Richard Chamberlain, an actor who got his start playing a hunky TV doctor and went on to become a miniseries maestro, has died, according to his publicist. He was 90 years old.
Chamberlain died last Saturday in Hawaii of complications following a stroke, publicist Harlan Boll said in a statement. The award-winning Thorn Birds star would have turned 91 on Monday.
Chamberlain, a three-time Golden Globe winner, wore many hats over the years – actor, singer, soldier, painter, author – but he first rose to prominence and cemented his heartthrob status playing a handsome young physician in the 1960s series, Dr Kildare.
The series aired in the US on NBC between 1961 and 1966. In 1963, Chamberlain won a Golden Globe for best male TV star for his performance as Dr Kildare.
“It took right off all around the world, as a matter of fact,” Chamberlain said in a 2021 interview. “I was getting all of this attention and stuff and it was my absolute, total dream come true. I was so happy with it.”
Chamberlain also had a thriving film career. In 1970, he played Octavius Caesar in Julius Caesar, alongside Charlton Heston and Jason Robards, and appeared in 1973’s The Three Musketeers alongside Raquel Welch and Oliver Reed. In 1974, he had a role in the Oscar-winning film The Towering Inferno.
In the 1980s, Chamberlain also became known as the “king of the mini-series,” according to the Associated Press. And it’s clear to see how he earned the moniker.
He starred in the hit miniseries’ Shōgun in 1980 and The Thorn Birds in 1983. Each earned him a Golden Globe. In 1996, he reprised his Thorn Birds role of Father Ralph de Bricassart in the TV movie The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years.
Chamberlain also played the role of Jason Bourne in the first on-screen iteration of the Bourne Identity franchise, appearing in the TV mini-series in 1988. He later went on to star in several films and TV movies throughout the 1990s including Birds of Prey and The Lost Daughter.
Through the aughts, Chamberlain appeared as a guest star on many modern-day sitcoms and TV comedies, including Will and Grace, The Drew Carey Show and Desperate Housewives.
His final credit on his IMDb page is for the 2019 drama-mystery Finding Julia.
In addition to a brief career as a recording artist, Chamberlain took several memorable stage roles over the years, including a run as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady and a brief stint on Broadway opposite Mary Tyler Moore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which closed in previews.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Chamberlain grew up in Beverly Hills with his parents and older brother Bill before earning a bachelor’s degree in arts from Pomona College, Boll’s statement noted.
After graduating, Chamberlain joined the US Army and served 16 months in Korea, where he earned the rank of sergeant.
Chamberlain is survived by his longtime partner Martin Rabbett.
“Our beloved Richard is with the angels now. He is free and soaring to those loved ones before us,” Rabbett told CNN in a statement Sunday. “How blessed were we to have known such an amazing and loving soul.”
