Brad Davis

Actor

About

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Also Known As

Robert Davis

Birth Place

Tallahassee, Florida, USA

Born

November 06, 1949

Died

September 08, 1991

Cause of Death

Assisted Suicide (Davis Had Been Suffering From Complications From Aids)

Biography

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Versatile male lead who made a compelling film debut as an American drug-smuggler incarcerated in a Turkish prison in Alan Parker's "Midnight Express" (1978). Davis's relatively sparse screen roles include off-beat gems such as American Olympic runner Jackson Scholz in "Chariots of Fire" (1981), the title character--a gay sailor--in Fassbinder's "Querelle" (1982), and the eccentric pilot...

Filmography

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The Player (1992)

Horton Foote's The Habitation of Dragons (1992)

Child Of Darkness, Child Of Light (1991)

Hangfire (1991)

Unspeakable Acts (1990)

The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990)

Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg

Photos & Videos

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Querelle (1982) -- (Movie Clip) My Hate Was Simply A Camouflage

Querelle (1982) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Based On Querelle De Brest

Family & Companions

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Susan Bluestein

Wife

Casting director. Born in 1946; met in 1971 when she was a secretary for his new agent Stark Hasseltine married in 1976; later won an Emmy.

Biography

Versatile male lead who made a compelling film debut as an American drug-smuggler incarcerated in a Turkish prison in Alan Parker's "Midnight Express" (1978). Davis's relatively sparse screen roles include off-beat gems such as American Olympic runner Jackson Scholz in "Chariots of Fire" (1981), the title character--a gay sailor--in Fassbinder's "Querelle" (1982), and the eccentric pilot in Percy Adlon's "Rosalie Goes Shopping" (1989). A risk-taking stage actor, Davis won acclaim as Ned Weeks, alter ego of playwright and Gay Men's Health Crisis founder Larry Kramer, in Kramer's harrowing AIDS drama "The Normal Heart" (1985). He also starred in Steven Berkoff's avant-garde adaptation of Kafka's "Metamorphosis" at the Mark Taper Forum. Davis, who had been suffering with complications from AIDS, reportedly committed suicide at age 41.

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

The Player (1992)

Horton Foote's The Habitation of Dragons (1992)

Child Of Darkness, Child Of Light (1991)

Hangfire (1991)

Unspeakable Acts (1990)

The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990)

Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg

Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989)

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1988)

Lieutenant Commander Phillip Francis Queeg

Cold Steel (1987)

When the Time Comes (1987)

Blood Ties (1986)

Vengeance: The Story of Tony Cimo (1986)

Querelle (1982)

CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981)

A Small Circle Of Friends (1980)

Midnight Express (1978)

Real American Hero (1978)

The Secret Life of John Chapman (1976)

Casting (Feature Film)

Life of Crime (2014)

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

The Player (1992)

Cast (Special)

The Rope (1989)

The Edge (1989)

Kenny ("Black Pudding")

McLaren's Riders (1977)

Bobby John Britain

Stop, Thief! (1976)

Song of Myself (1976)

Cast (TV Mini-Series)

Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985)

A Rumor of War (1980)

Life Events

1970

TV movie debut in "Sole Survivor"

1974

Appeared on TV soap "How to Survive a Marriage" for ten months

1978

Film acting debut in "Midnight Express"

1981

Joined Alcoholics Anonymous and gave up drug use

1984

Played an AIDS activist in off-Broadway play, "The Normal Heart"

1985

Tested HIV-positive when he donated blood to a hospital

1985

Starred in the title role in the mini-series "Robert Kennedy and His Times"

1991

Appeared in last role in cable TV drama, "A Habitation of Dragons"

Videos

Querelle (1982) -- (Movie Clip) My Hate Was Simply A Camouflage The tensions growing between the brothers, sailor Querelle (Brad Davis) and bon vivant Robert (Hanno Pöschl), with intense profanity, as director Rainer Werner Fassbinder adds other characters (Jeanne Moreau, Franco Nero) in an unprompted procession of Christ bearing the cross, and choreographed combat, in Querelle, 1982.

Querelle (1982) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Based On Querelle De Brest The extraordinary opening from director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s final, posthumously released, film, with narration from the Jean Genet novel, introducing Jeanne Moreau, Hanno Pöschl as her lover, Günther Kaufmann her husband, a glimpse of Franco Nero, then Brad Davis as the title character, in Querelle, 1982.

Querelle (1982) -- (Movie Clip) The Two Brothers Resuming the narration from the loosely-followed Jean Genet novel, director Rainer Werner Fassbinder brings his title character (Brad Davis) into the highly stylized brothel, meeting the proprietor Jeanne Moreau, his brother Hanno Pöschl, her husband, the barkeeper Günther Kaufmann and the cop Mario (Burkhard Driest), in Querelle, 1982.

Midnight Express (1978) -- (Movie Clip) Will It Ease The Pain? Brad Davis as American Billy Hayes, narrating a letter to his parents, being processed into a Turkish prison for smuggling hashish, early in director Alan Parker's Midnight Express, 1978, from Hayes' book.

Midnight Express (1978) -- (Movie Clip) I've Been Poisoned From the opening scenes, American Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) preparing to smuggle hashish out of Istanbul, then with girlfriend Susan (Irene Miracle) at the airport, from Alan Parker's Midnight Express, 1978.

Midnight Express (1978) -- (Movie Clip) Choose Your Own Death American Jimmy (Randy Quaid), compatriot Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) and Brit Max (John Hurt) considering prospects of breaking out of their Turkish prison, in Midnight Express, 1978, directed by Alan Parker.

Chariots Of Fire - (Original Trailer) Committed British runners strive for the 1924 Olympics in the Academy Award-winning Best Picture Chariots Of Fire (1981).

Midnight Express - (Original Trailer) A young man arrested for drug smuggling fights to survive the horrors of a Turkish prison in Midnight Express (1978).

Family

Eugene Davis

Father

Annie Davis

Mother

Gene Davis

Brother

Alexandra Davis

Daughter

Born in 1983.

Companions

Susan Bluestein

Wife

Casting director. Born in 1946; met in 1971 when she was a secretary for his new agent Stark Hasseltine married in 1976; later won an Emmy.

Bibliography

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