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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Irish-language rap group Kneecap have announced a surprise London show, hours after one of their members was charged with a terror offence.
Liam O’Hanna, or Liam Og O Hannaidh, was charged with displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation, at a concert in London last November, the Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday.
Just hours later, Kneecap announced on their Instagram account that “we’re back”, adding that they would perform at the 100 Club on Oxford Street, London, on Thursday night.
The post also included a quote by former Sex Pistols vocalist John Lydon, who told ITV’s Good Morning Britain the rap trio “maybe (…) need a bloody good kneecapping” after footage of the band allegedly calling for the deaths of MPs emerged.
Kneecap performing in Belfast last year. Pic: PA
Kneecap apologised to the families of murdered MPs last month, but said footage of the incident at their concert had been “exploited and weaponised”, adding that they “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah.
The rappers had gigs cancelled after the footage emerged and politicians pushed for Kneecap to be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch calling for Kneecap to be banned.
The group from Belfast in Northern Ireland is still set to headline Wide Awake Festival in south London on Friday.
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In response to O’Hanna being charged, Kneecap said that they “deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves” and branded it “political policing” in a bid to “silence voices of compassion”.
The charge came after counter-terror police assessed a video said to be from a Kneecap concert.
In the footage, O’Hanna is allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London, on 21 November last year.
Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were made aware of a video circulating online on 22 April and an investigation led to the Crown Prosecution Service authorising the charge, the force said.
O’Hanna – who performs under the stage name Mo Chara – is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 18 June.
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