Is it embarrassing that I shared a crush with my mother? 50 years ago, my mother & I would settle in to watch Dr. Kildare. It aired on Thursdays at 8:30pm, a school night. I am not sure how I got away with that, but I enjoyed that thrill of dreamy Richard Chamberlain making my head spin, my heart thump & a pajamas stir… all in black & white on NBC.
Richard Chamberlain has had a 4 decades long career in film, stage, pop music & TV as well. Chamberlain co-founded a Los Angeles-based theatre group, Company of Angels, & in 1961, blue eyed & dreamy Chamberlain gained fame & the attention of 7 year gay boys as young heartthrob intern- Dr. Kildare. The show established the handsome Chamberlain as a romantic leading man, & made him an overnight sensation, & his pin-up status was solidified by his singing ability which led to several hit singles in the early 1960s. I owned his album- Richard Chamberlain Sings & I would listen to him warble The Theme From Dr. Kildare & Love Me Tender, while getting all moony over his cover shot.
Chamberlain appeared in some of the most widely seen projects in TV history: Shogun, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Centennial, & of course- The Thorn Birds. 110 million viewers watched the tale of Father de Bricassart’s doomed love for Meggie, the Australian sheep rancher, making The Thorn Birds among the highest rated mini-series ever.
Chamberlain’s cinema career consisted of an crazy mix of projects: The Madwoman of Chaillot, Ken Russell’s The Music Lovers, The Towering Inferno, The Swarm, The Three Musketeers & my favorite Chamberlain performance in Peter Weir’s The Last Wave (rent this film!).
Deeply closeted for most of his life, Chamberlain was outed by the French magazine Nous Deux in 1989, but it wasn’t until 2003, at the age of, ironically, 69, that he acknowledged his homosexuality in his memoir- Shattered Love (which is oddly a chapter title on my own memoir- Jockstraps & Vicodin: the Early Years).
Chamberlain has continued to work in TV: Will & Grace, Chuck, Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives, & as the HIV-positive love interest of Ron Rifkin. He starred on Broadway in a revival of My Fair Lady, in the title role of Ebenezer Scrooge in Scrooge: The Musical, & as King Arthur in Spamalot.
Last year, Chamberlain broke up with his partner of 40 years, hansome actor-writer-producer Martin Rabbett, with whom he shared a fabulous home in Hawaii since mid-1970s.
This year, in an interview in The Advocate, Chamberlain says : “I wouldn’t advise a gay leading man-type actor to come out. There’s still a tremendous amount of homophobia in our culture. For an actor to be working is a kind of miracle… 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… Look at what happened in California with Proposition 8. Please, don’t pretend that we’re suddenly all wonderfully, blissfully accepted.” In an era when the President of the United States signs a bill repealing a law banning gay soldiers from serving openly in the military, Neil Patrick Harris plays a ladies man on a popular TV series & hosts awards shows, & Ellen is the #1 daytime star, Chamberlain’s words gave me just a little pause. Maybe the key is stay in the closet until you are too old for leading man roles, & hope that the publication of your memoir will give your career a boost.
After that little diatribe, I have to admit that I stood at the stage door after his potent performance as Richard II at The Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1971 & nearly fainted from his handsomeness & talent. I so wanted to show him my special appreciation when I was 17 years old… & I think I might still go for the chance. Maybe we could star together in gay versions The Gin Game & On Golden Pond. Chamberlain turns 77 today.
Richard Chamberlain has had a 4 decades long career in film, stage, pop music & TV as well. Chamberlain co-founded a Los Angeles-based theatre group, Company of Angels, & in 1961, blue eyed & dreamy Chamberlain gained fame & the attention of 7 year gay boys as young heartthrob intern- Dr. Kildare. The show established the handsome Chamberlain as a romantic leading man, & made him an overnight sensation, & his pin-up status was solidified by his singing ability which led to several hit singles in the early 1960s. I owned his album- Richard Chamberlain Sings & I would listen to him warble The Theme From Dr. Kildare & Love Me Tender, while getting all moony over his cover shot.
Chamberlain appeared in some of the most widely seen projects in TV history: Shogun, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Centennial, & of course- The Thorn Birds. 110 million viewers watched the tale of Father de Bricassart’s doomed love for Meggie, the Australian sheep rancher, making The Thorn Birds among the highest rated mini-series ever.
Chamberlain’s cinema career consisted of an crazy mix of projects: The Madwoman of Chaillot, Ken Russell’s The Music Lovers, The Towering Inferno, The Swarm, The Three Musketeers & my favorite Chamberlain performance in Peter Weir’s The Last Wave (rent this film!).
Deeply closeted for most of his life, Chamberlain was outed by the French magazine Nous Deux in 1989, but it wasn’t until 2003, at the age of, ironically, 69, that he acknowledged his homosexuality in his memoir- Shattered Love (which is oddly a chapter title on my own memoir- Jockstraps & Vicodin: the Early Years).
Chamberlain has continued to work in TV: Will & Grace, Chuck, Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives, & as the HIV-positive love interest of Ron Rifkin. He starred on Broadway in a revival of My Fair Lady, in the title role of Ebenezer Scrooge in Scrooge: The Musical, & as King Arthur in Spamalot.
Last year, Chamberlain broke up with his partner of 40 years, hansome actor-writer-producer Martin Rabbett, with whom he shared a fabulous home in Hawaii since mid-1970s.
This year, in an interview in The Advocate, Chamberlain says : “I wouldn’t advise a gay leading man-type actor to come out. There’s still a tremendous amount of homophobia in our culture. For an actor to be working is a kind of miracle… 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… Look at what happened in California with Proposition 8. Please, don’t pretend that we’re suddenly all wonderfully, blissfully accepted.” In an era when the President of the United States signs a bill repealing a law banning gay soldiers from serving openly in the military, Neil Patrick Harris plays a ladies man on a popular TV series & hosts awards shows, & Ellen is the #1 daytime star, Chamberlain’s words gave me just a little pause. Maybe the key is stay in the closet until you are too old for leading man roles, & hope that the publication of your memoir will give your career a boost.
After that little diatribe, I have to admit that I stood at the stage door after his potent performance as Richard II at The Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1971 & nearly fainted from his handsomeness & talent. I so wanted to show him my special appreciation when I was 17 years old… & I think I might still go for the chance. Maybe we could star together in gay versions The Gin Game & On Golden Pond. Chamberlain turns 77 today.
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