RIP Richard Chamberlain
Chamberlain has died at the age of ninety. I remember him almost entirely from his early TV show Dr. Kildare. I was never much of a fan, but the show was wildly popular in its day, and Chamberlain went on to star in several miniseries’ such as Shogun, which I also watched but barely remember.
My most striking recollection of Chamberlain was passing him on a street in the theater district, perhaps fifty years ago. He was a tall and handsome presence.
RIP.
I live in Hawaii and would see him from time to time at the movies or the symphony. As you say, even in his later years he was tall and handsome. Very sparkly eyed and reasonably approachable. A nice long life.
Never saw Dr. Kildare but loved Thornbirds. And I should watch the new Shogun
Remember him from the Three Musketeers in the early 70s. He played the Musketeer who was a former seminarian.
The only thing I can recall seeing him in was the film The Towering Inferno. He played the villain whose negligence was the source of the disaster. He didn’t get much screen time and dies in the course of acts of murderous selfishness.
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He decided around age 70 that we all had to know about his homosexuality because reasons.
I remember Richard Chamberlain from “Dr. Kildare” (great doctor name, what?) and Shogun. I was too young for “Dr. Kildare” but I did like “Shogun.” I went on to read most of James Clavell’s books about crafty alpha male leaders. (I strongly recommend the film version of “King Rat.”)
Chamberlain also did the first screen adaptation of Jason Bourne, but it had no punch compared to the Matt Damon version of Bourne.
well it was very faithful to the book, except Chamberlain was about 10 years younger than David Webb was supposed to be,
his last major role, was in the Twin Peaks revamp, which was a more selective,
He played Mr. Wick’s mother in the Drew Carey show — in full drag. He was very funny in that role, as was Mr. Wicks, played by Craig Ferguson. I guess that role, by Chamberlain, was more less his coming out, before he came out.
Related: My Irish great-grandmother’s family (Luttrell) owned a water mill in County Kildare. It was set on a river and was use to mill flour. The family sold it in 1849 because , , , , there was no flour. Anywhere. It was the Great Famine, duh. Paltry sum they received help to fund their one-way trip to America. I have a photocopy of the bill of sale.
The aulde days are gone forever, alas (*sniff*).
He played a bad guy in Richard Lester’s “Petulia” (1968), with Julie Christie, George C. Scott, Shirley Knight, Joseph Cotten, and Arthur Hill. Cameo appearance by The Grateful Dead.
A quintessential 1960s movie that captured the dark side of that decade as it was happening. RIP.
I remember him almost entirely from his early TV show Dr. Kildare. I was never much of a fan, but the show was wildly popular in its day,
As Neo says, the show was very popular, and as I did watch TV most evenings then, I had to have seen it. When I got to high school, my TV viewing went way down. I remember Allan Sherman mentioning Dr. Kildare in One Hippopotami.
I don’t recall seeing Richard Chamberlain in anything else.
IIRC, Richard Chamberlain and Peter O’Toole looked somewhat alike.
I remember Dr. Kildare. I also enjoyed Chamberlain in Shogun, The Thornbirds, The Last Wave, and The Three Musketeers.
The Three Musketeers can be kind of…dense…keeping things straight. Liked Chamberlain in it, although he almost killed me.
He’d jumped–possibly a double or a camera trick–from the floor to a table to flourish a sword. Heck of a jump. Figured I could do the same thing. Didn’t have a sturdy table, so I jumped up some stairs. Came with an eighth of an inch of ramming my skull into a soffit.
There was probably more to the plot, but I did recall a line about taking the enemy’s “trenches”. Not sure about trench lines in those days.
Didn’t watch much television in those days, nor attend movies, so my recall of Chamberlain is slight. But he did manage to be his character and not himself when on the job. More difficult for the good-looking, have to overcome the automatic identification of themselves to the audience.
And now Val Kilmer…
I recall Dr. Kildare was really popular, but I was too young to be interested. I do recall the intro: Man…Woman…Life…Death…Infinity!
I saw Wilt Chamberlain in a game near the end of his career. He didn’t score 100 points.
I remember sitting at a table next to him having brunch on the east side of Manhattan. I think it was the Beekman Cookstove at the time in the 80’s.
Another of the great ones just passed – Val Kilmer.
I rate him and Johnny Depp as two of the most gifted actors of all time.
I recall a western about Billy the Kid. Did Kilmer play Billy? Think so. Whoever did made the guy a real…case. Fidgety, couldn’t stand still, looked like he could go off at any moment, even when looking cheerful. Good directing, good acting.
Dax: I believe the intro was for “Ben Casey” the other doctor show. I was mad for him and even wore “doctor scrubs” to school!
Chamberlain’s turn as Edmond Dantès in “The Count of Monte Cristo” (1976) enthralled me as a youngster; and my heart as an adult, too!
Donald Pleasence as Danglars ; Louis Jourdan as Gérard de Villefort ; Tony Curtis as Fernand Mondego ; Kate Nelligan as Mercedes.
Plus great location settings. Mostly Rome and Liguria.
Free via the online streaming platforms Tubi and Pluto tv services (w commercials).