“He brought fury and overwhelming love to the role of Ned,” said playwright Larry Kramer, author of “The Normal Heart.” “He was also one of the first straight actors with the guts to play gay roles,” Kramer added.ĭavis also played a young, gay sailor in German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1982 “Querelle.” Bluestein and the couple’s 8-year-old daughter, Alexandra, have both been tested and been found to be free of HIV. She said Davis had decided to go public about his illness about a month ago but was prevented from doing so by his deteriorating physical condition. All I know is that my husband was frightened, and that he wanted to be able to keep putting food on our table for his family,” Bluestein said. Actor Brad Davis, the all-American boy who starred as Billy Hayes in the film “Midnight Express” and originated the role of Ned Weeks in the play “The Normal Heart,” died Sunday at his home in Studio City.ĭavis was 41 and died of AIDS-related complications, said his wife, free-lance casting director Susan Bluestein.īluestein said the couple learned that Davis was infected with the human immunodeficiency virus in 1985 but, fearing discrimination, kept his condition a secret so he could continue to work as an actor.
