Despite becoming a lauded stage and film actor, Richard Chamberlain, who has died aged 90, carried the label of soap-opera star around his neck for most of his career of more than five decades.
It began with his huge success in the hospital television series Dr Kildare (1961-66), in which Chamberlain’s clean-cut good looks were the prime attraction, bringing him thousands of fan letters a week. Chamberlain’s other immensely successful television roles came in three mini-series, Centennial (1978-79), Shogun (1980) and The Thorn Birds (1983).
