William Hayes Chamberlain, known to family as “Bill,” was born on November 5, 1927, in Beverly Hills, California, and lived a private life as the older brother of acclaimed American actor Richard Chamberlain.
He worked alongside his father at the family business, City Refrigerator Inc., for 14 years.
William passed away in 2016, outlived by his brother Richard, who died on March 29, 2025.
Who is William Hayes Chamberlain?
William Hayes Chamberlain was an American man best known as the older brother of Richard Chamberlain, the celebrated actor and singer from Beverly Hills, California.
Born into a family that valued both business and personal perseverance, William chose a quiet, private path far removed from the Hollywood spotlight his brother eventually occupied.
His father, Charles Axiom Chamberlain, worked initially as a salesman and later purchased City Refrigerator Inc. in 1956. William joined the family business and spent 14 years working there alongside his father. That career defined the bulk of his professional life.
William married a woman named Patricia. Together they raised three children: sons William III and Michael, and a daughter, Carol Lynn.
Carol Lynn passed away in 1991. His son William III died on April 21, 2016. William Hayes Chamberlain himself passed away sometime before his son William III’s death, according to records from Find a Grave.
Early Life of William Hayes Chamberlain
William Hayes Chamberlain grew up in an affluent part of Los Angeles County. His parents, Charles Axiom Chamberlain and Elsa Winnifred Matthews, raised him in Beverly Hills, California. The family also included his younger brother, George Richard Chamberlain, born seven years later in 1934.
The Chamberlain family had deep American roots. William took his name from two relatives: his paternal grandfather, William O. Chamberlain (1873 to 1951), and his great-uncle, A. Hayes Chamberlain (1876 to 1958).
Charles Axiom Chamberlain, the boys’ father, struggled with alcoholism during their childhood. He later overcame that struggle and became deeply involved in Alcoholics Anonymous, eventually speaking at conventions across the country for years. Hundreds of people attended a memorial for Charles after he died in January 1985.
William and Richard attended Beverly Hills High School together. After graduation, the two brothers took very different paths.
Richard pursued acting and entertainment, while William stepped into the family business.
William Hayes Chamberlain Age
William Hayes Chamberlain was born on November 5, 1927. He passed away in 2016, before his son William III died on April 21 of that year. His exact date of death has not been publicly confirmed in major news outlets.
During his lifetime, William kept a low profile, letting his brother Richard’s fame define the family’s public identity.
William Hayes Chamberlain Ethnicity and Nationality
William Hayes Chamberlain was an American by nationality, born and raised in Beverly Hills, California. His ancestry was primarily of English descent, with his paternal family tracing roots back to 17th-century Massachusetts.
That English heritage was a consistent thread through generations of the Chamberlain family. His brother Richard, too, described his ancestry as English and German on various occasions.
William Hayes Chamberlain Height and Weight
Specific measurements for William Hayes Chamberlain’s height and weight are not publicly confirmed. He led a private life, and no verified sources documented his physical details.
His younger brother Richard stood tall at around 6 feet, a physical attribute that aided his career as a television heartthrob. William’s own build and appearance remain undocumented in public records.
William Hayes Chamberlain and the Family Business
William’s professional life centered on City Refrigerator Inc., a company his father Charles purchased in 1956. The business specialized in the sale and maintenance of refrigeration equipment and operated in the Beverly Hills area.
Before buying the company, Charles Axiom Chamberlain had worked in real estate and supermarket development. City Refrigerator Inc. gave the family a stable income and solid standing in the community.
William joined the company and worked there for 14 years. His father retired from the business around 1970. After Charles stepped back, details about William’s continued career became scarce in public records.
William Hayes Chamberlain Career
William Hayes Chamberlain did not pursue an entertainment career. Unlike his younger brother Richard, who became one of the most recognizable faces on American television, William chose to work within the family’s commercial enterprise.
Working at City Refrigerator Inc.
William’s primary professional role was at City Refrigerator Inc., which his father Charles acquired in 1956. He worked there for 14 years, contributing to what became a reasonably successful family operation.
By the time Charles retired around 1970, the business had provided the Chamberlains with financial stability across nearly a decade and a half.
After leaving City Refrigerator Inc., William’s professional activities are not documented in public records. He appears to have transitioned to a quieter life, away from any public-facing career.
His Brother Richard’s Rise to Fame
While William worked in the private sector, his younger brother Richard took a dramatically different path. Richard Chamberlain attended Pomona College, graduating in 1956. He then served in the US Army, reaching the rank of sergeant during a posting in Korea.
After his discharge, Richard moved to Hollywood and began landing television guest roles. His breakthrough came in 1961 when he starred in the title role of Dr. Kildare, a medical drama on NBC. The show ran for five seasons through 1966 and made Richard one of the most recognizable actors in America.
Dr. Kildare finished in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings in its first season. Richard won a Golden Globe for Best Male TV Star for his work on the series in 1963. Photoplay magazine named him its most popular male star for three consecutive years, from 1963 to 1965.
The Miniseries Era and Later Career
Richard’s career took on a second, even more acclaimed chapter in the late 1970s and 1980s. He became the self-described “king of the miniseries” after starring in a string of epic television productions. Centennial in 1978, Shogun in 1980, and The Thorn Birds in 1983 all became landmark television events.
Shogun and The Thorn Birds each earned Richard additional Golden Globe Awards. The Thorn Birds, in which he played a Catholic priest torn between duty and forbidden love, became the second highest-rated miniseries in television history at the time of its broadcast. Three of its four episodes remain among the most-watched TV installments of all time.
Richard also became the first actor to portray Jason Bourne on screen, playing the character in the 1988 ABC television film The Bourne Identity.
His stage career was equally impressive. He played Hamlet in London during his time in England in the 1960s, and later appeared on Broadway as Henry Higgins in a 1994 revival of My Fair Lady. In 1999, he took the role of Captain von Trapp in a touring production of The Sound of Music.
Richard Chamberlain died on March 29, 2025, in Waimanalo, Hawaii, at age 90, due to complications from a stroke. He died two days before his 91st birthday.
William Hayes Chamberlain’s Brother Richard Chamberlain
Richard Chamberlain, born George Richard Chamberlain on March 31, 1934, in Beverly Hills, California, built one of the most decorated careers in American television history. He won three Golden Globe Awards and received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations across a career spanning more than six decades.
He came out publicly as gay in 2003, revealing his sexuality in his autobiography Shattered Love. Before that, he had kept his personal life strictly private throughout his decades of fame. A French magazine had reportedly outed him in 1989, but he did not publicly confirm his sexuality until the memoir.
Richard maintained a long-term relationship with Martin Rabbett, a relationship that began in 1977 and continued until around 2010.
The couple lived together in Hawaii beginning in 1986. After they parted, they remained close friends. Rabbett issued a statement upon Richard’s death in 2025, describing their bond as a love that would never die.
Richard also sold a Maui property for $13.8 million in 2011, a transaction documented by the Wall Street Journal.
William Hayes Chamberlain Family
The Chamberlain family of Beverly Hills produced one of Hollywood’s most enduring stars, yet its older son William lived entirely outside that world. Charles Axiom Chamberlain, the patriarch, died in January 1985 of emphysema at his Laguna Beach home at age 82. Elsa Winnifred Matthews, the children’s mother, lived until 1993.
William married Patricia, and together they had two sons, William III and Michael, and a daughter, Carol Lynn. Carol Lynn died in 1991.
William III passed away on April 21, 2016. A notice in the Santa Barbara Independent described him as a gifted athlete and sensitive soul, survived by his mother Patricia, his son Will IV, his brother Michael, and his uncle Richard Chamberlain.
William Hayes Chamberlain Net Worth
The net worth of William Hayes Chamberlain is not publicly documented. His brother Richard Chamberlain, however, accumulated a well-documented fortune through his acting career.
Richard Chamberlain’s estimated net worth at the time of his death in 2025 was $25 million.
Richard’s wealth came primarily from decades of television and film work, real estate holdings in Hawaii, and stage performances.
The 2011 sale of his Maui property for $13.8 million was among the most significant financial events in his documented history.
William Hayes Chamberlain Social Media
William Hayes Chamberlain was a private individual and maintained no known social media presence. His brother Richard Chamberlain similarly stayed away from public social platforms throughout his later life.
For updates about the Chamberlain family legacy and Richard’s work, fans have relied on entertainment news outlets and retrospectives following Richard’s death in March 2025.
The Bottom Line
William Hayes Chamberlain spent 14 years working at City Refrigerator Inc., his father’s Beverly Hills business, before stepping away from public life entirely.
His younger brother Richard Chamberlain won three Golden Globe Awards and became one of television’s most recognized stars from the 1960s through the 1980s.
The Chamberlain family came from Beverly Hills, California, with roots in English ancestry stretching back to 17th-century Massachusetts.
William’s father Charles, overcame alcoholism and spent decades as a speaker within Alcoholics Anonymous, a legacy that shaped the family’s sense of community.
Richard Chamberlain passed away on March 29, 2025, in Waimanalo, Hawaii, at age 90, just two days before his 91st birthday. William preceded him in death, passing away in 2016.
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