Dr Kildare and Shogun actor Richard Chamberlain dies
Richard Chamberlain, who starred in the TV medical drama “Dr Kildare” and the 1980s mini-series “Shogun” has died at the age of 90, his publicist said.
Chamberlain became a heart throb and an instant favourite with teenage girls as the handsome Dr James Kildare in the medical drama that ran from 1961 to 1966.
Photoplay magazine named him “most popular male star” three years in a row from 1963 to 1965.
His breakout role in Dr Kildare marked the start of a six decade-career that spanned theatre, films and television.
He was dubbed the “king of the mini-series” after appearing in several TV dramas in the 1980s.
This included being the original Jason Bourne in the 1988 mini-series The Bourne Identity.
Richard Chamberlain in Dr Kildare. Pic: Rex/THA/Shutterstock
Chamberlain was nominated for Emmys for his roles in two mini-series – Shogun (1981) and The Thorn Birds (1983).
He was also nominated for Emmys for his roles in the 1985 movie “Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story” and the title role in the 1975 movie “The Count of Monte-Cristo”.
He also earned plaudits for his appearances on stage – including Professor Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady” and Captain von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” to Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Richard II.
Most of his roles were as romantic leading men, which is why he did not publicly reveal he was gay until he was 68 years old.
He feared it would ruin his career and so for much of his life he said he pretended to be someone else.
“When you grow up in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s being gay, it’s not only ain’t easy, it’s just impossible,” he told the New York
Times in 2014.
“I assumed there was something terribly wrong with me. And even becoming famous and all that, it was still there.”
Richard Chamberlain and Barbara Stanwyck in The Thorn Birds in 1983. Pic: Rex/Warner Bros Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock
Chamberlain said it was a huge relief after he acknowledge his sexuality in his 2003 autobiography “Shattered Love: A Memoir”.
He said in a 2019 interview: “I had no fear left… It was a wonderful experience. People were open, friendly and sweet.”
After coming out publicly, he played both gay and straight characters in TV shows including “Brothers & Sisters,” “Will &
Grace” and “Desperate Housewives.”
Born George Richard Chamberlain on 31 March 1934, he was the youngest of two sons.
He had hoped to be an artist but switched to acting after attending Pomona College in California.
His acting career was put on hold when he was drafted into the US Army in 1956 and served in Korea.
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Richard Chamberlain is seen speaking with Queen Elizabeth II at the Odeon in Leicester Square. Pic: PA
In the late 1960s, Chamberlain moved to England where he honed his acting skills in the BBC series “The Portrait of a Lady” and as Hamlet at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
“Dr Kildare was a huge hit in England, and I heard that all the London reviewers were coming to rip this interloper to
pieces,” he said in an interview.
“But we got very good reviews.”
Richard Chamberlain in Berlin. Pic: PA
Chamberlain lived in Hawaii for many years and had a three-decade relationship with actor and writer Martin Rabbett, his co-star in the 1986 adventure film “Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold”.
The couple parted in 2010 but remained close friends.
“He is free and soaring to those loved ones before us. How blessed were we to have known such an amazing and loving soul,” Rabbett said in a statement after Chamberlain’s death.
Chamberlain’s publicist said the star died from complications from a stroke in Hawaii on Saturday.
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The mother of Cassie Ventura has told a court she felt “physically sick” when her daughter told her Sean “Diddy” Combs had threatened to “release two explicit sex tapes” after discovering his long-time girlfriend was dating someone else.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, the seventh day of the trial, Regina Ventura said she did not initially understand the email Cassie sent her in December 2011, saying, “The sex tape threw me, [Diddy] was trying to hurt my daughter.”
The email said Combs was planning to release two explicit videos of her and send someone to hurt her and the man she was seeing, rapper Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi.
Regina said the family took out a home equity loan and paid Diddy $20,000 to recoup money he had spent on Cassie “because he demanded it,” angry that Cassie was now dating Cudi.
She said the money was returned days later.
During her evidence, jurors were shown photographs of bruises on Cassie’s body Ms Ventura said were taken when her daughter returned home for Christmas in 2011.
Regina’s time on the stand was fairly brief, as the defence declined the opportunity to question her.
Scott Mescudi, aka Kid Cudi, who dated Cassie in 2011. Pic: Reuters
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Day 7 – As it happened
Prosecutors say Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, forced women to take part in days-long, drug-fuelled sexual performances known as “Freak Offs” from 2004 to 2024, facilitated by his large retinue of staff. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty.
The rapper faces five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs and Cassie pictured in 2015. Pic: Reuters
Last week, the prosecutors’ star witness, Cassie Ventura, who dated Combs for over a decade, spent four days giving evidence.
Combs’s legal team has sought to show jurors that his relationship with Ventura was complicated, and while they acknowledge he was an abusive partner, and had substance issues, they say the sex acts described by the prosecution were consensual.
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A male exotic dancer nicknamed “The Punisher” also gave testimony, telling jurors that in the autumn of 2012, Cassie contacted him asking him to “create a sexy, erotic scene” Diddy, and using the pseudonym “Janet”.
Male exotic dancer Sharay Hayes, aka The Punisher. Pic: Reuters
Sharay Hayes said he went on to have eight to 12 more encounters with the couple, having sex with Cassie, while Diddy watched from a distance.
He described the hotel rooms as routinely being dressed with electric candles and sheet-covered furniture, and says Cassie told him not to “acknowledge” her husband, and to “try not to look at him and no communication”.
He says Diddy would often wear a cap, and he could not see his face, but he later realised it was the famous rapper.
“The Punisher” mentioned using a “considerable amount of baby oil” during the performances, saying “[Diddy] wanted us to keep our bodies covered, to shine”.
He later described the acts as “a fetish type thing,” and while he said he believed Cassie was fully consensual, he also said he “did occasionally see her sigh or wince” and said she would frequently look at Diddy “for cues”.
Paid between $1,200 (£900) and $2,000 (£1.500) for each performance, he said he was not called back after struggling to get an erection during one encounter.
He said he never saw Diddy use drugs or saw filming during any of the performances.
Car park dispute with Suge Knight
David James, Diddy’s ex-personal assistant, also completed his evidence and testified that he never saw physical violence between Cassie and his former boss.
David James, Combs’s former assistant. Pic: Reuters
James, who worked for Diddy for two years, said he left Diddy’s employment after he realised his “life was in danger” following a dispute in a car park with rival record label owner Suge Knight, which culminated in Diddy bringing three handguns to try to find Knight and his entourage.
He also detailed an altercation between Diddy and his personal chef, Jourdan Atkinson, and said he refused to file a police report after Diddy told him to say “Chef Jourdan hit him first”.
The final person to give evidence was a special agent responsible for planning the March 2024 raids on Combs’s Miami home on Star Island.
Steve Gannon showed photos of items taken during the raid, including sex toys, high heels and loaded guns, and explained how an armoured vehicle was used to break down the mansion’s front gate to gain entry while the family was away on a trip.
Combs has been held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since September and faces at least 15 years or possibly life in prison if convicted.
The trial is set to last for around two months.
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