An Early Frost

An Early Frost is a 1985 American drama television film directed by John Erman and written by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, based on a story by Sherman Yellen. It was first broadcast on NBC on November 11, 1985. Aidan Quinn stars as Michael Pierson, a Chicago attorney who goes home to break the news to his parents, played by Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, that he is gay and has AIDS. Sylvia Sidney, D. W. Moffett, and John Glover also star.

An Early Frost was the first major film with major motion picture stars broadcast on a major television network to deal with the topic of AIDS. It was viewed by 34 million households in its initial airing, the highest rated show of the night, even beating Monday Night Football. It received 14 Emmy nominations, winning 3 including Best Original Teleplay, a Peabody Award, as well as multiple Golden Globe nominations, including one for Sylvia Sidney, who won for Best Supporting Actress. It was a major breakthrough into mass culture, as it was the first time an American audience of that size saw a film about a gay man who had AIDS, which up until then was considered a gay disease.