently appeared on episodes of shows like “Will & Grace,” “Chuck” and David Lynch’s 2017 “Twin Peaks” revival.
Chamberlain received four Emmy nominations throughout his career, for “The Count of Monte Cristo,” “The Thorn Birds,” “Shōgun” and “Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story.” He also won three Golden Globes for “Dr. Kildare,” “Shōgun” and “The Thorn Birds” and received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2000.
In addition to his film and television work, Chamberlain was well-regarded as a theater actor, which included roles as Captain von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” on Broadway and a turn as Hamlet at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
Chamberlain was also an accomplished singer. His most successful songs included a cover of “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” released in 1962.
Most of Chamberlain’s roles were as romantic leading men, which is why he did not publicly reveal he was gay until he was 68. He feared it would ruin his career. For much of his life, he pretended to be someone else, he said.
“When you grow up in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s being gay, it not only ain’t easy, it’s just impossible,” he
in 2014. “I assumed there was something terribly wrong with me. And even becoming famous and all that, it was still there.”
Chamberlain is survived by his longtime partner Martin Rabbett, who said in a statement, “Our beloved Richard is with the angels now. He is free and soaring to those loved ones before us. 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.”
Contributing: Patricia Reaney, Reuters, and Kim Willis, USA TODAY
This report has been updated with new information.
