Richard Chamberlain passed away, aged 90, at his Hawaii home late on Saturday March 29. 2025 his publicist has revealed. The celebrated actor’s cause of death was complications from a stroke.
While his six-decade long career would see him nominated for four Emmy Awards and win three Golden Globes, it was his heartthrob good looks which led to his inital breakthrough role in Dr Kildare in 1961, seeing him recieve thousands of fan letters each week for his work on the long-running hospital soap.
Born in Los Angeles on March 31, 1934, Richard attended Beverly Hills High School before heading to a liberal arts institution, Pomona College, where he received a bachelors degree in art history and painting. It was during his time here that he began performing on stage – his early talent clear. In 1956, he was drafted to the army, serving in post-war Korea until 1958.
Returning home, Richard began studying acting with Jeff Corey – a renowned acting coach who had pivoted after being blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities in the 1950s, also teaching other notable stars including James Dean, Jane Fonda, Carol Burnett and many more.
In 1959, Richard, Leonard Nimroy and Vic Morrow were the founders of repetory theatre Company of Angels, where he continued to tread the boards whilst beginning to dip his toe into TV work. Two years later, he would beat out 35 other candidates for the lead role in Dr Kildare. He would win a Golden Globe for his work and his instant popularity saw him extend his reach into the world of singing – releasing hit single Three Stars Will Shine Tonight before following up with several other albums and trying his hand in musical theatre.
He was a hit with female viewers. But in private, Richard was hiding his sexuality – not going public as a gay man until he was 68, coming out in his 2003 autobiography Shattered Love: A Memoir.
“There’s still a tremendous amount of homophobia in our culture. It’s regrettable, it’s stupid, it’s heartless, and it’s immoral, but there it is,” he would tell The Advocate of why he kept the secret for so long.
“For an actor to be working at all is a kind of miracle, because most actors aren’t. So it’s just silly for a working actor to say, ‘Oh, I don’t care if anybody knows I’m gay’ especially if you’re a leading man. Personally, I wouldn’t advise a gay leading man-type actor to come out.”
When Dr Kildare wrapped in 1966, Richard moved to the UK where he hoped to prove he was far more than just a pretty face. In London, he played took vocal coaching, landing a role in BBC series Portrait of a Lady (1968). The following year he proved his chops, playing opposite Katharine Hepburn in The Madwoman of Challiot (1969) and becoming the first American to play Hamlet at the Birmingham Repertory Theare since John Barrymore in 1925.
He also began to gain success in the film world with roles in 1970’s The Music Lovers – playing Tchaikovsky, the composer battling his homosexuality – The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Count of Monte Cristo (1975) – which saw him recieve his first Emmy nomination – amongst other successes. But it was on the small screen that he would arguably find his greatest successes.
In 1978, he was cast in the epic mini-series Centennial before beginning the run which would see him named “King of the mini-series” as the 1980s dawned. First came Shōgun (1980) where his turn as English navigator William Adams saw him win a second Golden Globe. Then in 1983 he starred opposite Rachel Ward as tortured Catholic priest Father Ralph de Bricassart in Thorn Birds. The series, based on Colleen Hoover’s novel and shot in the Australian outback, would go on to become the most-watched TV series in history.
Throughout the next several decades, Richard continued to work across film, television and theatre while moving between his two homes in LA and Hawaii. He was in a three-decade long relationship with actor Martin Rabbit. The pair split in 2010 however remained close friends until the end.
“He is free and soaring to those loved ones before us. How blessed were we to have known such an amazing and loving soul,” Martin said in a statement.
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