Chamberlain died late on Saturday in Hawaii from complications following a stroke, he said in a statement today.
Born George Richard Chamberlain on March 31, 1934, in Los Angeles, Chamberlain was an instant hit and became a teen idol as the handsome Dr James Kildare in the series that ran from 1961 to 1966.
The Guardian newspaper said the then 27-year-old actor “looked like he had been sculpted by a loving god out of butter, honey and grace”. The breakout role was the start of a six-decade career that spanned theatre, films and television.
Chamberlain was dubbed the “king of the miniseries” after appearing in several TV dramas in the 1980s, and earned plaudits on stage in roles ranging from professor Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady” and Captain von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” to Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Richard II.
He also was the original Jason Bourne in the 1988 miniseries “The Bourne Identity”.
The versatile actor was nominated for four Emmys – as an English navigator in 17th century Japan in “Shogun” (1981), a love-torn priest in “The Thorn Birds” (1983), Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg in “Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story” (1985), and for the title role in the 1975 TV movie “The Count of Monte-Cristo”.
Most of his roles were as romantic leading men, which is why he did not publicly reveal he was gay until he was 68 for fear it would ruin his career. 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 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.”
Chamberlain said it was a tremendous relief after he acknowledged his sexuality in his 2003 autobiography “Shattered Love: A Memoir”.
“I had no fear left,” he said in a 2019 interview. “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”.
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.