I remember that a lot of women were crestfallen when the handsome devil “came out” about two decades ago.
Variety did their usual great summary of Richard Chamberlain’s achievements.
Did you remember that they turned the syrupy theme music from Dr. Kildare into a syrupy song, sung by the doc himself in his most romantic voice.
Pop music has changed a lot since this:
That was a time when any popular young actor on TV had to make records (Shelly Fabares and especially Patty Duke were traumatized by it), but he was actually a good singer. There’s an episode of “The Red Skelton Show” on YouTube featuring him singing “When I Fall In Love,” and of course, he was in one of the biggest Broadway flops of all time, the musical version of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with Mary Tyler Moore. There’s an LP of a live recording of that, but they only made 1,000 copies for people involved in the show. Quite the rarity.
Looking it up, I see the music was by Bob Merrill, who was fresh of the success of Funny Girl. The show seemed to have all the right ingredients. I guess there’s no such thing as a sure thing.
He was the one actor in tv movies that I couldn’t watch as a kid because I found him so goddamn boring. I guess women finding him attractive was the only reason he was on. It probably should be no surprise to anyone that he came out as gay. Not the most manliest of manly men.
He started the Towering Inferno by using cheap wiring. About time he got his comeuppance.