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 In the last decades, the human immunodeficiency virus or
HIV has taken millions of lives: from 1981 to 2006 HIV and AIDS killed 25
million people around the world. The nameless victims who get infected go
unnoticed, but celebrities who do, always get the world's attention. We have
lost many truly talented people to AIDS, from Freddie Mercury to Isaac Asimov.
Officially, the first Hollywood celebrity to
publicly
admit the terrible diagnosis was Rock Hudson, one of the most famous
Hollywood
stars known for his immaculate good looks and flawless acting talent,
and
captured the hearts and minds creating fans everywhere. He was a dashing
silver
screen and the epitome of Hollywood's leading man. His career spanned
over four
decades and nearly 70 motion pictures, which included movies like The
Last
Sunset, The Ambassador, Strange Bedfellows, Come September, Pillow Talk,
Man's
Favorite Sport and Send Me No Flowers. Hudson was diagnosed with
HIV/AIDS in
the year 1984 and died on October 2, 1985. He was 59 years old. However,
Hudson's name was dragged in the mud after he was dead: his partner Mark
Christian has instigated a dirty scandal and demanded a compensation for
the
risk of AIDS he run when he was sharing bed with Hudson.
Freddie Mercury was a famous rock musician, best
known
as the lead singer for the English rock band Queen. He was famous for
his
powerful vocal abilities and charisma as a live performer. The first
rumors about
Mercury having AIDS appeared back in the mid-eighties, as the horrifying
diagnosis quickly showed on Mercury's exterior - he lost weight, looked
exhausted, almost unable to move. In November 1991, Freddie decided make
a
formal statement that he had AIDS. On
November 24, 1991, Freddie died at his home in London, of AIDS-related
bronchial pneumonia.
Another celebrity lost to AIDS-relatedd disease is
Isaac Asimov, famous science fiction writer and biochemist. Two of his
works
were turned into highly successful films - I, Robot and Bicentennial
Man.
Asimov, who was also popular for his science books, became infected by
transfused blood during heart surgery. He
died on April 6, 1992 because of heart and kidney failure, which were
due to
complications of the HIV infection. Asimov's brother Stanley cited heart
and
kidney failure as the official cause of his death. Only ten years after
Asimov's death, his heirs have released a book revealing the truth about
the
true cause of his tragic death. Janet Asimov, Isaac's widow, wrote later
that
Asimov wanted to publicly admit his condition, but doctors convinced
otherwise.
Gia Carangi was an American fashion model during
the
late 1970s and early 1980s. Cindy Crawford, who also appeared on the
covers of
fashion publications during her time, was later referred to as "Baby
Gia" due to her resemblance to Carangi. Carangi was featured on the
cover
of fashion magazines, including Vogue, Vogue Paris, American Vogue,
Vogue
Paris, Italian Vogue, and several issues of Cosmopolitan between 1979
and 1982.
After she became addicted to heroin, Carangi's modeling career rapidly
declined. She later became infected with HIV and died at the age of 26.
Her
death was not widely publicized and few people in the fashion knew the
true
cause of her death.
One of the greatest NBA players of all time, Earvin
«Magic»
Johnson is widely considered as the best point guard ever to play the
game. 1992 Olympics champion, 5-time NBA champion, «Magic»
Johnson publicly announced that he had been infected with the HIV in
November
1991. A few years later Johnson finally retired from basketball and
turned into
quite a successful businessman: his company Magic Johnson Enterprise net
worth is
estimated at $700 million. Johnson also owns a network of 160 Starbucks
coffee
shops, 31 BurgerKing restaurants, and dozens of gyms. A significant part
of his
time Johnson dedicates to raise the awareness of HIV and AIDS and
continues to
be an advocate for safe sex.
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