Celebrities Who Died With AIDS

 Freddie Mercury



Freddy Mercury was so ill with AIDS when he recorded "The Show Must Go On" that Brian May didn't think he could do it. Mercury slammed some vodka, said "I'll fucking do it, darling" and killed it in one take.

His death was the result of pneumonia brought on by AIDS.
Official Cause of Death : Bronchopneumonia ; AIDS.
Freddie was the first major rock star to die of the disease. He didn't announce his affliction until 24 hours prior to his death, stating "I felt it correct to keep this information private in order to protect the privacy of those around me." During his last few months, Freddie was cared for by a few very close friends, Jim Hutton, Joe Fanelli and Peter Freestone.  Freddie's former girlfriend Mary Austen, with whom he remained close, showed up most days. In fact, it was Mary who inherited the Logan Place house, and still lives there today.

 Rock Hudson

   

Rock Hudson's homosexuality was one of the worst kept secrets on the planet.
He was diagnosed with HIV on June 5, 1984.
On July 25, 1985, Rock announced that he had the AIDS in a press release.
Rock died October 2nd, 1985 and Hudson was 59 years old.
An inconspicuous van picked up Rock"s  body, which was loaded in the garage.  It was all done on the secret, hush hush. No one wanted to touch Rock.
They say that Rock Hudson "Gave AIDS a face."  After Rock Hudson, everyone knew someone that died from it.
 His passing led his friend and "Giant" co-star Elizabeth Taylor to spend the rest of her life raising funds for AIDS research.


Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates from Pshyco)

   

 He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his second film, Friendly Persuasion, but is best known for playing Norman Bates in Psycho. His other films include The Trial, Fear Strikes Out, Tall Story, The Matchmaker, Pretty Poison, North Sea Hijack, and The Black Hole. 
died at his Hollywood Hills home on September 12, 1992, from AIDS-related  pneumonia.

Amanda Blake (Famous for part in Gunsmoke)



Amanda Blake's physician, Lou Nishimura, said Saturday that the actress, "Miss Kitty" on television's Gunsmoke, died of AIDS. Blake died Aug. 16 at the age of 60 from throat cancer complicated by a type of viral hepatitis brought on by AIDS. No mention of AIDS was made at the time of her death. 
She was tested for HIV while travelling in Africa, where she went because of her love of animals.


Tony Richardson
         
Richardson was bisexual, but never acknowledged it publicly until after he contracted HIV. He died of complications from AIDS in 1991.

He died of AIDS-related causes at age 63 in 1991.

Vanessa Redgrave had caught her husband, Tony Richardson, and father Sir Michael in bed together.

Robert Reed

    

From 1961 to 1965, Reed portrayed the role of Kenneth Preston on the popular legal drama, The Defenders.  He is best known as Mike Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch.
Reed was gay, but kept this fact private fearing it would damage his career. 
It is unknown when Reed contracted HIV. He kept his condition private, telling only a few close friends.
Reed died on May 12, 1992, at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California, after a six-month battle with colon cancer.
Reed's doctor listed HIV as a "significant condition[s] contributing to death" on Reed's death certificate.


Arthur Ashe (Tennis Star)

      

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was an American World No. 1 professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam titles, ranking him among the best tennis players from the United States.
In the early 1980s, Ashe contracted HIV from a blood transfusion he received during heart bypass surgery. Ashe publicly announced his illness in April 1992 and began working to educate others about HIV and AIDS. He founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health before his death from AIDS-related pneumonia on February 6, 1993.


Robert Mapplethorpe
 

Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white photography.
Nearly a year before his death, the ailing Mapplethorpe helped found the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Inc. His vision for the Foundation was that it would be "the appropriate vehicle to protect his work, to advance his creative vision, and to promote the causes he cared about"
Mapplethorpe died on the morning of March 9, 1989, 42 years old, in a Boston, Massachusetts, hospital from complications arising from AIDS.

Liberace

 Liberace was also the first major mainstream star to wear flashy, lavish costumes and to unapologetically present himself as effeminate and androgynous.
Coming of age in the United States during an era when being openly gay posed a clear risk to one's career and life, Liberace, a practicing Catholic, would adamantly deny being homosexual.
He died on February 4, 1987 in Palm Springs, California. 
Liberace's death remains controversial due to the fact that there had been rumors prior to his passing that he had contracted the AIDS virus which his management, friends and personal physician had vehemently denied. Ultimately the Riverside County coroner ordered an official autopsy against the wishes of his estate and determined that Liberace had died of AIDS-related illness, making him the second major celebrity death after Rock Hudson to officially succumb to the illness during the early days of media frenzy surrounding the disease.

Michael Jeter
 

 Emmy-winning American actor of film, stage, and television.
Among his favorite roles was the kindly Mr. Noodle on PBS's children's show "Sesame Street." The character was nicknamed The Other Mr. Noodle when Jeter took over the role from Bill Irwin. The two Noodles, the show explained, were brothers.

Although he had HIV, he had been in good health for many years, his partner Sean Blue stated publicly Jeter died of an epileptic seizure on  March 30, 2003.