Gay Actor died of AIDS
an...@queernet.org
AP 16 Nov 94 6:07 EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Tom Villard, an actor with AIDS who sought to
educate the public by continuing to appear in movies and television
after making his illness public, has died at 40.
Villard died at a Los Angeles hospital Monday of AIDS-related
pneumonia, publicist Howard Bragman said Tuesday.
The boyishly handsome actor with all-American looks, who was
diagnosed in 1992, said it was important not to hide his illness or his
homosexuality.
"In terms of how people with AIDS are perceived in this country
right now, as lepers, it was really important for me to get out there,"
he said. "I've been in your living room for 15 years."
Villard had Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-related skin disorder
characterized by purplish blemishes. He called the splotch at the end
of his nose "my red ribbon" in an interview with The Associated Press
this year.
He was willing to don makeup for a role, but refused to do so for
auditions.
Villard appeared in 12 films, including "Heartbreak Ridge" with
Clint Eastwood and "My Girl," and had the title role in "The Trouble
With Dick," a Grand Prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival.
He had several TV guest roles this season, including in episodes of
"Frasier," "Sisters" and "Star Trek: Deep Space 9."
He had the lead role in the 1980s NBC comedy "We Got It Made," the
story of two big city bachelor roommates, their attractive maid and
their suspicious girlfriends.
The Spencerport, N.Y., native also was a stage actor.
He is survived by his companion, production designer Scott
Chambliss; his parents, Ron and Diane; a sister, Nelle Augustine; and
two brothers, Tim and Terry.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete.
Pedro Zamora Of MTV's 'The Real World' Dies Of AIDS
Nov. 12, 1994
Life of 22 Years Ends, but Not Before Many Heard Message on AIDS
By MIREYA NAVARRO
HIALEAH, Fla., Nov. 11 -- Tonight was the homecoming football game at
Pedro Zamora's alma mater, Hialeah High School, his stomping grounds when he
learned he was infected with H.I.V., and the place he returned to as a public
speaker to warn young people like him to be careful.
The message, it seems, got through to many of them, even those who say
they never met him. Mr. Zamora, 22, a well-known AIDS educator and a cast
member of "The Real World" on MTV, died of complications from AIDS today at
Mercy Hospital in Miami.
"It's his story and everybody else's that make you think," Michael Valdes,
a 15-year-old sophomore, said upon learning of the death. "I know I wouldn't
do it without a condom."
Yamile Lopez, a senior, said the only AIDS education she had ever had was
through a video of Mr. Zamora shown in one of her classes.
"Back then I wasn't sexually active, but when I was, I knew what steps to
take," the 18-year-old recalled during a break from cheerleading practice
before the game against Miami Springs High School. "The truth, maybe I
wouldn't have been as careful."
Partly because he was among few young people speaking out about AIDS,
partly because of his heartthrob looks and easy manner, Mr. Zamora became one
of the most sought-after speakers on the disease after he tested positive for
H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, in 1989 at the age of 17. He took his
prevention message to churches and auditoriums, to Congress and government
agencies and, this year, into American living rooms as a young gay man with
H.I.V. on "The Real World," which offers glimpses into the lives of seven
people who share a San Francisco house.
But it was in schools where he seemed to have the most impact. He passed
around condoms in classrooms, and he minced no words. He would tell students
that he got the virus through unprotected sex and that he would probably not
live to reach 30. Some of them faced the same danger, he warned, unless they
took precautions.
"That was one of his most potent weapons -- that he was going to die from
this," said Anthony Ferrante, the activities director at Hialeah High School.
Mr. Zamora asked for the same directness in government ads for
adolescents. "I needed to know about condoms, how to use a condom correctly
and where to buy them," he told a Congressional committee in July. "I needed
to know that you can be sexual without having intercourse."
President Clinton, noting that one in four new H.I.V. infections is among
people under 20, said in a statement from the White House:
"Pedro was particularly instrumental in reaching out to his own
generation, where AIDS is striking hard. Through his work with MTV, he taught
young people that 'the real world' includes AIDS and that each of us has the
responsibility to protect ourselves and our loved ones."
Gov. Lawton Chiles of Florida said, "We will never know how many lives he
saved as he struggled to deal with his own illness, but they will be his
lasting contribution to all of us."
Mr. Zamora, the youngest of eight children, was 8 years old when he came
to the United States from Cuba in the 1980 Mariel boatlift with his parents
and two siblings.
His mother died in 1986. Three years later, he found out he weas infected
with H.I.V. and, as a way of coping, began talking to young people about
AIDS. A talented speaker who often left his audiences in tears, he soon drew
national attention.
"He was the kind of individual who would make people really comfortable,"
said Ernie Lopez, executive director of the Body Positive Resource Center in
Miami, a support group for people infected with H.I.V. and their families,
where Mr. Zamora worked as a peer educator and was known as "Peter." "That
was key when he went out to the schools."
At Hialeah High, in a city that is 75 percent Hispanic, students said that
the fact that Mr. Zamora was Cuban helped bring his message home. Some still
remember how incredulous they were when he announced his infection.
"I was, like, 'No way.' The whole class was stunned," Ms. Lopez said. "You
expect someone with AIDS to be skinny and have things on his body."
"I remember seeing him walking down the hall, and somebody said that's
him, and I was shocked because he looked so normal," said Giovel Gonzalez,
20, a graduate who works as a tennis director at a city park and attends
Florida International University. He said he was not sexually active yet,
among other things because of the fear of AIDS.
For some students, Mr. Zamora also took the social stigma away.
"He helped me see that you can be close to anybody and it can't hurt you,"
said Melenie Gonzalez, 17, a junior.
Before a television appearance New York last August, Mr. Zamora fell ill
with a neurological disorder, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy,
which causes rapid deterioration. In recent weeks, Federal officials granted
visas to three brothers and a sister in Cuba to come to his bedside.
Schools in the Miami area held fund raisers to help pay hospital bills
because Mr. Zamora had no medical insurance. He had been hospitalized since
Oct. 14.
He is survived by his companion, Sean Sasser, his father, Hector, and two
sisters and five brothers. A Pedro Zamora Memorial Fund has been established
to continue his work at the AIDS Action Council, an advocacy group in
Washington.