There weren’t many bigger names on television in the 1970s and ’80s than Richard Chamberlain. He starred in two of the most popular miniseries in the medium’s history (“Shōgun” and “The Thorn Birds”), neither of which would’ve probably never been available to him had he not become a small-screen heartthrob as the title character on the 1960s medical drama “Dr. Kildare.”
He was also that rare television actor who was viewed by the studios as a viable movie star. In “The Towering Inferno,” he plays the electrical engineer whose clandestine corner-cutting causes the building to go up in flames. It’s impressive that he could comfortably play such an unlikable character the same year he reprised his portrayal of Aramis in Richard Lester’s invigorating romp “The Four Musketeers.”
Chamberlain had it all: looks, talent, charisma and, for the most part, good taste. He’s superb in Peter Weir’s “The Last Wave,” and always seemed to pick winners when he returned to television. So it was a bit shocking when his star faded so quickly in the mid-1980s. Why was a major star like Chamberlain slumming it up in the Golan-Globus–produced “Raiders of the Lost Ark” knock-offs “King Solomon’s Mines” and “Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold?” Based on H. Rider Haggard’s adventure yarns, there was serious franchise potential here, but Cannon just wanted uninspired xeroxes of Spielberg’s blockbusters. When a French magazine outed Chamberlain as gay in 1989 (he would not confirm his sexual preference until 2003), the opportunities infuriatingly dried up.
It was a joy to see Chamberlain pop up in the fourth episode of “Twin Peaks: The Return” seven years ago, but we haven’t seen much of the 90-year-old star since. Whatever he’s up to, he deserves only happiness.
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