Dack Rambo
Dack Rambo inDirty Sally (1974)
Born	Norman Jay Rambo (1941-11-13)November 13, 1941 Earlimart, California, U.S.
Died	March 21, 1994(1994-03-21) (aged 52) Delano, California, U.S.
Other names	Dack Rambeau Norman "Dack" Rambo Norman Rambo
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1962–1993

Norman Jay "Dack" Rambo (November 13, 1941 – March 21, 1994) was an American actor, widely known for his role asWalter Brennan's grandson Jeff in the seriesThe Guns of Will Sonnett, as Steve Jacobi in the soap operaAll My Children, as cousinJack Ewing onDallas, and as Grant Harrison on the soap operaAnother World.

Norman Jay Rambo was born on November 13, 1941,^[1] inEarlimart, California, to William Lester and Beatrice A. (née Rossi) Rambo. He was a middle child in a family of four children. His siblings were William Donald Rambo; identical twin Orman Ray "Dirk" Rambo (died 1967), and sister Beverly Jean Rambo. Beatrice Rambo outlived two of her three sons.^[2][3]

After moving to Los Angeles in the 1960s, the 20-year-old twins were discovered by actressLoretta Young in 1962 and cast in her CBS seriesThe New Loretta Young Show.^[4] On February 5, 1967, Dirk Rambo was killed in a road accident at the age of 25.^[5]

Later that same year, Dack Rambo landed the role of Jeff Sonnett onThe Guns of Will Sonnett and co-starred in the short-livedGunsmoke spin-offDirty Sally, withJeanette Nolan. During the 1970s and 1980s, he made guest appearances onMarcus Welby, M.D.,House Calls,Wonder Woman,The Rookies,Charlie's Angels,Fantasy Island,The Love Boat,Hotel andMurder, She Wrote. He played Steve Jacobi onAll My Children in the early 1980s. He also acted the lead role inSword of Justice, which lasted for 10 installments in 1978–79. Rambo may be best remembered on television for playingJack Ewing in 51 episodes of the soap operaDallas from 1985 to 1987. Rambo also played Wesley Harper on the 1984 short-lived TV series soap operaPaper Dolls.

Rambo promoted a line of men's underwear trademarked in 1987 as "Under Ware by dack rambo" [sic].^[6][7] While working onAnother World, Rambo learned that he was infected withHIV in August 1991. He quit the series shortly thereafter and retired from acting. Rambo then made his HIV infection and hisbisexuality public, revealing that he had been in relationships with both men and women since his 20s.^[4]

For most of his life, Rambo wascloseted about hisbisexuality.^[8] He later said he had been bisexual for most of his life, and had a "spicy" sex life that never includedsafe sex.^[8]

Rambo learned he wasHIV-positive on August 30, 1991, while preparing to tape scenes forAnother World. After finishing work, he told the producers that he had HIV and that he wished to leave the show. He never returned to acting.^[8] Rambo issued a press release on October 1, 1991, publicly disclosing hisseroconversion status.^[9] His announcement came three weeks after actorBrad Davis died of AIDS^[9] and a month before basketball starMagic Johnson announced he had HIV.^[8]

Rambocame out as bisexual in an interview withThe Washington Post on November 25, 1991.^[8]

The actor admitted in November 1991 that he had an addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs for several years. His time onDallas was not a happy one, and his addiction significantly worsened after he left the show. He entered theBetty Ford Center for treatment in the summer of 1991 and became sober. Rambo denied he had ever been an intravenous drug user.^[8]

Dack Rambo died on March 21, 1994, at the age of 52 of complications fromAIDS.^[10]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDack Rambo.

• Dack Rambo atIMDb
• Dack Rambo atFind a Grave

• 1941 births
• 1994 deaths
• 20th-century American male actors
• Male actors from California
• AIDS-related deaths in California
• American male film actors
• American male soap opera actors
• American male television actors
• People from Tulare County, California
• American twins
• People from Delano, California
• LGBTQ people from California
• Western (genre) television actors
• 20th-century American LGBTQ people
• American bisexual male actors

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