An Early Frost

*An Early Frost*
An Early Frost
	DVD cover
Genre	Drama
Written by	Ron Cowen; Daniel Lipman
Story by	Sherman Yellen
Directed by	John Erman
Starring	Aidan Quinn; Gena Rowlands; Ben Gazzara; Sylvia Sidney; D. W. Moffett; John Glover
Music by	John Kander
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Perry Lafferty; Art Seidel
Cinematography	Woody Omens
Editor	Jerrold L. Ludwig
Running time	95 minutes
Production company	NBC Productions
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	November 11, 1985
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An Early Frost is a 1985 American made-for-television drama film. It was the first major film with major motion picture stars, Aidan Quinn, Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, and Sylvia Sidney, broadcast on a major television network, NBC, 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.

It was first broadcast on the NBC television network on November 11, 1985. It was directed by John Erman, from the Emmy Award-winning teleplay written by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman (story by Sherman Yellen). Aidan Quinn stars as Michael Pierson, a Chicago attorney who goes home to break the news that he is gay and has AIDS to his parents, played by Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands.