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Famous People Who Died Of AIDS

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Freddie Mercury

Farrokh Bulsara, more famously known as Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist of Queen has to be the most famous icon to have suffered from HIV. A homosexual, Freddie kept the disease a secret after contracting it in 1987, until media pressure made him eventually announce it on November 23, 1991. He died soon after the announcement on November 24.

Freddie Mercury's death shed a much-needed light on the issue of AIDS and it's magnitude increased ten fold after his death. An added effort was put into knowing more about the disease and spreading knowledge among masses. 



Anthony Perkins

This face has haunted women in their bathroom since the time they saw it in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Yes, Anthony Perkins is the same guy who essayed the role of the homicidal maniac in the flick. Other than that, he was Golden Globe and Tony Awards winning performances. A multi-talented personality, Perkins also released three pop music albums and gained international fame through it. 

Perkins was diagnosed with AIDS in 1989, but kept it a closely guarded secret for fear of losing work. He was said to have been a bisexual and had relationships with actors Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter as well as dancer Rudolf Nureyev. They, too, contracted AIDS. 

Robert Reed

Robert Reed was a household name during his heydeys. A television personality, Reed was famous for portraying the roles of Kenneth Preston on the popular 1960s TV legal drama The Defenders and more famously that of Mike Brady in The Brady Bunch.

He was contracted with HIV later in his life, but due to his sexual orientation being homosexual, he thought of keeping it both a secret. Reed eventually died on May 12, 1992 at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California, after a six month battle with colon cancer.

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction including the famous I Robot and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards.

Asimov suffered a heart attack in 1977, and had triple bypass surgery in 1983. During this surgery Asimov contracted HIV during blood transfusion.

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