After Chambliss left Baylor, he worked as a technician apprentice for a
stock theater company in
Milford Connecticut. Receiving a scholarship in the summer of 1937 enabled him to go to
Bath, England, as a drama exchange student and study with
Michael Chekhov. He became a member of the Checkov Theater company He made his
Broadway debut in a 1939 Chekhov production of
The Possessed. The cast also included his wife, Erika Kapralik, and actor
Ford Rainey, but the play only ran for fourteen performances on Broadway. During
World War II, he worked at the
Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme naval base in
Port Hueneme, California. After the war, he and others from the Chekhov company established a
repertory troupe that for four years performed in the Happy Valley Theater in Ojai, California. Chambliss went on to become the manager of the Senior Canyon Mutual Water Company prior to resuming his theater career. He continued appearing in film throughout the 1970s, with roles in ''
Greaser's Palace, Cry for Me, Billy, The Devil's Rain and the jukebox musical comedy Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. In addition to his work on
Gunsmoke, where he eventually settled into the recurring role of storekeeper Mr. Lathrop, he also had a recurring role as
riverboat Captain Tom of the "Sultana" on the TV show
Yancy Derringer. He also appeared in two 1958 episodes of
Perry Mason: as Phil Reese in "The Case of the Fugitive Nurse," and Fred Haley in "The Case of the Lucky Loser." In 1960, he appeared in Gene Barry's TV Western series
Bat Masterson as town undertaker Mr. O’Malley (S2E20). In 1965, he appeared on
The Andy Griffith Show in the episode, "Aunt Bee's Invisible Beau", as their butter-and-egg-man. He and wife Erika also appeared together as grandparents in the 1978 TV movie
Forever. He also played the role of Zadok Walton, cousin to Grandpa Walton, on a Season 8 episode of
The Waltons. ==Personal life and death==