R.I.P. Richard Chamberlain: ‘The Thorn Birds’ And ‘Dr. Kildare’ Star Dead At 90
The Thorn Birds and Dr. Kildare star Richard Chamberlain died on on Saturday (March 29), Variety reports. He was 90.
Harlan Boll, the late actor’s publicist, told the outlet that Chamberlain died in Waimanalo, Hawai’i from complications after a stroke. Chamberlain’s partner Martin Rabbett issued a statement to Variety, writing that “our beloved Richard is with the angels now.”
“He is free and soaring to those loved ones before us,” Rabbett continued. “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.”
Chamberlain most recently appeared in 2019’s Finding Julia, a thriller in which he starred alongside Ha Phuong and Andrew McCarthy. However, his TV and film career spans decades. He earned his first TV credit in a 1959 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, per IMDb. Prior to landing his starring role in Dr. Kildare, Chamberlain had already appeared on shows like Bourbon Street Beat, Gunsmoke, The Deputy and The Eleventh Hour.
Based on an earlier film series, Dr. Kildare ran for five seasons from 1961 until 1966, starring Chamberlain as Dr. James Kildare. His next starring role arrived in 1978 with Centennial, a miniseries about the state of Colorado.
Chamberlain’s work as Pilot-Major John Blackthorne in the TV movie Shogun (1980) turned into work on the miniseries of the same name, which aired on NBC that same year. In 1983, he starred as Ralph de Bricassart in the four-part miniseries The Thorn Birds, and reprised his role in the 1996 TV miniseriesThe Thorn Birds: The Missing Years. Other TV credits of his include Great Performances, Island Son, The Drew Carey Show, Will & Grace, Chuck, Brothers & Sisters and Twin Peaks: The Return.
As for film, Chamberlain accumulated quite a resume, including Julius Caesar (1970), The Three Musketeers (1973), The Towering Inferno (1974), The Count of Monte Cristo (1975), The Last Wave (1977), The Swarm (1978), King Solomon’s Mines (1985), Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986), I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007), We Are The Hartmans (2011), and Nightmare Cinema (2018).
Per People, Chamberlain came out as gay in his memoir Shattered Love, which was released in 2003. While speaking with The Television Academy Foundation in 2010, he lamented the “terrible danger of being outed” as a romantic lead in Hollywood. He also reflected on writing his book at 68 years old, noting that after therapy and spiritual work, “finally, that area of self-dislike vanished.”
William Shatner mourned the loss of Chamberlain in a post on X on on Sunday, praising him as “such a dedicated and wonderful actor.” Jennifer Tilly, who played Chamberlain’s on-screen daughter in Bird of Prey in 1995, also paid tribute to Chamberlain, remembering him as “always incredibly patient and professional and very kind.”
