Actor Richard Chamberlain: biography and personal life

An actor like Richard Chamberlain deserves to be written about his life and work, or a feature film is shot. However, we confine ourselves to a short article. We will try to briefly outline the biography of this famous American actor and singer, three-time winner of the Golden Globe Award. During his long career, he starred in numerous films. His face has become recognizable since 1959, and for over half a century viewers around the world have enjoyed his stage play. Also interested in the public is the private life of Richard Chamberlain. The actor never made secrets out of his unconventional sexual orientation and openly had a civil marriage with Martin Rabbett, writer, actor and producer. But the last five years the couple lives separately. Is this a complete break or temporary difficulties in a relationship? But let's start in order ...

A family

The future actor was born on the last day of March 1934 in Los Angeles (USA). At the christening, the boy was given the name George Richard Chamberlain. He was the second child in the family. The first-born of the pair Elsa and Charles Chamberlains was Bill. He was six years older than his brother. The father of the actor worked as an agent in a trading company that supplied goods to a chain of stores. Therefore, the famous crisis did not affect the material well-being of the family. Although there is no need to talk about too much luxury. In 1936 the Chamberlains moved from Los Angeles to Beverly Hills, near Hollywood, where they bought a house for seven rooms. Charles Chamberlain was also engaged in that he urged people who are members of the Alcoholics Anonymous Society to quit drinking. His oratorical skills helped many to start a new life.

Study

When Richard was six years old, he was sent to elementary school "Beverly Vista Grammar School". He also received a matriculation certificate in Beverly Hills. This happened in 1952. His classmates mention that Richard Chamberlain always had good manners. The closeness of Hollywood at first did not affect the choice of the young man's profession. He dreamed of becoming an artist, and for this purpose entered the Pomona College in the town of Claremont, 40 km from Hollywood. Richard studied applied painting, but gradually became more involved in the activities of the student theater group. He finished his education, but after receiving a diploma in 1956, he was firmly convinced that he would become an actor. The call to the army temporarily pushed aside his ambitious plans. The young man served two years in Korea and returned home with the rank of sergeant.

Richard Chamberlain: biography, the beginning of acting career

Returning to America, the young man decided to try his luck in Los Angeles. He began to bypass the agencies and studios, to pass castings. Realizing that he does not have a special education, Richard, in his spare time seeking work, took private lessons in acting. We can say that his career began in 1959. The twenty-five-year-old actor had episodic roles (Pete in "The Smoke from the Trunk" and Clay Payne in "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"). But it was all wrong. The starry hour for Chamberlain struck in 1961, when the MGM film studio decided to shoot the television series "Doctor Kildare" and sought the actor for the main role. Chamberlain successfully passed the tests, and it decided his fate. From the first series, the actor became a sensation. And the glory has not left him since. The series was shot from 1961 to 1966. This tape was extremely popular. In 1963, the actor received his first Golden Globe for the main role in this series.

Career of the singer

At the very beginning of the sixties, the well-known actor Richard Chamberlain decided to try himself in the music field and began to take vocal lessons. And he also achieved success! His albums became hits of the first half of the sixties. Naturally, it would be a sin not to use actor's fame. One of the albums - "Three stars will shine tonight" - was directly connected with the series "Doctor Kildare." The hit entered the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 Charts. But, despite the successes in the singing career, Richard Chamberlain was attracted to a scene. In 1968, he became the first American actor who, after a forty-year hiatus, played Hamlet on the British stage. This role has brought him fame and overseas, in Europe. And, which happens rarely, his game evoked enthusiasm for both theater critics and spectators.

Famous roles of Richard Chamberlain

When the actor was forty-five, he starred in the title role (skipper John Blethorn) in a small TV series "Shogun". This tape became a hit, and Richard Chamberlain in the ranking of the most famous and popular actors took the third place after Sean Connery and A. Finney. It would seem that his star is no longer rising. But the roles in the feature films, where he was embodied in the Musketeer Aramis, Anton Chekhov, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Edmond Dantes, Octavian Augustus, Casanova and Louis the Fourteenth, did not bring him such glory as the work in "The Singing in Thorns." After he appeared on the screens in the image of priest Ralph de Brikassar in 1983 with Rachel Ward in 1983, telling the audience the touching story of forbidden love, the actor left the street for a long time only wearing black glasses covering half of his face. He was afraid that the fans would literally tear it to pieces. In 1981 and 1984, the actor was awarded the Golden Globe Award.

Movies, series and theatrical productions with Richard Chamberlain

For the role of a priest in the movie "Singing in Thorns," the actor was called "the king of small television series." But this is a superficial definition. The actor persistently and unceasingly worked on the set in feature films. Yes, it was the TV that brought him fame. Work in such tapes as "The Secret of Born", "Casanova", "Dream West" (in the Russian box office "Road to the West"), "Centennial" and "Wallenberg - the story of the hero," created his name. But we should not forget about the roles in feature films. Domestic audience, he remembered by the ribbons "The Man in the Iron Mask" and several stories about Allan Kvotermeyne ("Copy of King Solomon", "In search of the lost city"). Now the actor changed the ninth decade. Is Richard Chamberlain still being filmed somewhere? Films with his participation are pretty well known. True, he plays only episodic roles in them. These are "Virtuosos", "Parts of the body", "Desperate Housewives", "Chuck" and "Impact". In recent years, the actor has participated in Broadway musicals. This is "My Fair Lady", "Sounds of Music", "Scrooge: The Musical".

Richard Chamberlain: personal life

As already mentioned, the actor never made secrets from his homosexual orientation. He does not have children, even illegitimate children. The only - known to the general public - his love was a writer, producer and actor Martin Rabbett. With him and concluded Chamberlain in the mid-1970s civil marriage. The couple settled in Hawaii. Gradually, the actor joined in charitable activities to help the indigenous population of the archipelago, as well as the protection of animals. It was rumored that Richard Chamberlain and his "wife" are more interested in the welfare of the Aborigines of Oahu than filming a movie. However, the active spirit of the actor made itself felt. In early 2010, Chamberlain left Martin and moved to Los Angeles. He found a new producer, instead of Rabbetta, and now is shot in the TV series "Leverage".

Chamberlain as a writer

In 2003, the actor published the book "Broken Love", which is in fact an autobiography. In it, he talks about his experiences and psychological problems associated with homosexuality. He describes the stages of his spiritual becoming. In recent years, the actor again engaged in painting. In the paintings "Age and wisdom" and "Somewhere Inside Us" he expressed his philosophical view of human existence.