Artist:Richard Chamberlain
Song:Theme from Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight)
Album:All I Have To Do Is Dream
Actor Richard Chamberlain is best known for starring in the popular 60s TV series Dr. Kildare. MGM tried to turn him into a teen idol singer and he scored a top ten hit with this vocal arrangement of the Theme from Dr. Kildare. There were three top 20 hits from his 1962 debut album Richard Chamberlain Sings. He was born Mar. 31, 1934 in Beverly Hills, CA. Chamberlain served in the US Army from 1956-58. Upon his return, Chamberlain founded the theater group Company of Angels. Chamberlain appeared in a few TV shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mr. Lucky and Gunsmoke. But he was unknown when he was cast in Dr. Kildare. MGM shot a Dr. Kildare pilot starring Lew Ayres who played the character in films and on radio. When the pilot didn't sell, they offered Dr. Kildare to William Shatner and James Franciscus. When they turned it down, Chamberlain was cast with Raymond Massey as Dr. Gillespie. The show was a big hit and Chamberlain became a star. It's funny because Chamberlain and Franciscus resemble each other. At the time Franciscus had starred in the TV series Naked City so he was better known. Then MGM figured Chamberlain can be turned into a teen idol singer. Look, he's an OK singer but nothing special. At least he was better than Fabian. They got MGM Records house producer Jesse Kaye to put lyrics to Jerry Goldsmith and Pete Rugolo's theme from Dr. Kildare. Of course Goldsmith was one of the greatest film composers of all time. Rugolo was a jazz musician who started out in Stan Kenton's band. He produced and arranged albums by Nat King Cole and June Christy and worked a lot on film and TV. Hal Winn was hired to write the lyrics. He wrote and produced the Johnny Crawford hit Cindy's Birthday. David Rose arranged and conducted the orchestra. Theme from Dr. Kildare reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single was a cover of the Elvis Presley hit Love Me Tender. It reached #21. The third single was a cover of The Everly Brothers Hit All I Have To Do Is Dream and it reached #14. So the album did OK. Chamberlain recorded three albums for MGM including the soundtrack for the 1963 film Twilight of Honor. Richard Chamberlain Sings is a short album. So the reissue label Jasmine has released it with Chamberlain's 1965 album Joy in the Morning. Chamberlain records mostly standards on this album. After Dr. Kildare ended in 1966, Chamberlain returned to theater. He appeared on Broadway and moved to England for a while. He got into films in the 70s like the 1973 film The Three Musketeers and cast against type as a villain in the 1974 film The Towering Inferno. Then he became King of the TV Mini-Series in shows like Shogun (1980) and The Thorn Birds (1983). Chamberlain continued to appear on TV, films and Broadway. The last time we saw him was in the TV revival of Twin Peaks. Maybe he retired. He's had a nice long career. Here's a video for Theme from Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight) by Richard Chamberlain.
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