by Jane Lieberman
Los Angeles Times
March 13, 1988
It's been more than six months since NBC's ANOTHER WORLD and ABC's ALL MY CHILDREN introduced AIDS story lines, and the actors portraying AIDS patients are feeling the effects of their roles personally.
"It's very emotionally draining for me, coming to work every day to die," said WORLD's Barbara Bush, who plays Dawn, a singer who contracts the fatal disease through a transfusion from her mother, an ex-hooker and drug user. Bush, 24, said that when she took on the part, she lost her appetite and 11 pounds "without even trying."CHILDREN's Ellen Wheeler, who portrays Cindy, a beautician who was infected by her drug-addicted ex-husband, has also been affected: "(The part) has changed my viewpoint on AIDS. I certainly wasn't an anti-AIDS person, but I would have been nervous being around AIDS victims before." Since researching the role, said Wheeler, "I now have quite a few friends" with the fatal disease.
CBS has no daytime dramas featuring AIDS story lines, but will later this year when THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS writes one in.
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