Richard Chamberlain's iconic 1960s TV series, Dr. Kildare, is coming to home video.
From Warner Archive:
DR. KILDARE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (1961-62) Richard Chamberlain and Raymond Massey don the surgical scrubs first made famous by the film team of Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore for the equally successful TV incarnation in the 1960s. Richard Chamberlain’s star ascended quickly, as the show swept him from relative unknown to full-on teen idol (in a show pointed squarely at adults, no less). The show was also blessed to have the talents of a young Jerrald Goldsmith on hand to pen the shows score. Kildare’s title theme, “Three Stars Will Shine Tonight”, became a monster hit on its own, sung by Mr. Chamberlain himself. Notable guests include Lee Marvin, Ellen Burstyn, Dorothy Malone, Joseph Cotten, Mary Astor, Margaret O’Brien and more! And as an added bonus, we’ve dug up a “lost” episode — “The Eleventh Hour,” the ORIGINAL, never-aired pilot for the Wendell Corey psychiatric drama, teaming Dr. Theodore Bassett up with Drs. Gillespie and Kildare to get to the bottom of what the devil is wrong with Ann Costigan (Vera Miles). All episodes have been newly remastered especially for this DVD premiere release. Initial quantities of this release will be traditionally replicated (pressed) in anticipation of high consumer demand.
A year ago, I interviewed Chamberlain, who publicly came out of the closet years after Dr. Kildare left the air.
“The general public didn’t know I was gay,” he told me. “People in the business did. Apart from a little gossip, they didn’t talk about it. It was great. They let us have our lives.”
Click here to read the complete 2012 interview with Chamberlain, now age 79.
