Actress Shirley MacLaine was so touched by a reader's account of his brother Danny's death from Aids, she decided to post it on her personal website.

Shirley starred as Aurora Greenway alongside Jack Nicholson in the classic film Terms Of Endearment in 1983.

Her character has to endure the agony of outliving her daughter, who dies from cancer.

The author of our article wrote to Shirley, 66, to share the experience of his elder brother's death at 35.

He wrote: "I thought you would be fascinated by this story of my family and probably be in a better position than me to make sense of it all."

Shirley's response was: "It is an incredible, touching story, one that we feel should be shared and open the hearts of many to understanding."

Here is an excerpt of the story which you can find on www.readerswrite.co.uk.

Danny's family never guessed his secret In the early 80s my elder brother Danny left home and simply disappeared for 3 years. My parents were distraught for obvious reasons although I felt that my 22 year old brother was a pretty resourceful chap and that he had an adventurous hidden agenda and would one day re-emerge, successful and happy.

One Christmas Day, several years later, we had a call from him in Hawaii. He was as drunk as a skunk and in his cups telling us all that he was well, loved us and missed us. He gave no clues, however, to where he was living. He repeated this the following year.

In the interim, my elder sister Mary was recruited by a company in Los Angeles to put her skills to good use in an area where there was a shortage of nurses and midwives. Being disgruntled with the National Health Service and the cloudy skies of Leicester, she went off like a hairy Bear. Where did she end up? Long Beach, just 5 or so miles from where, we subsequently found out, Danny was living in Wilmington. Coincidence? I think not....

The story of Danny will be added to the Shirley MacLaine website later this year. The address is www.shirleymaclaine.com- which you can find on www.readerswrite.co.uk