Brad Davis (actor)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brad Davis | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Robert Creel Davis November 6, 1949 Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. |
||||||
| Died | September 8, 1991 (aged 41) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
||||||
| Years active | 1971-1991 | ||||||
| Spouse(s) | Susan Bluestein (1976-1991) |
||||||
|
|||||||
Robert Creel Davis (November 6, 1949 - September 8, 1991), better known as Brad Davis, was an American actor. He was perhaps best known for his role in the 1978 film Midnight Express.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Davis was born in Tallahassee, Florida, to Eugene Davis, a dentist whose career declined due to alcoholism, and his wife, the former Anne Creel. His brother, Gene, is also an actor. According to an article in The New York Times published in 1987, Davis' mother sexually abused him as a child. As an adult, he was an alcoholic and an intravenous drug user before becoming sober in 1981.[1] Davis was known as "Bobby" during his youth, but took Brad as his stage name in 1973.[1]
[edit] Career
At 17, after winning a music talent contest, Davis worked at Theatre Atlanta. He later moved to New York City and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, as well as studied acting at the American Place Theater. After a role on the soap opera How to Survive a Marriage, he performed in off-Broadway plays. In 1976 he was cast as Sally Field's love interest in the television film Sybil. He played the lead role in Larry Kramer's play about AIDS, The Normal Heart (1985). His most successful film role was as the main character in Midnight Express (1978), for which he won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.
[edit] Personal life
Davis was married to Susan Bluestein, who later became a casting director. They had one child, Alexandra.[1]
Although it has been publicized that Davis died of AIDS in 1991 in Los Angeles, he technically died of assisted suicide by a drug overdose, according to the book After Midnight: The Life and Death of Brad Davis, written by his widow. Davis was referred to as "the first heterosexual actor to die of AIDS"; he was, however, reportedly bisexual.[2] Diagnosed with AIDS in 1985, he kept his condition secret until shortly before his death. His widow continues to campaign to combat AIDS.
[edit] Filmography
- The Player (1992)
- The Habitation of Dragons (1992)
- Hangfire (1991)
- Child of Darkness Child of Light (1991)
- Rosalie Goes Shopping (1990)
- The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990)
- Unspeakable Acts (1990)
- The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1988)
- Cold Steel (1987)
- Heart (1987)
- When the Time Comes (1987)
- Blood Ties (1986)
- Vengeance (1986)
- Robert Kennedy and His Times (1984)
- Chiefs (1983)
- Querelle (1983)
- Chariots of Fire (1981)
- The Greatest Man in the World (1980)
- A Rumor of War (1980)
- A Small Circle of Friends (1980)
- Midnight Express (1978)
- What Really Happened to the Class of '65 (1978)
- The Campus Corpse (1977)
- Roots (1977)
- Sybil (1976)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Witchel, Alex. (16 April 1997) For the Widow Of Brad Davis, Time Cannot Heal All the Wounds New York Times. Accessed 31 July 2007.
- ^ Brad Davis at GLBTQ Encyclopedia. Brad Davis. Retrieved on March 12, 2006.
