Richard Chamberlain Has Been Married For Twenty Years (To a Guy)

TV Guide ^ | 5-30-03 | Mary Murphy

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Nobody cares!

[Scothia]

This was about as shocking as when Ellen Degeneres and Rosie O'Donnell "came out".

[leadhead]

The guy was true to his craft and didn't rub our noses in his personnal life. I hope he doesn't blow it now. Ooops.

[John Beresford Tipton]

He wed another man, Martin Rabbett.

He wed a wabbit?
I guess it wasn't just Alice who went down the wabbit hole.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

At this point, it's kind of like Richard Simmons coming out...years ago everyone knew.

[Incorrigible]

I guess I'm too young.  I never heard of him before.  I had to look this up:

www.memorabletv.com/showsaz/ drkildare.htm

Dr Kildare 

USA / NBC/ x60m-e and x30m-e  / 1961-66

First Episode: Thursday 28 September 1961 / 8.30pm
Last Episode: Tuesday 30 August 1966 / 8.30pm
Producer: Norman Felton
 

 

 

Based on a long running and popular movie series of the 1940's Dr Kildare helped propel Richard Chamberlain to stardom. The show, a medical dram obviously, followed Dr James Kildare as he rose from a fresh faced intern to (by season three) a resident doctor at Blair General Hospital.
Dr Kildare had a mentor helping him along his way in the form of the often cantankerous Dr Leonard Gillespie. Popular with the female viewing public who found Kildare very "swoonsome" the show moved from hour long episodes to twice weekly half hour ones during the 1965-66 season giving the show more of a soapy feel as stories were often now carried over several episodes.
There was a brief syndicated revival in 1972 called Young Dr Kildare with Mark Jenkins as Kildare and Gary Merrill as Gillespie.

 

Cast
RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN as Dr James Kildare / RAYMOND MASSEY as Dr Leonard Gillespie / EDDIE RYDER as Dr Simon Agurski (1961-62) / JUD TAYLOR as Dr Thomas Gerson (1961-62) / JOAN PATRICK as Susan Deigh (1961-62) / LEE KURTY as Nurse Zoe Lawton (1965-66)

 

[cincinnati65]

"It is the first time a romantic leading man of his stature has ever outed himself."

Ummm, paging Mr. Hudson, Rock Hudson?

[RLK]

It's been known and discussed that Chamberlain is gay for many years. One of the reasons he settled into a single permanent relationship rather than doing the scene was far of VD, including AIDS.

[ladyinred]

I was one of those young girls with a crush on Dr. Kildare. I once had a boyfriend whose cousin was supposed to be Richard's girlfriend. (Clara Ray) She got me an autographed picture of him.
This outing is not something I really wanted to read, too much information, even though for years we all knew.

[A_perfect_lady]

It is kind of funny, poor fellow, hides it all these years and when he finally reveals it, everyone nods and says, "figures."

[fish hawk]

Excuse me but I'm just the run of the average Fish Hawk and I knew he was gay at least ten years ago!!!SECRET???

[DLfromthedesert]

Wow!!! Who's next ... Liberace?

[A_perfect_lady]

Wow. Guess we know what Shepard Smith's gonna look like in 30 years.

[patton]

Who? He was a character in Shogun? Which one?

I spent some time in one of those castles in Japan as a kid - my strongest memory of the movie is that the footage was reversed - they kept saying they were in the castle of X, when it was clearly the castle of his archenemy, Y.

Sorry, I forget the names. I just remember the confusion.

[Fred Mertz]

Hollyweird knows how to play the games.

They are all a bunch of sluts. Money talks and I'd like to see their response to this.

[EmmaPeel]

I don't think Rock ever "outed himself". It was a well known fact in Hollywood that he was gay, but even after he became ill with full blown AIDS, he continued to deny that he was gay.

[joesnuffy]

Who? He was a character in Shogun? Which one?

The one in the frumpy housecoat...

[bethelgrad]

are you saying Shep is gay?

[Swede Girl]

Regardless, women swooned over his Dr. Kildare character. And, who can forget the beach scene in "The Thorn Birds"? He was eye candy for a generation of women.

I never wanted to believe the rumors about his orientation. Nevertheless, he is a gorgeous man.....and a terrific actor.