On this night, seemingly every star of every caliber was there, including the gorgeous couple Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross. Hollywood was fraught with grief and the biggest stars regularly attended such events. In the late 1980's, during the darkest, brutal years of the AIDS epidemic, my brother sang in a gay choir in Los Angeles that was asked to perform as part of a display of the AIDS Quilt. The fact he has a longtime, successful marriage and has been without tabloid shenanigans makes him all the more endearing. He's also a family man, having been snagged early by fellow seventies icon Katherine Ross, who probably hasn't left him alone a single moment since they were married in 1984. Sam Elliott never exploited himself as a sex symbol, and his style is so laid back it's possible to imagine he might not be aware of his own magnetism. The glamour of mainstream Hollywood film making may have polished his sheen, but Sam's knee-weakening smirk and that twinkle in his eye did all the heavy lifting. But Sam's good looks were more intense and he was, of course, more unattainable.
Sam (also right) mirrored the swarthy stars of gay porn flicks of the time, stars with names like Jack Wrangler and titles like Kansas City Trucking Company.
