Richard Chamberlain

George Richard Chamberlain was born on March 31, 1934, at the now-closed Angelus Hospital on Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles, the second son of Elsa Winnifred (née von Benzon; later Matthews) and Charles Axion "Chuck" Chamberlain, who was a shop equipment salesman from Indiana. His mother was of part German descent. Charles worked in real estate and the supermarket business before running a refrigerator business from 1956 to 1970 and, later, authoring the book "A New Pair of Glasses". Chamberlain had a brother, William, who worked alongside their father in the family business. Chamberlain graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1952 and in 1956 from Pomona College with a bachelor's degree in art history and painting. He was drafted into the United States Army and served from 1956 to 1958. He attained the rank of sergeant while stationed in post-war Korea. ==Career==

Chamberlain co-founded a Los Angeles–based theater group Company of Angels, and began appearing on television in guest roles in the early 1960s. In 1961, he gained widespread fame as the young intern Dr. James Kildare in the NBC/MGM television series of the same name, co-starring with Raymond Massey. Dr. Kildare ended in 1966, after which Chamberlain began performing on the theater circuit. In 1966, he was cast opposite Mary Tyler Moore in the ill-fated Broadway musical ''Breakfast at Tiffany's, co-starring Priscilla Lopez, which, after an out-of-town tryout period, closed after only four previews. Decades later, he returned to Broadway in revivals of My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music''. At the end of the 1960s, Chamberlain spent a period of time in England, where he played in repertory theater and in the BBC's Portrait of a Lady (1968), and reprised the role for television in 1970 for the Hallmark Hall of Fame. A recording of the presentation was released by RCA Red Seal Records and was nominated for a Grammy Award. including Centennial (1978–79), and reprised the role of Aramis in the last of the trilogy The Return of the Musketeers (1989). From the 1990s to his death in 2025, Chamberlain appeared mainly in television films, on stage, and as a guest star on such series as The Drew Carey Show and Will & Grace. as well as two episodes of season 4 of Chuck where he played a villain known only as The Belgian. Chamberlain also appeared in several episodes of Brothers & Sisters, playing an old friend and love-interest of Saul's. He also appeared in the independent film We Are the Hartmans in 2011. In 2012, Chamberlain appeared on stage in the Pasadena Playhouse as Dr. Sloper in the play The Heiress. In 2017, Chamberlain appeared in Twin Peaks: The Return as Bill Kennedy. == Personal life and death ==

Chamberlain never married and had no children. To protect his privacy and his acting opportunities, he was not open about his homosexuality for most of his career. Chamberlain was romantically involved with actor Wesley Eure in the 1970s. In 1977, Chamberlain began a long-term relationship with actor and producer Martin Rabbett. Rabbett played the brother of Chamberlain's lead character in the 1986 film Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold. They began living together in Hawaii in 1986 and had a private commitment ceremony. In a 2014 interview, Chamberlain said that while he and Rabbett were not intimately involved, they remained close friends. According to Chamberlain's obituary in The New York Times, Rabbett and Chamberlain had resumed living together in Hawaii when he died. Rabbett was considered to be his "only immediate survivor". ==Filmography==

Film Television TV series TV films and miniseries == Stage credits (partial) ==

; From Haleakala: How Maui Snared The Sun/Clarinet Concerto • "Haleakala: How Maui Snared The Sun (Tone Poem) (1991), composed by Dan Welcher, performed with the Honolulu Symphony" ==Awards and nominations==