HAWAII, March 30, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — Actor Richard Chamberlain died Saturday at age 90 following complications from a stroke, according to information his publicist shared with news outlets including CNN and NBC News.
Chamberlain, who would have turned 91 on Tuesday, served in the U.S. Army in Korea (1956-’58), and attended college intending to be a visual artist, but became interested in acting. He played guest roles on multiple series before landing his 1961 breakout role, playing the title role in “Dr. Kildare.” Some of the major film and television roles he will be best remembered for include those in “The Three Musketeers” (1973) and multiple sequels, “The Towering Inferno” (1974), “The Count of Monte Cristo” (1975), “The Slipper and the Rose” (1976), “The Man in the Iron Mask” (1977), “Centennial” (1978–79), “Shogun” (1980), “The Thorn Birds” (1983), “The Bourne Identity” (1988 TV adaptation).
Chamberlain, known for playing heartthrobs, was outed as a gay man by a French magazine in 1989, and confirmed it in his 2003 autobiography “Shattered Love: A Memoir.”
In a 2014 New York Times interview, Chamberlain said “When you grow up in the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s, being gay, it not only ain’t easy, it’s just impossible. You cannot do it.”
In a 2024 interview with El Pais, he said “I would have been a happier person being out of the closet and being free. But I had other motives that made me happy. I was a working actor, and for me, that was most important.”
According to his New York Times obituary, Chamberlain’s only immediate survivor is former partner and friend Martin Rabbett.
