Question: I would very much like to have all the people featured in the montage during the Elton John song at the very end identified.
Question: Don gets a call from the French verifying that the blind samples Don sent confirming their virus and the AIDS virus were the same. Don goes around the CDC office and tells everybody that the French also had the AIDS virus. This causes everybody to cheer. Why would the French having the virus make everybody cheer?
Chosen answer: It represents a breakthrough in the case - a lead to the original source of the virus, as many of the patients being treated in France were either African or had spent time there. Up until that point, the origin of the virus was a mystery - with the knowledge that the French were treating the same virus, it gave them vital information in backtracking where the virus originated. It also proved that AIDS was a worldwide phenomenon of epidemic proportions, something that a number of agencies had been reluctant to accept up to that point.
This is not an accurate answer. When they say the French had the virus, they don't mean patients with the virus. They mean the French successfully found the virus in blood, which is a necessary step in determining that aids is caused by an infectious agent and the first step in coming up with medication. The French had patients with the virus since about the same time as the us.
Question: I have a question about the first patient Don and his boss go to see (the one trying to solve the Rubik's cube). I can find no information about him. However he seems like he plays an AIDS patient in a couple of other movies, with the same lesions, same gay act, etc. Is he really like this or do they seem to cast him in the part because he plays it so well? Or am I mistaken about him? Any info would help. It is driving me crazy.
Chosen answer: The actor's name is Stephen Spinella. He is listed in the credits for "And the Band Played On" as "Brandy Alexander." Though neither his given name nor his drag name is mentioned during the cameo, he does show a book with pictures of his female impersonation to the doctors. The "trivia" portion of his IMDb profile states: "Vaulted from obscurity with his frighteningly realistic portrayal of AIDS-ravaged Prior Walter in Tony Kushner's two-part stage epic "Angels in America." An openly gay actor, he has since played in a number of gay-related themes on stage, film and TV."
Answer: Interspersed with scenes of vigils, marches, AIDS quilt panels, and ordinary adults and infants with AIDS, the following famous figures appear: The three men in the newspaper photo shown are Michael Callen of NY, Anthony Ferrera of Washington, DC, and Roger Lyon of San Francisco (who is quoted in the headline, "I came here today in the hope that my epitaph would not read that I died of red tape"). Bobbi Campbell was a San Francisco AIDS activist, most remembered for initially opposing the closing of bathhouses during the crisis. Next is a picture of Ryan White, the young hemophiliac notable for acquiring HIV via blood transfusion, and fighting to remain in school when he had developed AIDS. Next is Michael Jackson walking up to greet Ryan White's mother - Jackson had become friends with Ryan White's family during his struggle. Next is Rock Hudson, actor and one of the first (but less than eager to be so) public faces of AIDS. Anthony Perkins, actor most famous for his role in "Psycho." Tina Chow - fashion icon and jewelry designer. Ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev. Tennis player Arthur Ashe. The cast of "A Chorus Line" followed by its creator, Michael Bennett. Performance artist Liberace. Freddie Mercury of the band "Queen." Princess Diana of Wales, notable for her charitable works for people with AIDS. Elizabeth Taylor, actress and co-founder of the American Federation for AIDS research. Elizabeth Glaser, wife of actor and director Paul Michael Glaser, who contracted HIV from a blood transfusion while giving birth and then unknowingly passed the virus on to their daughter. Basketball player Magic Johnson. Larry Kramer, co-founder of ACT-UP and the Gay Men's Health Crisis. Arthur Ashe again. AIDS activist Allison Gertz. News reporter Max Robinson of Chicago. Fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick, known simply as "Halston." Fashion designer WIlli Smith (AIDS quilt panel). Fashion Designer Perry Ellis. Singer-songwriter Peter Allen. Studio 54 owner Steve Rubell. Artist Keith Haring. Congressman Stewart McKinney. Actor Denholm Elliott ("Raiders of the Lost Ark"). Actor Brad Davis ("Midnight Express"). Actress Amanda Blake ("Gunsmoke"). Actor Robert Reed ("The Brady Bunch"). Philosopher and author Michael Foucault (AIDS quilt panel only). Tom Waddell, athlete and founder of the "Gay Olympics" (later named "Gay Games" due to copyright issues).
Michael Albert
Thank you for posting this.
Thank you so much! Your time is much appreciated.