Take a closer look at some of Hollywood's top-tier talent at the beginning of their careers.

Child Stars, Then and Now

Take a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s top-tier talent at the beginning of their careers.

Get a closer look at the most searched stars on IMDb right now.

These Stars Are on the Rise

Born in Florida in 1949, Brad Davis moved to Georgia after graduating from high school to pursue an acting career. From there, he moved to New York City, twice, to find work. By the early 1970s Davis was acting in off-Broadway plays while studying acting at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. His stage work led to his movie debut and to television shows such as the hit Sybil (1976) and the mini-series Roots (1977). His biggest success was in 1978 with the lead role in Midnight Express (1978) where he played Billy Hayes, a young American imprisoned in Turkey for drug smuggling. It won him a Golden Globe award.

Another memorable movie role in 1982 was playing the title character of Querelle (1982), a ruggedly lethal sailor who seduces and sets both men and women's hearts aflutter.

Davis contracted AIDS in 1979 apparently from his one-time cocaine addiction, but in response to the anti-AIDS hysteria in Hollywood, Davis kept his illness a secret for a number of years and continued to act. His later years had him finally revealing that he had AIDS by the late 1980s and he became an AIDS activist in bashing the Hollywood industry and US government for ignoring and shunning victims suffering from the hideous disease. Brad Davis died in 1991 at age 41. His widow, Susan Bluestein, continues his activist work in the fight against AIDS.

(January 21, 1985) Guest on the TV program &quot;Alive &amp; Well&quot; with his co-star Veronica Cartwright of the upcoming miniseries &quot;Robert Kennedy and His Times&quot;.

(October 9 to December 5, 1982) He acted in Franz Kafka&#39;s play, &quot;Metamorphosis,&quot; in the American premiere at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California with Brad Davis, Pat McNamara, Annabella Price, Ebbe Roe Smith, and Priscilla Smith in the cast. Thomas A. Walsh was set designer. Marilyn Rennagel was lighting designer. Gregg Johnson was sound designer and execution. Steven Berkoff was director and adapter.

Other works

Brad Davis

Contribute to this page

More from this person

More to explore

Recently viewed