Richard Chamberlain

TV and film star Richard Chamberlain tells other gay actors not to announce their sexual orientation as he did in 2003.

“Please, don’t pretend that we’re suddenly all wonderfully, blissfully accepted,” Chamberlain told The Advocate.

Today Chamberlain is 76 and still works regularly in TV in both gay and straight roles.  In the early ’60s he was a household name as the star of the Dr Kildare TV series.

“It’s complicated. There’s still a tremendous amount of homophobia in our culture. It’s regrettable, it’s stupid, it’s heartless, and it’s immoral, but there it is.  For an actor to be working is a kind of miracle, because most actors aren’t, so it’s just silly for a working actor to say, ‘Oh, I don’t care if anybody knows I’m gay’ — especially if you’re a leading man.”