Zelda Rubinstein, 1933-2010
Zelda Rubinstein, 1933-2010
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Everyone knows Zelda Rubinstein from her appearances in the Poltergeist movies, and horror fans will remember her roles in Teen Witch, Tales from the Crypt, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and one of my favorite films of all time, Anguish. She also did a ton of other low budget films, TV guest spots and cartoon voices, many more than the (in my opinion) dismissive Los Angeles Times obituary would have you believe.
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But one project that most straight fans may have probably forgotten, and gay fans should never forget, is the series of L.A. Cares HIV/AIDS awareness print ads she appeared in long before it became fashionable with most of Hollywood. Yes, before Elizabeth Taylor and Madonna. In fact, Rubinstein appeared in the campaign for two years, then, as she says, “Elizabeth Taylor came along with a bundle of money and I was out of the picture.”
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The ads, which debuted in Los Angeles on billboards and bus stops in 1984, portrayed Rubinstein as “Mother” cautioning her “boys” to bring their rubbers, not to play with strangers, and to play safe. The campaign took off, and soon the posters were appearing in countries all over the world.
Unfortunately, Rubinstein felt sting of being an early activist when her career took a downturn after the ads appeared. The phone stopped ringing for over a year, and it wouldn’t be until Poltergeist II that she would reappear onscreen. Once Elizabeth Taylor and Madonna jumped on the HIV bandwagon, the stigma of being a spokeperson would disappear and Rubinstein was back to work.
Once the L.A. Cares campaign ended, she found other ways to participate in the cause, including walking in the very first LA AIDS Walk 25 years ago, and many thereafter, including years when she was confined to a wheelchair.
Other biographers will do a much better job eulogizing Rubinstein than I can, so I’ll let them cover all the bases I have missed. But I’ll say this - I was always a fan of her filmwork (even when the films were beneath her), and it was comforting thinking of her as “Mother” looking out for me. She will be missed.
