Trivia

According to a 1994 Entertainment Weekly profile of Ron Vawter by Stephen Schaefer, Philadelphia (1993) director Jonathan Demme had to convince TriStar Pictures to hire Vawter to play Bob Seidman. TriStar wanted Demme to hire someone else because Vawter was HIV-positive, and the insurance company covering the film refused to extend coverage to him. Demme managed to convince TriStar to allow the hiring of Vawter anyway, both because Vawter was the actor that Demme wanted and because refusing to hire an actor because of his HIV-positive status would have been particularly ironic in the context of a movie that is premised on the injustice of a lawyer being fired because he is HIV-positive.

Was one of three Le silence des agneaux (1991) cast members to be recast for the sequel Hannibal (2001) with Anthony Hopkins and Frankie Faison. Jodie Foster refused to return to her Oscar-winning role, so she was replaced by Julianne Moore. Vawter's death required him to be replaced by Ray Liotta.

Was suffering from AIDS.

Appeared in two films for Jonathan Demme: Le silence des agneaux (1991) and Philadelphia (1993). He also appeared on Deux flics à Miami (1984), which was created by Michael Mann, the director of the first Hannibal Lecter film, Le Sixième Sens (1986).

Founding member of the avant-garde theater ensemble, The Wooster Group. (other members include Spalding Gray and Willem Dafoe).