Last photos of Richard Chamberlain before he died

Richard Chamberlain, the beloved ‘Dr. Kildare,’ is gone. The actor, who captivated audiences for decades, passed away at the age of 90 on March 30.

Now, new revelations about his final days are coming to light — and they’re more emotional than anyone could have imagined.

Despised himself as a child

People all around the world, both young and old, fell in love with Richard Chamberlain when he rose as a popular actor in the 1960s.

In my mind, he was the single biggest heartthrob on television at the time, and had roles in numerous popular shows and movies. He portrayed several eminent characters but, at the same time, led a tough life. He loved the fame, but it was also something he couldn’t escape from.

Chamberlain’s life was also marked by self-loathing — he despised himself as a child and carried the burden of hiding a major secret for many, many years.

Throughout his glorious career, Richard set young hearts on fire as Dr. Kildare and as Father Ralph in The Thorn Birds.

As the king of the TV mini-series, his job was to be a “hetero heartthrob,” but in reality, his friends and nearly everyone in the industry knew he was gay. In 2003, he released his memoir Shattered Love, in which he came out as a gay man at age 69.

”When you grow up in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s being gay, it not only ain’t easy, it’s just impossible,” Chamberlain told the New York Times.

“You cannot do it, that being gay was the worst thing you can possibly be. I assumed there was something terribly wrong with me. And even becoming famous and all that, it was still there.”

Richard Chamberlain had years of therapy, going through various spiritual-raising experiences as well, to help him find his identity. No matter what, he was brave and showed great courage in coming out, especially at the age of almost 70 years old.

Made a decision before his death

Chamberlain never regretted hiding his sexuality to protect his career.

”I would have been a happier person being out of the closet and being free,” he admitted in one of his final interviews with El Pais in 2024. ”But I had other motives that made me happy. I was a working actor and for me, that was most important.”

However, Hollywood’s relative tolerance allowed Chamberlain to date men openly. In the 1970s, he was romantically involved with actor Wesley Eure.

In 1977, Chamberlain began a long-term relationship with actor and producer Martin Rabbett, who, like Eure, was 20 years his junior. Rabbett played the brother of Chamberlain’s lead character in the 1986 film Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold. The couple moved in together in Hawaii in 1986, where they held a private commitment ceremony. They remained together until 2010, when they separated amicably, with Chamberlain relocating to Los Angeles.

In a 2014 interview, Chamberlain shared that while he and Rabbett were no longer romantically involved, they remained close friends. “We don’t live together anymore, and we’re much better friends than we’ve ever been,” Chamberlain explained. “So I’m in the business of advising people who are married, etc., to get another house.”

But according to his New York Times obituary, Chamberlain and Rabbett had resumed living together in Hawaii before his death. Rabbett was considered to be his ”only immediate survivor.”