Brad Davis

Robert Creel Davis (November 6, 1949 – September 8, 1991), known professionally as Brad Davis, was an American actor. For his debut film role as Billy Hayes in the 1978 film Midnight Express, he won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor and was nominated for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, along with BAFTA Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles.

Davis subsequently played the title role in the Rainer Werner Fassbinder film Querelle (1982), and appeared in such films as A Small Circle of Friends (1980), Chariots of Fire (1981), and Cold Steel (1987). He also starred in television films and miniseries.

Davis, who struggled with substance abuse issues throughout his adult life, was diagnosed with HIV in 1985, and died by assisted suicide from a drug overdose in 1991.

Biography Early life He was born in Tallahassee, Florida, to Eugene Davis, a dentist whose career declined due to alcoholism, and his wife, Anne (née Creel) Davis. His brother Gene is also an actor. Davis was known as Bobby during his youth, but took Brad as his stage name in 1973. He attended and graduated from Titusville High School.

According to a 1997 New York Times interview with his widow Susan Bluestein, Davis suffered physical abuse from his father and sexual abuse from his mother. As an adult, Davis was an alcoholic and an intravenous drug user, then became sober in 1981.

Early acting roles At 16, after winning a music-talent contest, Davis worked at Theater Atlanta. He later moved to New York City and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the American Place Theater where he studied acting. After a role on the soap opera How to Survive a Marriage in 1974, he performed in Off-Broadway plays.

In 1976, he was cast in the television mini-series Roots, then as Sally Field's love interest in the television film Sybil. The same year, he married casting director Susan Bluestein. They would have one child together, Alex Blue Davis (b. 1983), a musician and actor.

In 1977, he was cast as John Rambo in First Blood when John Frankenheimer was scheduled to direct the film before it was cancelled due to Orion Pictures' acquisition of Filmways.

Midnight Express and stardom His most successful film role was as the main character Billy Hayes in Midnight Express (1978), for which he won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor. He was nominated for a similar award at that year's BAFTA Awards, in addition to receiving Best Actor nominations at both ceremonies (Richard Dreyfuss won for The Goodbye Girl).

In 1980, Davis would play war correspondent Phil Caputo in the biographical made-for-television film A Rumor of War. The same year, he would be top-billed for his role in the film A Small Circle of Friends.

In 1981, he played American track star Jackson Scholz in the Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire.

In 1982, Davis played the title role of Georges Querelle in the film Querelle, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's final film before his death by a drug overdose. That same year, he starred in Steven Berkoff's stage adaptation of The Metamorphosis at the Mark Taper Forum.

Supporting roles and television films Davis played the lead role of Ned Weeks in The Normal Heart (1985), Larry Kramer's play about AIDS.

While continuing to play supporting roles in theatrical films, Davis appeared regularly in made-for-television films, including Chiefs, Robert Kennedy & His Times, The Rainbow Warrior Conspiracy, and The Plot to Kill Hitler. He played Queeg in a 1988 television adaptation of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, directed by Robert Altman, opposite Eric Bogosian and Jeff Daniels.

Illness and death Diagnosed with HIV in 1985, Davis kept his condition private until shortly before his death at age 41 on September 8, 1991, in Los Angeles. In 1997, his wife Susan claimed that he probably contracted HIV through intravenous drug use, and that he died by assisted suicide from a drug overdose. It was revealed in a book proposal that Davis had written before his death that he had to keep his HIV-positive status a secret to be able to continue to work and support his family.

He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.

Filmography Film Year Title RoleDirector Notes 1976 Eat My Dust! Bit roleCharles B. Griffith Uncredited 1978 Midnight Express Billy HayesAlan Parker 1980 A Small Circle of Friends Leonardo da Vinci RizzoRob Cohen 1981 Chariots of Fire Jackson ScholzHugh Hudson 1982 Querelle QuerelleRainer Werner Fassbinder 1987 Heart EddieJames Lemmo Cold Steel Johnny ModineDorothy Ann Puzo 1989 Rosalie Goes Shopping Ray "Liebling" GreenspacePercy Adlon 1991 Hangfire Sheriff Ike SlaytonPeter Maris 1992 The Player HimselfRobert Altman Posthumous releaseCameo appearance

Television

Partial stage credits