While he was more of a character actor than a true superstar of cinema, Ron Vawter was an important, serious man, who was seriously sexy back in the day. Originally from Latham, New York, Ron really excelled in theatre, including being a founding member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group, which launched the career of fellow founder Willem Dafoe. Ron ended up marrying a playwright, so there must have been some of the fun kind of experimentation happening as well! While he did all sorts of stage work, Ron was certainly no stranger to the screen. After debuting in Sudden Death (1977), the longtime activist mixed work in serious stuff like the look at a world where minorities and gay rights advocates are attacked by the government flick Born in Flames (1983), with fun stuff like an episode of Miami Vice. We really had fun watching him in The Dance of the Sphinx & The Chimera (1985). A filmed version of The Wooster Group's stuff, Ron and the Green Goblin himself do a full frontal dance together. Ends up, Ron and Willem are both packing some serious heat! Wooster Group? More like the Rooster Group because those are some tremendous cocks! Ron's career really took off in the late 80's and early 90's, when he was in the movie that launched Steven Soderbergh's career Sex, Lies and Videotapes (1989), the Paul Newman led Manhattan Project flick Fat Man and Little Boy (1989), and played District Attorney Paul Krendler in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Unfortunately, Ron got AIDS in the 90's and struggled to find work, with a movie studio ironically not wanting to cast him in Philadelphia (1993) because of his health issues. Did they read the screenplay? Director Jonathan Demme fought for him and won, so he got to play the only person from the firm to go to Andy's funeral, Bob Seidman. Ron last appeared in a filmed version of the play about two very different, very famous AIDS victims in Roy Cohn/Jack Smith (1994). Unfortunately, Ron died of a heart attack while on a flight from Switzerland to New York City at just 45 years old. When it comes to actors turned advocates very much on the right side of history, few were hotter than Ron Vawter.
