Dack Rambo’s Double Tragedy

Dak Rambo’s tragic death wasn’t the end of the rumors about his private life. Decades after his passing, one of Rambo’s friend’s wrote a tell-all book and revealed one last shocking secret about the heartthrob. Dak Rambo somehow made the nearly impossible move from a small-town farm boy to TV superstar. It probably helped that he had his twin brother along with him for the ride. It seemed like these ruggedly handsome siblings could do anything they put their mind to. But when a tragic accident split the two men up, Dak Rambo’s life took a horrible turn for the worse. Norman J. Rambo was born in California in 1941. The Rambo family consisted of mom and dad, three boys, and a girl. Norman and his twin brother Orman were the middle children of four. Having twins was a boon for the Rambo family. With Norman and Orman, they had two young men to work the fields and milk the cows on their farm. The boys eventually grew up into handsome and rugged young men, but they had a problem with their names. As the boys got older, they started to resent the fact that their parents had called them names that sounded so similar. There was only one letter separating them. So, they decided to choose their own names, Dak and Durk. With their new show names, the Rambo twins weren’t going to be happy working the farm for long. Dak and his twin brother packed up and the two headed to Los Angeles. There, they began looking for work as actors. They studied with acting coach Lee Strasburg, who had worked with big stars like Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. The Rambo twins took their classes seriously, but they were staying with their aunt, and she insisted they go to church. Little did they know that going to church was going to get them their first job. By coincidence, television star Loretta Young attended the same church. When she saw the Rambo twins, she had an idea. She was making the new Loretta Young show and thought that the addition of the Rambo boys would liven things up. The new Loretta Young show featured Young as a widowed mother of seven children. The Rambo twins played two of her sons, but the series wasn’t nearly as popular as her original show, and CBS canceled it after just one season. It must be nice to have a pair of pants. Dak and his brother Durk weren’t ready to go back to the farm just yet. Durk managed to get an episode on the western TV show The Virginian, then another on the highly popular show Dragnet. Things were looking up for Durk. Then tragedy struck in Hollywood.

On February 5, 1967, Durk was killed in a car crash. Dak had tragically lost his twin brother, but he had to carry on somehow. Dak Rambo soon scored a starring role on the western TV show The Guns of Will Sonnet. One notable thing about this series is that it featured early appearances by Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper. Sadly, not even these future Hollywood legends could save the show. It only lasted two seasons. In 1971, Dak Rambo must have thought he had hit the big time. He got the second lead in a film called River of Gold. Unfortunately, this made-for-TV movie failed to ignite any interest in his career. There was an expiry date on Rambo’s life in Hollywood, and it was coming up quickly. What followed was a long list of guest appearances on shows like Wonder Woman, Charlie’s Angels, and The Love Boat. It was paying the bills, but it must have felt like a disappointment compared to having the starring role. After a lead in another failed action series, Sword of Justice, Rambo took his talents to daytime TV. On the soap opera All My Children, he played the character Steve Jacabe. All My Children was a soap opera juggernaut, and some actors were lucky enough to stay there a long time, but not Dak. His stint lasted just 11 episodes and he was soon back looking for work. He then landed a rare recurring role on Fantasy Island where he played Prince Peter Danati for six episodes. Someone must have seen something they liked in Rambo on Fantasy Island. The pressure of prime-time soap operas was becoming big business and ABC had an idea for a new one, Paper Dolls, which was set in the world of fashion modeling. The show had success written all over it with big-name stars like Lloyd Bridges, Morgan Fairchild, and Lauren Hutton.

Dak Rambo had the role of Bridges’ son, Wesley Harper, dealing with Harper cosmetics and starting new ventures. Critics loved Paper Dolls and encouraged viewers to give it a chance, but the show had a big problem: Major League Baseball. Because of scheduling, Paper Dolls kept getting overshadowed by baseball playoffs. The show knew it was in trouble, so it created an almost impossible number of cliffhangers to keep its audience glued to their TV sets, featuring characters like Lorna’s mother, Jade Larner, Harper Worldwide’s advertising VP. Sadly, the world would never find out if Wesley’s plan to blackmail a fashion critic would succeed. In fact, none of the cliffhangers in Paper Dolls got their chance for resolution as ABC canceled the show just three months after the first episode. Rambo’s big break was another damp squib. It was time to take stock of his life and career. In the mid-1980s, Dak’s manager sat him down and asked him what he really wanted to do. After thinking for a while, Rambo remembered his roots on the farm back in California. He decided that he wanted to be on the prime-time soap opera Powerhouse Dallas. Having grown up on a farm and also appearing in westerns, it seemed like a perfect choice. But Dallas was a top-rated prime-time show. Rambo had to convince the producers that he would be a good addition. He later said that he did all kinds of devious things to get the people at Dallas to want him. The way he described it, it sounds like one of the sinister plots that viewers came to expect from shows like Dallas. He said he schemed and manipulated to get the role. It all paid off and he did get a part, but he didn’t have a good time. He partially blames the fact that he came into the show as an outsider. The show had already been on for years and so it was difficult to fit in. He also hinted that some of the actors were just like the manipulative characters they played on the show. Rambo was unhappy and he dealt with it in the worst way possible. He turned to prescription drug use. He said it was because he needed to go to the set of Dallas everyday, a place where he didn’t feel wanted.

Rambo was looking for something to take his mind away from the show, even sporting lipstick stains on his underwear a few times. Before Marky Mark heated up advertising in his Calvin Klein briefs, there was Rambo with his own line of underwear. He called them Underwear by Dak Rambo. In adverts, he listed a number to call to get your hands on a pair, just calling 1-800-422-DAK. Rambo did eventually get out of his contract on Dallas, and in 1991, he was playing Congressman Grant Harrison on the daytime soap Another World. While rehearsing for a scene, he received a shocking message from his doctor: he had somehow contracted HIV. Rambo didn’t hold back when it came to telling the producers on Another World what was going on. He knew what his fate was. Just weeks before, AIDS had taken the life of movie star Brad Davis, and basketball player Magic Johnson had abruptly retired after contracting HIV. Of course, everyone wanted to know how Rambo had gotten sick. After all, this was a disease that was mostly prevalent in gay men at the time. And as far as the public knew, Rambo was straight. In a November 25 interview with the Washington Post, Rambo revealed that he was bisexual. In 1991, this was an incredibly brave thing for an actor to do. Evangelist Ronnie Pierce said he was a good friend of Rambo’s. He also said that at this time he and Rambo often prayed together. Eventually, Rambo wanted to share his religious beliefs. He and Pierce began speaking in churches and on Christian TV shows. When asked how he wanted fans to remember him, the man who had been an object of desire for many viewers, both male and female, had this to say: he wanted fans to remember him as a great man of God. With his friend Pierce, Rambo co-founded the Dak Rambo Healing Foundation, which helped people dealing with life-threatening illnesses. Around this time, a National Enquirer reporter named William Keck got an anonymous phone call from an employee at a medical center in California. The caller said that at her facility there was a famous prime-time soap star and he was close to the end of his life.

She said that he was in the final stages of AIDS. Keck had a feeling who it might be and he had to make a decision. He knew that his newspaper, the National Enquirer, had made headlines with a similar story about Rock Hudson. Keck admired Rambo, but he also wanted to make a name for himself as a reporter. He offered to pay the caller $860 and an extra $400 if the story made the cover. Once he had paid, he found out the details about Rambo’s condition. Keck learned that a male friend had taken Rambo to the clinic and that he was very weak. In fact, he couldn’t even sign his name. Keck and another writer for the National Enquirer knew they needed something more. They heartlessly wanted to interview Rambo as his life was leaving him. The anonymous caller supplied Rambo’s room number, and Keck and his associate headed to the clinic. When the reporters arrived at the clinic, Rambo’s bed was empty. They were too late. To Keck’s horror, the National Enquirer still published a last interview article. In his book, When You Step Upon a Star: Cringe-worthy Confessions of a Tabloid Bad Boy, Keck said that the newspaper completely invented the entire interview and that he played no part in it. While the interview was completely false, there was one truth: Rambo was gone. He died on March 21, 1994 at the Delano Regional Medical Center. He had previously said that he didn’t fear dying. He saw it as another adventure. He was buried beside his twin brother, Durk. Rambo’s life was over, but the stories about him would continue. In 2021, Shah Matt, real name Doug Probst, wrote Matt, the Musings of a Narcissist: A Survivor Story. This is a tell-all memoir about his life as a man for hire for closeted celebrities. In the book, he claims to have had encounters with TV’s Brady Bunch dad, Robert Reid, and music mogul David Geffen. According to Probst, Rambo responded to his ad.

They spoke on the phone and made a plan to meet in person. Probst, who didn’t watch much TV, had no idea who Rambo was. So, when he showed up in a beautiful and expensive Porsche, he was duly impressed. They went to a hotel together. But what Probst ended up with was far from just some meaningless fun. Even though Rambo was allegedly paying, Probst said he fell in love with Rambo. The two bonded over more than just a physical relationship. According to Probst, he was there for Rambo when he got his diagnosis, and the two men remained friends until Rambo’s death. Most of the stories about Dak Rambo reveal him to be a kind man. Sheree J. Wilson joined the Dallas cast even later than Rambo had. She too was in fear of being an outsider. She remembers that her first scene was with Rambo and she was beyond nervous. What he said to her clearly indicates the kind of man he was. When Rambo saw her nerves flare, he said to her, “Just relax. We’re all friends here.” Of course, we know that Rambo didn’t believe this. He hated being on the show, but he found the right words to comfort his anxious co-star. Rambo made a big impression on Wilson, and she had nothing but kind words for him. She noted Rambo’s bravery and said that he used his celebrity as a way to educate the public about AIDS, even when there was still so much stigma attached to it. He was facing the darkest hours of his life, and he still just wanted to help others. If you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up and subscribe for more incredible stories. Your support means everything to us. If you want to stay in who we cover next, join our membership program through the link in the description for exclusive perks and check out the videos on screen for more amazing stories.