Living Proof is a 2008 Lifetime Made-for-TV Movie Based on a True Story of Dr. Dennis Slamon's work developing the breast cancer drug Herceptin.
Harry Connick Jr. stars as Denny Slamon, leading an All-Star Cast that includes Bernadette Peters, Regina King, Amanda Bynes, Jennifer Coolidge, Angie Harmon, and more. The film was co-produced by Renée Zellweger, who had a friend saved by Herceptin.
This film includes examples of:
- Composite Character: All of the Herceptin patients except for Barbara Bradfield.
- The Ghost: Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC Television at the time of the film's events. His wife Lilly is a major supporting character and one of Slamon's best friends, and many of Lilly's scenes are in public social situations where her husband would certainly be in attendance and is frequently name-dropped.
- The Intern: Jamie is assigned to Slamon for work-study despite being an English major, because none of the science students wanted to work with him.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Dr. Reinhart is dead-set on killing Slamon's study, even after the first two phases of FDA testing were successful. After he is transferred, phase 3 is immediately greenlit.
- Professor Guinea Pig: Aversion. Slamon never had cancer, especially not breast cancer, so he literally couldn't test Herceptin on himself, even if he had been willing to break FDA regulations like that.
