Episode 5: Leading Men

By: Leon Neyfakh, Andrew Parsons, Sam Graham-Felsen, Madeline Kaplan, Ula Kulpa, Prologue Projects

Narrated by: Leon Neyfakh

One of the most famous actors in Hollywood tries to keep his diagnosis under wraps - and ends up becoming the face of AIDS in America.

You can find a list of books, articles, and documentaries we used in our research at bit.ly/fiascopod

©2022 Prologue Projects (P)2022 Prologue Projects

A very interesting early look into the AID’S Epidemic!

There has been an awful lot I did not know about the early beginnings of AID’S ! I did know about Reagan turning his cheek to it for a very long time ! Unfortunately my brother’s wife died in the mid 1980’s in Reno, Nevada and the doctors were overwhelmed and could not figure out her cause of death ! My brother was a Singer and played the Reno scene for years and they were both drug user’s ! I got a call around 1987 that my brother was in a home in Susanville and they told me he had AID’S ! I flew to see him and he was skin and bones ! Got in touch with The AID’S Foundation and requested them to find a place closer in Southern California so my parents could see him ! He lived king enough to start the first Cocktail they had and got his weight up to 135lbs and he seemed to be doing better and out lived dozens of young men 20-30’s but suddenly did not want to eat and died in his sleep one night ! These episodes have been helped me to know this earlier kinda coverup or just plain ignorance toward all this fine men and women dying daily ! Very well put together ! I thought I knew the whole story but obviously I did not ! Thank you fir your honesty and perhaps if all the not wanting to get to the bottom of it because they believed it was a GAY Disease really saddens me to this day ! We lost so many amazing people during this time and I thank God everyday it finally stopped ! I could hardly bare going to see him towards the end to find the other 4 beds empty from deaths when I would return in just two weeks time ! Thank you for bringing all this to light because those untouched by AID’S really need to know just how quickly AID’S would take these young men’s lives ! WELL DONE♥️