Dr. Frederick Chilton is a fictional character appearing in Thomas Harris' novels Red Dragon
and The Silence of the Lambs.
In the novels Red Dragon
Chilton is first introduced in Red Dragon as the pompous, incompetent director of a
sanitarium near Baltimore, Maryland, acting as the jailer for the cannibalistic serial
killer Hannibal Lecter.
When FBI profiler Will Graham goes to Lecter for advice on capturing another serial killer,
Francis Dolarhyde, Chilton makes an unwelcome attempt to question Graham about Lecter's
psyche.
When Dolarhyde learns of Graham's visits with Lecter, the two killers attempt to correspond
through the classifieds of a tabloid; a cleaning crew finds one of Dolarhyde's letters, hidden
within Lecter's toilet paper spool.
Chilton informs Graham and his partner, Jack Crawford, of the discovery.
Lecter's reply is intercepted and revealed to contain Graham's home address, which Dolarhyde
uses to track down Graham in the novel's climax.
The Silence of the Lambs In The Silence of the Lambs, Chilton allows
an FBI trainee, Clarice Starling, to interview Lecter about another serial killer, "Buffalo
Bill."
He makes a clumsy pass at Starling on their first meeting, and she quickly rejects him.
Chilton gradually grows jealous of Starling's success, where he has failed, in moving Lecter
to share information.
He eventually uses a recording device to eavesdrop on their interviews, from which he learns
of Crawford's offer to transfer Lecter to a better prison facility in exchange for Buffalo
Bill's identity.
Chilton learns that the offer is false but sets it up anyway, then quickly hogs the spotlight
as the plan's architect.
Lecter is transferred, but gives false information: he claims that the killer's name is "Billy
Rubin," a pun on bilirubin, which is exactly the shade of Chilton's hair.
Lecter gives Starling the real information needed to track down Buffalo Bill.
Afterwards, Lecter makes a bloody escape from custody after using an improvised handcuff
key made from a pen tube and paper clip that he had concealed for several years and was
able to use only when transferred to police custody.
While still on the run, Lecter sends a letter to Chilton, with a promise of gruesome vengeance.
Hannibal Chilton does not appear in Hannibal; the hospital
has been shut down by the time the novel's events take place.
Hannibal mentions that Chilton disappeared while on vacation in Jamaica seven years earlier.
It is strongly suggested that he was killed by Lecter.
In other media In Manhunter, the first film adaptation of
Red Dragon, Chilton is played by Benjamin Hendrickson.
In both The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon, he is played by Anthony Heald.
The films portray Chilton in the same manner as the novels, though some scenes with the
character are altered in their adaptations.
In Silence of the Lambs, for example, instead of the bilirubin pun and its specific disparaging
of Chilton, Lecter supplies the name "Louis Friend" and Lecter's handcuff key is improvised
from a pen stolen from Chilton shortly before Lecter's escape.
While the novel leaves Chilton's demise at Lecter's hands an open question, the ending
of the film shows Lecter sitting in a small cafe, contacting Starling to tell her that
"I'm having an old friend for dinner."
He then proceeds to follow Chilton through a small Caribbean village as the credits roll.
In the television adaptation Hannibal, Chilton is portrayed by Raúl Esparza.
He first appears in the episode "Entrée", in which his patient Dr. Abel Gideon kills
a nurse after Chilton influences him into believing that he is the serial killer known
as the Chesapeake Ripper.
Gideon eventually learns the truth and suffers an identity crisis, and he escapes to seek
revenge against all of his previous psychiatrists, including Chilton.
Gideon kidnaps and tortures Chilton, intending to leave his organs as a 'gift basket' for
the real Ripper.
Gideon is forced to flee from the police after having removed some of Chilton's less vital
organs, leaving him alive but in critical condition.
Chilton reappears in the second season, minus one kidney, walking with a cane, and now unable
to consume protein-rich food.
Will Graham - who has been falsely accused of the Ripper murders - is now a patient under
Chilton's custody.
He successfully appeals to Chilton's vanity and convinces him to help expose Lecter.
Through Chilton's resources, Graham is able to regain key memories, including the fact
that Lecter is the Chesapeake Ripper, and that Gideon knows it.
Armed with this knowledge, Graham points out to Chilton that both he and Gideon claim to
know who the Ripper is, and he further tempts Chilton with the intriguing possibility that
the two of them might independently name the same person.
Lured by the prospect of being the one to discover the Ripper's identity, Chilton bring
Gideon back into his custody, though Gideon does not cooperate and is eventually murdered
by Lecter.
In the episode "Yakimono", Lecter frames Chilton for his crimes.
Chilton tries to seek refuge with Graham, who has been exonerated, but Graham calls
Jack Crawford, who arrests Chilton.
During Chilton's interrogation, a surviving Ripper victim, Miriam Lass, is observing behind
a one-way mirror.
Upon hearing Chilton's voice, Lass experiences a false memory implanted by Lecter during
her imprisonment of Chilton tormenting her: in a moment of distress, Lass impulsively
draws Crawford's gun and shoots Chilton in the face through the mirror.
At San Diego Comic-Con 2014, Raúl Esparza confirmed that Chilton had survived the gunshot
wound and would be appearing in the upcoming third season.
References