San Francisco Chronicle (SF) - SUNDAY October 13, 1991
David J. Fox

These words come from a well-known Hollywood producer who felt it wise not to have his name mentioned. His thoughts came in the aftermath of a scathing indictment of the entertainment industry by actor Brad Davis.

The 41-year-old actor died of complications from AIDS last month. Two days after his death his widow, Susan Bluestein, made public a book proposal that her late husband had written about his life as a secret AIDS patient. The proposal became an open letter to Hollywood and subsequently the world. Davis charged the entertainment industry with hypocrisy and bias toward AIDS patients. He said that while Hollywood lends support through benefits and high-profile fund-raising, people still commit career suicide if they reveal they have AIDS or have tested HIV-positive. Davis, star of the film "Midnight Express," said he had to keep his condition secret for six years to be able to work and support his wife and child.

Not since the death of Rock Hudson from AIDS in October 1985 has Hollywood been forced to face up to the AIDS crisis in such a dramatic way. Hudson's illness had come to public attention that summer, shocking Hollywood's elite, who gathered for the first show-business fund-raiser, organized by Elizabeth Taylor, just before his death. All the money was donated to AIDS Project Los Angeles.

With Davis' death, the industry was shocked by a public indictment by one of its own. By coincidence, Davis' letter came just days before this year's APLA fund-raiser.

The crux of the debate centers on the precarious balance between the realities of business and the images that Hollywood depends upon. In addition, Davis' death seems to have reignited a fire under Hollywood about the AIDS epidemic and homophobia.

"Brad Davis' remarks are indicative of a problem that is not confined to Hollywood," said Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Peter Guber, who produced the Oscar-nominated "Midnight Express." "Davis was right when he said that Hollywood is scared or anxious of people who have HIV or AIDS. But I think that it's no more prevalent in the movie or TV business than it is in the world at large."

In the case of the movie business, Guber said the industry has to wonder, "If an actor or director has HIV, how does it affect the other actors, or the cast insurance? These are real pragmatic considerations."

But Barry Diller, chairman of Fox Inc., parent of 20th Century Fox, acknowledged, "The terrible thing about Brad Davis, and I suspect, many others, is that fear made him keep this a secret. I believe it's the obligation of this industry on every level and in every way to make sure those fears are baseless."

To that end, Diller joined with Sidney Sheinberg, president of MCA Inc., to reveal the formation of a new ad-hoc organization called Hollywood Supports, to be made up of industry leaders. With an initial pledge of $125,000 from Diller, Sheinberg and their companies, the group plans to solicit more contributions, to be donated to AIDS Project Los Angeles for programs aimed specifically at members of the entertainment industry who have AIDS or are HIV-positive, and for AIDS education.

Sheinberg, who received a "Commitment to Life" award from APLA, acknowledged that Davis' death brought home the problem of discrimination and was instrumental in the creation of Hollywood Supports. But as Sheinberg and a host of others also have acknowledged, fear, for the present, nevertheless exists.

ONE prominent casting director, who didn't want her name used, said: "Going public about AIDS? It's not a question that comes up. Even if you had cancer, you don't want to run around telling people. I think everyone would do what Brad did. If there's no way he can give it to someone else, then what do you have to gain from announcing it?"

Davis' associates, however, say that attitude misses the point. Davis did not so much want to run around and tell people as to feel safe filing insurance claims under his own name or attending support groups -- without the gossip mill getting hold of his story. And getting work.

"It's too strong to say that an actor who tests HIV positive would be blackballed, but his opportunities would, no doubt, be greatly limited," said John Levey, director of casting for Warner Bros. Television. "AIDS, in most people's minds, is like a horror film. Though there is an enormous civil rights issue at stake -- a person's right to work -- there are also some valid concerns."

Levey saw Davis for a major role in "The Babe Ruth Story" this past June. "I would have cast Brad, sick or not, if he was right for the job. A TV series, though, is something else -- a tremendous economic investment in which the studio, producers and networks have a right to know of any condition which might jeopardize an actor's ability to fulfill the terms of a five-year contract."

Levey said Davis was "wise not to tell people. Everyone on the planet Earth is phobic on the subject of terminal illness and AIDS in particular."

Director Joel Schumacher ("Flatliners" and the upcoming HBO movie based on Randy Shilts' book "And the Band Played On" about the origins of AIDS) said he has seen many people "hide the fact that they are HIV positive. I am not so sure if they revealed it if they wouldn't have gotten tremendous support and tremendous love and friendship. I have not found the movie community homophobic or nonsupportive of AIDS and people with AIDS."

Schumacher, in fact, thinks it's quite the opposite. "People in show business came out very early and raised money and put themselves out there. I think that every agency, every studio and every company has been touched by loss from AIDS.

"I THINK it was very courageous when Elizabeth Glaser came forward and explained the situation with herself and her children (about being infected with HIV and I think that people were not just moved, but moved to try to do something, to support them on some level."

But like many others, Schumacher also believes there are people who have been discriminated against.

That is the view of stage actor Michael Kearns, who came out as HIV positive on national television. Kearns charged that Hollywood's neglect of AIDS as a theme in movies doesn't surprise him. "There seems to be this expectation that Hollywood should be more evolved than the rest of the world. But Hollywood is less evolved. They focus on the lowest common denominator, particularly in television, which assumes the viewer is homophobic, racist, sexist and stupid."

Kearns puts much of the blame for the relative invisibility of gay themes in Hollywood product, as well as the lack of openly gay actors, let alone openly HIV-positive ones -- on "self-hatred" by gays in the industry who are "closeted."

Often, dealing with AIDS is a case of trying to do the right thing faced with the imperatives of the business.

A well-known director tells of this experience with a member of his production team during the filming of a major studio motion picture earlier this year:

"In our initial interview he had told me that his mother had died of cancer and that he had successfully fought cancer. So at first I did not know if the cancer was returning. But as time went by and he became thinner and thinner, I did think it was AIDS.

"Since he had not shared anything with me, I wanted to respect his privacy. However, when I saw him becoming weakened and distracted, I broke that silence and I asked him if he was ill, which he denied profusely."

The director told studio executives that he thought the actor had AIDS or cancer, and that he should be supported and his condition kept private. "But it was filtering down into all the other departments and creating havoc. Not because of his illness, but because the work really wasn't getting taken care of," the director said. "I eventually had to unfortunately replace him before we started shooting because he was very talented but his ability to focus on the logistics of the job was getting difficult."

The actor never admitted he was ill. He died a few months ago.

AIDS is so prevalent these days that gay men in Hollywood say even an absence from work or illness not related to HIV or AIDS can leave them under a cloud of suspicion. Four years ago, for example, then-Disney senior vice president Gary Barton was hospitalized for aseptic meningitis and returned to work two weeks later.

"While I was in the hospital, an agent called me and said, 'I heard you're in the hospital with AIDS,' " Barton recalled. "I felt panicked because I thought: 'I'm going back to work and people think I have AIDS.' Even today, when I go to L.A., people come up and say, 'God, you look great!' And I want to say: 'What? As opposed to dead?' "

Barton said he is HIV-positive, but has never had an AIDS-related infection. He continues actively pursing projects as an independent producer in New York. But Barton is outspoken in his belief that Hollywood has a responsibility to educate the country about AIDS and to help reduce the stigma. "If you make Nikes or computers, there's not a lot you can do to make a difference. But in the TV or film business, there is." He noted that in 10 years there has not been one major studio motion picture about AIDS. (Last year's "Longtime Companion" was a small independent project.)

That's a commercial reality. Offscreen, there's another commercial reality. Once an actor is hired for a job, one of the first items on the agenda is a physical exam and a medical history, but no questions involving AIDS specifically. If an actor lies he is ultimately responsible for any loss incurred.

"Our primary concern isn't the nature of the ailment but whether the actor will be able to complete his film duties," said Shirley Griffith, a senior vice president of Albert G. Ruben & Co., an entertainment insurance company. "The only stigma that I can see is from fellow actors who don't want to work with a romantic lead because of ignorance about how the disease is transmitted."

Lee Proimos, a senior vice president of the Fireman's Fund, another leading Hollywood insurer, agreed: "If a doctor says that AIDS or testing HIV-positive won't impair the ability of an actor to perform, medically he's sound by our standards. I've never seen anyone with AIDS or someone HIV positive turned down."

While that may be the case on the record, any actor would have to deal with the public's perception that being HIV-positive is the same as being gay -- though this is untrue.

Gay comedian Terry Sweeney said he has doubts about the viability of openly HIV-positive actors being hired. "It's a step in the right direction, but we haven't even supported gay people who are well, much less anyone with AIDS," Sweeney said.

Sweeney's feelings are underlined by Westside Los Angeles AIDS specialist Dr. Stephen J. Gabin, whose clients include a number of celebrities.

"We have patients who wish to be completely private about their condition and fear being seen by anyone, so we have them come through a special entrance and sit in a private waiting room.

"The tabloids call my staff. But we are quite fluent in the art of getting rid of them. We never give out any names."

With the spread of the epidemic, Hollywood, as it has in so many causes, has marshaled its talents in support of AIDS causes. APLA, with its $14 million annual budget and status as California's largest AIDS service organization, is a major beneficiary of Hollywood fund- raising efforts, but it's not alone. All of the show business unions and guilds joined three years ago to form Hollywood Helps in order to provide financial assistance to people with AIDS who have worked in the entertainment industry, as does the Actors Fund.

"WHEN it comes to AIDS, people are giving a lot of money and time and energy to this disease," said Kathryn Swingle, West Coast director of human services for the Actors' Fund. "We are here and we do help. It's a shame Davis didn't come through our doors and maybe we could have made it easier for him to get help.

"It's important to let that community know, so they don't have to keep it to themselves. They need to know there are places to go and feel safe. I'm sorry that Brad felt alone and that there was nowhere to turn."

CAPTION: PHOTO Actor Brad Davis used his last breath for a scathing indictment of the entertain- ment industry

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