Richard Chamberlain dead: Heartthrob Dr. Kildare, The Thorn Birds, and Shogun star dies aged 90 after suffering a stroke
EMMY nominated actor and 1960s heartthrob Richard Chamberlain has died aged 90 after suffering a stroke.
The leading man rocketed to fame in the TV medical drama Dr Kildare and starred in the mini-series Shogun and The Thorn Birds.
Chamberlain died late on Saturday in Hawaii due to complications from a stroke, publicist Harlan Boll said in a statement on Sunday.
The actor was an instant hit, and became a teen idol, as the handsome Dr James Kildare in the series that ran from 1961 – 1966.
Martin Rabbett paid a touching tribute to his former partner: “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.”
Chamberlain played a number of high-profile roles on TV and was dubbed “king of the mini-series”.
He played Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, and Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Richard II.
He also was the original Jason Bourne in the 1988 mini-series The Bourne Identity.
Chamberlain was nominated for four Emmys during the 1970s and 1980s.
The nominations included for English navigator in 17th century Japan in Shogun (1981), a love-torn priest in The Thorn Birds (1983), Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg in Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story (1985) and for the title role in the 1975 TV movie The Count of Monte-Cristo.
Those roles came after he had moved to England to study theatre and try and move his image away from the clean-cut romantic leading man.
Chamberlain featured in the BBC series The Portrait of a Lady and as Hamlet at the Birmingham Repertory Theater.
He did not publicly reveal he was gay until he was 68 years old, fearing it would ruin his career.
Chamberlain told the New York Times in 2014: “When you grow up in the 30s, 40s and 50s being gay, it’s not only ain’t easy, it’s just impossible.
“I assumed there was something terribly wrong with me. And even becoming famous and all that, it was still there.”
Chamberlain was born March 31, 1934, in LA and set himself on an acting career while in college.
That was delayed when he was drafted to fight in Korea.
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