Elm Street Star Mark Patton Hospitalized With HIV Complications, Seeks Help

Mark Patton, an American interior designer and out actor best known for his starring role on A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, has been hospitalized due to HIV-related ailments.

A GoFundMe page was set up by Patton’s manger, Peter Valderrama, who apologized for a Chicago show Patton had to cancel due to the hospitalization. Writing that Patton “has been ill for quite some time now,” Valderrama noted they originally believed the sickness was the aftershocks of COVID and could be managed with some rest and recuperation.

While Patton initially wanted to keep the news private, the cancellation of events prompted him to release the news in hopes he could find some help.

The fundraiser notes that Patton is currently in a Mexican hospital (he owns and operates an art store with his partner in Puerto Vallarta) that is “completely overcome with COVID cases.” Communication at the hospital is a problem as staff speak little English, according to Valderrama.

The fundraiser asks for donations to transport Patton to an American hospital in Mexico where he can receive “more specialized care in a safer setting.”

A statement from Patton on the fundraiser page says, “Basically I am asking for help I will not be embarrassed… I just want to be healthy and at home with family.”

Donations not only help with the transfer, but also help cover the $300 a day cost of the American hospital. Patton also notes that he is “too compromised” to remain where he is.

After initially being diagnosed with AIDS in 1999 and given only a year to live, Patton says, “I have faced these medical challenges before and I know I have a lot of fight left in me — but the last few years have been crippling for me financially. I have always lived month to month and I have been struggling with medical visits since October.”

With thanks, he finishes, “If anyone is able to contribute it would mean a life saving option for me to be recovering in a place that can cater to my condition.”

Patton had a memorable star turn in the first sequel to 1984's blockbuster horror film, A Nightmare on Elm Street. The actor, closeted at the time, was the "final guy" in Freddy's Revenge, a film many saw as queer-coded. In 2013, Patton came out as gay in Plus, and a 2019 documentary — Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street — chronicled his journey through Hollywood and surviving his HIV diagnosis.