His name became synonymous with miniseries for a decade.
In roles such as Father Ralph in "The Thorn Birds" and John Blackthorne in "Shogun", Richard Chamberlain not only stole the hearts of beautiful women on TV in the 1980s, he also became a major heartthrob in many homes – a role he had found himself in since the early 1960s.
But the girls had to pine in vain. Chamberlain was homosexual – which he hid in fear that the truth would ruin his career.
I was chased by beautiful teenage girls. I received 12,000 fan letters every week and all the weekly magazines asked about my love life. It felt like a siege, but I was good at playing the game, he said according to The Washington Post to TV Guide after coming out.
Teen idol in the 60s
It wasn't until 2003, when he released his autobiography at the age of 69, that Chamberlain dared to tell about his love for his life partner since the 1970s, Martin Rabbett.
When Chamberlain was dubbed "the king of miniseries", he already had a successful career behind him. After military service during the Korean War, he became a teen idol with his first major role – nearly 200 episodes of the hospital drama "Dr Kildare".
He went from the TV hospital via theater stages and a brief attempt as a crooner to a series of historical adventure films – not least the star-studded "The Three Musketeers" trilogy – and disaster films like "The Towering Inferno" in 1974.
Bourne and Wallenberg
In the 1980s, he also had successes with Indiana Jones precursor Allan Quatermain in a couple of films and the first film adaptation of Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne books, "The Osterman Weekend" in 1988.
And of course, another miniseries, as Raoul Wallenberg in "Wallenberg – A Hero's Story" before he mainly devoted himself to guest appearances in TV series and a life beyond the cameras on Hawaii with Martin Rabbett.
"Our beloved Richard is with the angels now. He is free and soaring towards those we loved who went before us. We were so blessed to have known such a fantastic and loving soul", says Rabbett in a statement to Variety.
Richard Chamberlain passed away during the night to Sunday due to complications from a stroke.
