Holmes learned of his HIV infection in 1986. John Holmes’ death in March, 1988 from AIDS-related complications was, along with the similar fates of Rock Hudson and Ryan White and the HIV diagnosis of Magic Johnson, one of several high-profile wakeup calls for HIV/AIDS education and research funding.īut it was Hudson, a closeted Hollywood movie star, who “put a face on the disease” (according to Morgan Fairchild) with his death in 1985, so it was not from a lack of education on Holmes’ part that he knowingly exposed several partners to the virus by continuing to work post-diagnosis.
