Danny had been hospitalized seven times for complications related to AIDS.

Cannon remained by his side throughout.

- One late night at Rush Hospital's AIDS unit, I'm watching an old movie with Danny.

A resident walks in, "Oh, I see you have company.

I'll come back later."

He goes, "Oh, that's Lori.

Whatever you have to say, go right ahead."

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you, you now have full-blown AIDS."

And I said, "Danny, do you have AIDS again?"

The doctor is beside himself.

I said, "Doctor, he was diagnosed full-blown a year ago.

It's not in the chart," just to see Danny laugh.

(Danny laughing) - [Narrator] Laughter provided much needed relief as Danny was about to begin an intense bout of chemotherapy to treat a growing cancer in his lungs.

- Danny was at Illinois Masonic for some time, and the stare that he had in his eyes was just so depressing.

- It was shocking sometimes.

Sometimes you'd walk in and I'd say, "This little old man is sitting in the bed, and it was Danny.

You know, he'd lost all his hair.

He lost his weight.

- Danny was never great about doing all of the things his doctors wanted him to do.

I'd heard him say, "If I do all those things, it means I'm accepting that I'm gonna die.

I know I'm gonna die, but I don't have to accept it.

I'm a living person."

- [Narrator] As Danny languished, his partner, Scott McPherson was finding success with his play, the story of two sisters caring for ailing relatives.

- Marvin's Room was a hit.

The whole country liked it.

- [Narrator] And so did Robert De Niro.

The actor produced it as a movie with Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton playing the sisters.

- Oh, Dad.

(pill bottles clattering) - [Narrator] But McPherson's health was declining quickly.

- We all shifted into caregiver mode.

We were proud to play that role for him.

- [Narrator] In early 1992, Danny was rushed to the hospital with shortness of breath.

Weeks later, his treatments were failing and he was nearing the end, but he was due one more moment in the spotlight.

IMPACT, the organization whose gala he had crashed the year before, now planned to honor him.

- How dare IMPACT give Danny this award?

But we did.

It wasn't a hard decision.

We all knew the work and everything that Danny did and put into making life better for people with AIDS.

(audience clapping) - [Narrator] Danny was too weak to attend, but with help, McPherson was able to go in his place.

- We arranged to sneak Scott out.

As sick as he was, we wanted Scott to experience the grandeur of evening gowns and tuxedos.

- [Narrator] Cannon and Victor Salvo accepted the award on Danny's behalf.

- Victor Salvo gave a wonderful speech that night that we are all in this together.

- IMPACT, which leads this community from its center, has taken a bold step into the future of gay activism in choosing to honor the unrivaled contributions of one of our more colorful and controversial figures.

No one should underestimate the statement of solidarity we are making tonight, to those who seek our votes as much as they seek to conquer us by dividing us.

(audience clapping) - I was just very moved by those words because I did think it was true.

- Danny was someone who did not get accolades at all.

Everything he did in his life was a fight to get people to pay attention.

We must begin here and now to realize that it is never too late to say thank you.

(Victor cries) We don't say it or hear it enough.

(audience clapping) (mellow music) - And it was a smash.

And Scott got back.

He says, "Would you wheel me up to Danny?

I wanna tell him, what a beautiful evening."

And he would say, he always called him honey pie, "Oh honey pie, you should have seen this room.

Oh, it was beautiful."

(mellow music) - Scott was like, "They were all applauding for you.

They were all cheering for you."

You kind of hope he heard it.

(mellow music) - Danny and Scott were in the hospital at the same time and in the same room.

And they literally had the beds close enough so that they could do this.

(mellow music) - That was the night of the second.

And of course, he passed on the fifth at 7:05 a.m. just as the sun was coming up.

- I just sobbed for 20 minutes.

I had the pillow over my face.

I was worried my neighbors were gonna call the police.

- I had last seen him within hours before he died.

And one of the last things he told me was, "You will miss me.

Six months from now, you will miss me."

And he was absolutely right.