TV star Richard Chamberlain has died at the age of 90. Chamberlain passed away on Saturday in Waimanalo, Hawaii, due to complications following a stroke, his publicist Harlan Boll confirmed to Variety.
“Our beloved Richard is with the angels now,” Martin Rabbett, Chamberlain’s longtime partner, said in a statement. “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.”
Richard Chamberlain, the golden boy of 1960s television who later reinvented himself as a respected stage and film actor, has died at the age of 90. He passed away Saturday in Waimanalo, Hawaii, due to complications following a stroke, his publicist Harlan Boll confirmed to Variety.
Chamberlain rose to fame as the titular young doctor in the hit medical drama Dr. Kildare, which aired from 1961 to 1966. With his matinee-idol looks and emotional depth, he quickly became a television heartthrob and one of the most popular actors of his time. The role launched him into superstardom and earned him a Golden Globe Award in 1963.
While Dr. Kildare made him a household name, Chamberlain worked hard to break free from his early image. He studied Shakespeare and developed a reputation as a serious performer, taking on stage roles in productions like Hamlet, Richard II, and The Night of the Iguana. His performances won critical acclaim both in the U.S. and abroad, particularly in London’s West End.
In the 1980s, Chamberlain became known as the “King of the Miniseries,” thanks to starring roles in television epics like Shōgun (1980), The Thorn Birds (1983), and Centennial (1978). These sweeping dramas brought him a new generation of fans and further cemented his legacy as one of TV’s most bankable stars. His performance in The Thorn Birds earned him a second Golden Globe. he played family’s priest, Father Ralph de Briscassart who had a forbidden love affair with Meggie Cleary.
Chamberlain also appeared in a wide variety of films, including The Towering Inferno (1974), The Three Musketeers (1973), and The Last Wave (1977), showcasing his versatility across genres.
Though he kept his private life largely out of the spotlight for much of his career, Chamberlain publicly came out as gay in his 2003 memoir Shattered Love, becoming one of the first leading men of his era to do so. His courage helped shift public perceptions in Hollywood and inspired many. Many of his Hollywood colleagues wrote tributes to the legendary actor on X.
