Although there had been rumours over the years, actor Richard Chamberlain didn’t step out of the closet until long after his fame as star of the likes of the TV show Dr. Kildare and mini-series such as Shogun and The Thorn Birds had faded. Indeed it was a long time after that, as he didn’t reveal his sexuality publicly until he was nearly 70 and had an autobiography to sell in 2003.

However he doesn’t regret having stayed in the closet all those years.

Now 80, he was chosen as one of the Out100 by Out Magazine. He told them, “Remaining in hiding was a totally valuable part of my life. I was a romantic lead in films at a time before some of the new relaxations and new diminishment of total ignorance. If I were ever outed, my career – which was my entire life, for the longest time – wouldn’t have happened. I spent a great deal of my life pretending to be somebody else.”

Chamberlain is still working, most recently returning to the stage this autumn for an Off-Broadway production of David Rabe’s Sticks and Bones.