Shattered Love (Thorndike Press Large Print Biography Series) - Hardcover

Chamberlain, Richard

3.47

521 ratings by Goodreads

9780786259007: Shattered Love (Thorndike Press Large Print Biography Series)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786259000 ISBN 13: 9780786259007

Publisher: Thorndike Pr, 2003

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One of the most beloved actors of our time shares the New York Times bestselling story of how he learned to live with an open heart.

Early in his career, shortly after rising to fame as television's Dr. James Kildare, Richard Chamberlain took on the role of Hamlet on the English stage. The play contained a lesson the actor has remembered throughout his life: "To thine own self be true." But for Chamberlain these were not always easy words to live by. Even as he won the adoration of millions of fans, this handsome, charming, debonair leading man seriously questioned his own self–worth, living a life haunted by personal insecurity despite decades of immense popular success in memorable roles in Dr. Kildare, The Thorn Birds, Shogun, and other television dramas. Finally, with the help of friends and guidance from spiritual teachers, including Krishnamurti, Chamberlain began the sometimes painful but deeply rewarding process of reconciling his deepest self with his public persona. Now, in Shattered Love, he poignantly recounts his lifelong struggle to find happiness. Tracing a fascinating path through his meteoric rise to success, he chronicles his struggle to come to terms with his own imperfections, his growing desire to be honest about his sexual orientation, and his yearning to live with an open heart. And along the way he imparts the lessons he has learned about overcoming our own self–imposed obstacles to happiness: the importance of listening to our own instincts instead of listening only to others, not demanding the impossible of ourselves, and allowing ourselves to explore negative feelings in order to move forward.

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Review:

In his much-anticipated memoir Shattered Love, TV actor Richard Chamberlain reveals he is gay and lived a fictitious public life for decades. "I was terrified that this news would alienate fans and topple my cherished career, robbing me of the work I loved and my only source of income", Chamberlain writes. But he adds pointedly "I had to admit to myself that I was as homophobic as the public I sought to please".

He reflects on his career with similar disarming ease, spinning tales about his many Tinseltown colleagues such as Paul Newman, Julie Christie, Raquel Welch, Sir John Gielgud, Steve McQueen and the legendary Barbara Stanwyck, his co-star from the blockbuster TV mini-series The Thorn Birds. Stanwyck, he writes, flubbed her lines just once--when he stripped off his clothes on-camera. "After a stunned pause she murmured, 'Well, it's been a very long time since I've stood next to a naked man'."

Chapters about growing up in post-war California with his alcoholic father are written with the same breezy candour. Chamberlain also assesses his acting ability (he's "a character actor in leading-man clothing") and deals frankly with his onetime obsession with youth ("I was secretly certain that my success was almost entirely due to my youthful good looks"). Many of the later chapters explore Chamberlain's deep spirituality and lifelong quest for inner peace--Chamberlain's way of dealing with his double life all those years. "The important lesson in all this is not about revealing secrets", he says. "The real challenge is in daring to brave the silence." In so doing Chamberlain has given readers a book that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. --Richard Burnett, Amazon.ca

About the Author:

Richard Chamberlain has starred in such classics as Dr. Kildare, The Thorn Birds, and Shogun and has received rave reviews for his theatrical turns in Hamlet, Cyrano de Bergerac, and My Fair Lady, as well as numerous other plays and films. Chamberlain lives in Hawaii, where he continues to act and pursue his passion for painting.

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