Born George Richard Chamberlain on March 31^st 1934 in Beverly Hills, California to Elsa and Charles Chamberlain, Richard attended Beverley Hills High School and after graduating went to study at Pomona College in California in 1952. 

With a father who worked closely with the Alcoholics Anonymous organization, speaking at conventions, Richard came to enjoy the idea of performing and decided on a career path that would take him into performing, he became an actor. 

It was his role as Doctor Kildare that first garnered him attention in Hollywood and as a sex symbol to women on both sides of the Atlantic from 1961 through 1966. During his time on the set of ‘Doctor Kildare’ Chamberlain also launched a short lived, but successful singing career when he recorded the theme song to ‘Dr Kildare’, ‘Three Stars Will Shine Tonight’ and later released his cover versions of the Elvis Presley hit, ‘Love me Tender’ in 1962 and in 1963 ‘All I have to do is Dream’, previously released by the Everly Brothers. 

Following his success as Dr. Kildare Chamberlain became resentful of Hollywood and the shallow lifestyle it had to offer and he turned his attention to performing in theater and relocating to England where he found instant fame and success. 

In 1966 Richard played Broadway opposite Mary Tyler Moore in the musical version of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ based on the film of the same name which starred George Peppard and Audrey Hepburn. However, Chamberlain and Tyler Moore’s version was slammed by the critics, and audiences alike, as one of the worst Broadway shows ever. 

Never deterred, Richard did return to Broadway many years later and starred in ‘My Fair Lady’ and ‘The Sound of Music’. Although becoming more focused on theater, Richard still found time to appear in movies during the 1970’s with one of his most memorable roles of Roger Simmons in ‘The Towering Inferno’ which saw him starring with Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, William Holden and Susan Blakely. Other movie scripts came his way in the ‘70’s which Chamberlain accepted and, although making the roles his own, he was never regarded as an exceptional leading man. 

Apart from his memorable role as Dr Kildare, Richard is also remembered for his part in the 1983 mini-series ‘The Thorn Birds’ which saw him as Father Ralph opposite Rachel Ward’s Meggie Cleary and also starring with Christopher Plummer and Barbara Stanwyck. The series was shot in the Australian outback as a period piece which spanned the first 50 years of the 19^th century. 

In the late 1980s Richard finally established himself as a leading man in ‘King Solomon's Mines’ with Sharon Stone, and he also played Jason Bourne in the original 1988 version of ‘The Bourne Identity’, a role later take on by Matt Damon. 

In the 1980 Chamberlain starred in the epic ‘ Shogun’ in which he landed the leading role of Pilot-Major John Blackthorne and gained world wide recognition for his acting skills in the part, with the narrative being covered by Orson Welles and Anne Bancroft .

Chamberlain eventually retired to Honolulu, Hawaii, and no longer performs on screen or in theater. He and his long time partner, agent-producer-director Martin Rabbett, own land in the state.