By Bianca Sierra
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
George Richard Chamberlain (March 31, 1934 – March 29, 2025) was an American actor and singer who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare (1961–1966). He subsequently earned the title “King of the Mini-Series” for his work in several TV miniseries such as Centennial (1978), Shōgun (1980), and The Thorn Birds (1983). Chamberlain also performed classical stage roles and worked in musical theater.
Chamberlain played the role of Aramis in the film trilogy The Three Musketeers (1973), The Four Musketeers (1974), and The Return of the Musketeers (1989); portrayed Allan Quatermain in both King Solomon’s Mines (1985) and Lost City of Gold (1986); and was the first to play Jason Bourne in the 1988 television film The Bourne Identity.
In 1952, Chamberlain graduated from Beverly Hills High School, and later attended Pomona College (’56) here he received a bachelor’s degree in art history and painting. Chamberlain was drafted into the United States Army, attaining the rank of sergeant while serving in Korea shortly after the Korean War from 1956 to 1958.
Chamberlain was not open about his homosexuality for most of his career, to protect his privacy and his acting opportunities. He was outed as a gay man by the French women’s magazine Nous Deux in December 1989, but did not confirm that he was gay until his 2003 autobiography Shattered Love: A Memoir.
Chamberlain died of complications from a stroke in Waimānalo, Hawaii, on March 29, 2025, at the age of 90, two days before his 91st birthday.
