Richard Chamberlain

In his two-and-a-half-hour interview, Richard Chamberlain (1934-2025) talks about his life-long interest in acting. He discusses his first television role, on Gunsmoke, and describes at length his experience on Dr. Kildare, one of TV's first medical dramas. He goes on to recount his roles in two of television's most memorable miniseries: playing "John Blackthorne" on Shogun, and portraying "Father Ralph" on The Thorn Birds. He also speaks of his stage and television work in London as well as his ventures into feature films, where he socialized with the likes of Katharine Hepburn and Federico Fellini on set. He touches on his forays into music recording and on what it's like to be an actor who also happens to be gay. He shares his tale of how he was mistaken for a serial killer in Colorado while filming the NBC miniseries Centennial. Stephen J. Abramson conducted the interview on February 17, 2010 in Los Angeles, CA.