Famous People Who Have Suffered from AIDS

AIDS stands for Acquired immune deficiency syndrome and is often one of the deadly extremes brought on by the virus HIV or human immunodeficiency virus. The condition is a progression of damage to the immune system leaving the body prone to infections and various other illnesses. The ailments of AIDS and HIV have been around for quite awhile, but unless you live in Africa where the illness was reported to have originated you may not know someone who is infected. Sadly statistics show that more people are affected than the public is often aware of and in the spirit of sad statistics this article will put some famous faces on the virus.

Merrit Buttrick may be a name only familiar to the hardcore Trekkie fans. He lived from 1959 to 1989 and played the role of Captain Kirk's son in the Star Trek Movies: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, as well as having played in many television roles. Buttrick's death came after a mixed diagnosis of not only brain cancer, but also AIDS. How he contracted the disease was never fully disclosed.

Brad Davis was the star of the 1978 film Midnight Express. He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1985, yet held the information in secret until right before his death in 1991. In 1991 Davis died from a suicidal overdose of drugs.

Kevin Peter Hall you may not recognize his name or face, however at 7 feet 2 ½ inches tall you may be familiar with his past film roles. Hall was generally casts to play the roles of monsters and donned the Predator suit for both the films Predator and Predator 2. Also he was the lovable Bigfoot in the family comedy Harry and the Hendersons. Kevin Peter Hall contracted HIV via blood transfusion after requiring blood due to wounds suffered in a Los Angeles car accident. He died in 1991 from complications of the virus.