Posted on 12/05/2009 12:02:16 PM PST by Zakeet
He won a multimillion-dollar settlement in 1991 from the actor's estate after convincing a jury that Hudson had knowingly exposed him to AIDS.
Marc Christian MacGinnis, who won a multimillion-dollar settlement in 1991 from the estate of his ex-lover, actor Rock Hudson, after convincing a jury Hudson had knowingly exposed him to AIDS, has died. He was 56.
Known as Marc Christian, he died of pulmonary problems June 2 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. The details were confirmed Friday by his sister, Susan Dahl, who said she did not publicly announce his death earlier because of her brother's wish for privacy.
Christian, who went by his mother's maiden name, made headlines in 1985 when he sued Hudson's estate and his secretary, Mark Miller, for $10 million, alleging that he had suffered severe emotional distress after hearing on a news broadcast that the former matinee idol and television star had AIDS, which was claiming lives throughout the gay community.
[Snip]
After the settlement, Christian bought and renovated a mid-century modern house in the Hollywood Hills, filling it with his collection of musical instruments, antique Edison phonographs and tens of thousands of vintage 78s, LPs and CDs. He restored old recordings and was famous among friends for his ability to name almost any tune.
Contrary to Internet reports that said he had died of drug abuse or AIDS, which he never developed, Christian's death was the result of his heavy smoking, which began in 1998, "the day he found out Frank Sinatra died," Dahl said. "He loved Frank Sinatra."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Saw Dean in Vegas in 1987 or 88. The announcer said And Now Direct from the Bar....Dean Martin!!!
RIP.
Rickles has balls of steel. That’s why he’s a national treasure. ;-)
I was a never big RH fan - not because we later found out he was gay just that he was a bit dull like lib Greg Peck. You have to admire RH for making a joke knowing he had a death sentence. He seemed like a decent guy.
Dean had some career. Most people forget (before I was born) how big Martin and Lewis were. Dean always stayed busy. Stage comedy, movies, singing, TV. I think part of his success was he was just a likeable person where Sinatra came off as arrogant. Ditto for Jerry L.
I wonder if Dean and Steve ever did a film together? Magnificent 7 was a great one because Steve and James Coburn. Robert Vaughn was a mega lib, Brenner was okay and Bronson was pretty good too.
Supposedly Brenner was supposed to be the star of the film but Steve kind of stole the movie. He did the same thing in The Great Escape but supposedly he and Brenner on the set it was like a duel.
my thoughts too... he must have had some very weak lungs...
No, portrayal was a guy who didn't even have blue eyes, can you believe!! But he did a nice job with it, Philip Casnoff -- he mimed the singing, Tom did the vocal, no on-screen stuff. When I went to IMBD to get the link for the show, Sinatra, they have Tom listed as performing Sinatra vocals in a later broadcast, something called The Night We Called It A Day, I didn't know about this one. I'll have to check out Netflix as well.
prime example of disease in the phrase, filthy disease ridden queer...
now Dean Martin equals COOL... love his voice... could listen to his singing "Sway" again and again...
Despite is assertions to the contrary, it is possible that he had AIDS.
From Wiki:
“Pneumocystis pneumonia (originally known as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, and still abbreviated as PCP, which now stands for Pneumocystis pneumonia) is relatively rare in healthy, immunocompetent people, but common among HIV-infected individuals. It is caused by Pneumocystis jirovecii.
Before the advent of effective diagnosis, treatment and routine prophylaxis in Western countries, it was a common immediate cause of death. In developing countries, it is still one of the first indications of AIDS in untested individuals, although it does not generally occur unless the CD4 count is less than 200 cells per µL of blood.[16]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS
The homosexual community is not always as honest as they might be.
Harry Connick, Jr also sounds a lot like sinatra at times.
- JP
56 is quite old in homosexual years.
Jerry’s book was essentially a love note to Dean, but it also made clear that Dean had serious difficulties forming deep or lasting relationships. And that personal loyalty was not his forte. He was a nice guy, very pleasant, very witty. What we saw on TV was evidently pretty much the extent of his being.
As to the dining alone at the Italian restaurant: yep, that was pretty much the way it all ended. Not particularly unhappy; just finished with life. And that was that. My Italian mother was that way. Once Dad died, she lost interest in life. And that was that.
Reminds me of the old ad slogan “Get a piece of the rock”...
Have you ever seen him with Gene Kelly and Kathryn Grayson in Anchors Aweigh when he was young? I think he was great. I have no clue what he was like in his personal life back then, but he was pretty good on the silver screen, IMO.
I agree on Holden and Garner. To me, McQueen and Eastwood were the generation after the Sinatra-Martin era, although they epitomized cool. McQueen’s ultimate cool was in Bullitt.
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