European Film Star Postcards: Richard Chamberlain

08 July 2024

Richard Chamberlain

Impeccably handsome American actor Richard Chamberlain (1934) was TV's leading heartthrob because of his title role in Dr. Kildare (1961-1966). He turned his back on Hollywood, devoting himself to the stage and a new European film career. Later he became the 'King of the Miniseries'.

Spanish postcard by Postal Oscarcolor S.A., Hospitalet (Barcelona), no. 37.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/240.

The leading heartthrob of early 1960s television

George Richard Chamberlain was born in 1934 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. He was the second son of Elsa Winnifred (von Benzon) and Charles Axiom Chamberlain, who was a salesman. He had a profoundly unhappy childhood and did not enjoy school, making up for it somewhat by excelling in track and developing a strong interest in acting. In 1952, Chamberlain graduated from Beverly Hills High School and in 1956, he graduated from Pomona College in Claremont, California. In December 1956, he was drafted into the United States Army for 16 months, serving in Korea.

Soon after his discharge from the army, Chamberlain headed for Hollywood. In 1959, he co-founded the theatre company the Company of Angels (CoA), now the oldest not-for-profit repertory theatre in Los Angeles. In just a couple of years, Chamberlain worked up a decent resumé with several visible guest spots on such popular series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1959), Gunsmoke (1960) and Mr. Lucky (1960). As the star of the medical series Dr. Kildare (1961-1966), he became the leading heartthrob of early 1960s television. As the impeccably handsome Dr. James Kildare, the slim, butter-haired hunk with the near-perfect Ivy-League charm and smooth, intelligent demeanour, had the distaff fans fawning unwavering over him through the series' run.

While this would appear to be a dream situation for any new star, it brought Chamberlain about a major, unsettling identity crisis. More interested in a reputation as a serious actor, Chamberlain took a huge risk and turned his back on Hollywood, devoting himself to the stage. An important dramatic role opposite Julie Christie in Petulia (Richard Lester, 1968) led him to England. He played a recently divorced doctor who finds solace in the company of an unhappily married socialite.

In the 1970s, Chamberlain enjoyed success as a leading man in European films. He played composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in The Music Lovers (Ken Russell, 1970) opposite Glenda Jackson, Lord Byron alongside Sarah Miles in Lady Caroline Lamb (Robert Bolt, 1972), and Aramis in The Three Musketeers (Richard Lester, 1973) with Michael York as D'Artagnan. The sequel, The Four Musketeers (Richard Lester, 1974), was released the following year.

Then he was the villain in the disaster film The Towering Inferno (John Guillermin, 1974) opposite Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, and Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo (David Greene, 1975). In The Slipper and the Rose (Bryan Forbes, 1976), a musical version of the Cinderella story, co-starring Gemma Craven as Cinderella, he displayed his vocal talents as the Prince. In 1977, he earned cult status for the Australian thriller The Last Wave (Peter Weir, 1977). He played a Sydney lawyer who defends five Aboriginal Persons in a ritualised taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing things about himself and premonitions.

Dina Merrill and Richard Chamberlain in Dr. Kildare (1962)

American press photo by Helen Ferguson Public Relations, El Camino / Beverly Hills, no. DR 155. Photo: MGM-TV. Dina Merrill and Richard Chamberlain in the episode Oh, My Daughter (Buzz Kulik, 1962) of the TV series Dr. Kildare (1961-1966).

American Arcade card.

French postcard by Editions P.I., no. S-1679.

Outed at the age of 55

Since then, Richard Chamberlain has appeared in several miniseries such as Shōgun (Jerry London, 1980) opposite Toshirô Mifune and The Thorn Birds (Daryl Duke, 1983). He was the first to play Jason Bourne in the miniseries The Bourne Identity Roger Young, (1988). It earned him the title 'King of the Miniseries'.

He also performed classical stage roles and worked in the musical theatre. He was awarded the 1973 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Performance for his role as Cyrano in 'Cyrano de Bergerac' (1973). On stage, he was also Henry Higgins in 'My Fair Lady' (1993-1994), Captain Von Trapp in 'The Sound of Music' (1999) and Ebenezer Scrooge in 'Scrooge: The Musical' (2005).

Chamberlain was romantically involved with television actor Wesley Eure in the early 1970s. In 1977, he met actor-writer-producer Martin Rabbett, with whom he began a long-term relationship. This led to a civil union in Hawaii, where the couple resided from 1986 to 2010 when Chamberlain legally adopted Rabbett to protect his future estate. Rabbett and Chamberlain starred together in, among others, Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (Gary Nelson, 1986), in which they played brothers Allan and Robeson Quatermain.

Chamberlain was outed, at the age of 55, by the French women's magazine Nous Deux in December 1989, but it was not until 2003 that he confirmed his homosexuality, in his autobiography, 'Shattered Love'. Gary Brumburgh at IMDb: "Married now to his longtime partner of over 40 years, writer/producer Martin Rabbett, he has accepted himself and shown to be quite a good sport in the process, appearing as gay characters in the film I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (Dennis Dugan, 2007), and in TV episodes of Will & Grace (1998), Desperate Housewives (2004) and Brothers & Sisters (2006)."

In the spring of 2010, Richard Chamberlain returned to Los Angeles to pursue career opportunities, leaving Rabbett in Hawaii. Recently, Richard Chamberlain could be seen in the films, Nightmare Cinema (Joe Dante, 2018) and Finding Julia (Igor Sunara, 2019) and in an episode of the TV series Twin Peaks (David Lynch, 2017) starring Kyle MacLachlan.