My Take
Brad Davis is one of those actors who burned so bright so fast that it almost hurts to think about what was lost. His performance as Billy Hayes in Midnight Express is the kind of debut that makes you sit up straight — raw, desperate, completely exposed — and the Golden Globe he won for it felt less like industry validation and more like the world finally catching up to something obvious. He had the ability to make you feel trapped right alongside his characters, and his later work in Querelle and on stage showed a range that rarely got the spotlight it deserved. He carried his personal battles quietly and kept working right up until the end, dying of AIDS-related complications in 1991 at just 41. The fact that Hollywood never quite figured out what to do with him doesn't diminish what he gave us — it just makes those performances feel even more precious.
Overview
Robert Creel Davis (November 6, 1949 – September 8, 1991), known professionally as Brad Davis, was an American actor. For his debut film role as Billy Hayes in the 1978 film Midnight Express, he won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor and was nominated for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, along with BAFTA Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Most Promising Newcomer to Leading F…
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Brad Davis
- Name (Japanese)
- ブラッド・デイヴィス
- Reading
- ぶらっど・でいゔぃす
- Born
- November 6, 1949 – September 8, 1991
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Ox
- Origin
- Tallahassee, Florida, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- stage actor / film actor / television actor / actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.