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Rock Hudson Bio
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Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered as being the first celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness. He was born on November 17, 1926 as Roy Harold Scherer Jr. in Winnetka, Illinois. After his parents divorced in 1929, Roy was adopted and his name was changed to Roy Fitzgerald. As a young man, Rock worked as a movie usher and a truck driver.
The man responsible for Roy’s stage name was his agent, Henry Willson. He used a combination of the Rock of Gibraltar and the Hudson River to come up with Rock Hudson. Rock’s first small part was in the film Fighter Squadron (1948). Although he only had one line, Hudson went through 38 grueling takes before he got it right. That prompted Rock to continue to take lessons in acting, singing, dancing, fencing, and horse riding to perfect the skills that would make him a star.
Although on-screen Hudson stole many women’s hearts, off screen he was a homosexual that had affairs with a number of men. His agent, Henry, was also homosexual and advised Hudson to marry his secretary, Phyllis Gates, in 1955. The marriage allowed the studio to cover up Rock’s sexual preferences, which at the time they considered to be a liability at the box office.
Gates claimed she was not aware that Hudson was gay at the time of the marriage, but she has said that she eventually found out. The couple divorced in 1958. Gates then reportedly tried to blackmail Hudson.
It is said that Hudson had an enormous sex drive and often demanded sexual favors from other male clients of Willson who landed small parts in his films. He was also a regular attendant of Henry Willson’s pool parties throughout the 1950s where he would hook up with other men.
The media became obsessed with forcing Hudson to come out of the closet. One magazine even had a standing offer of $10,000 to anyone who had stories relating to Hudson’s sexuality. Hudson himself never publicly admitted to being gay.
To keep photographers and ex-lovers from going to the media, Willson paid off members of the Los Angeles Police Force, the Mafia, as well as private detectives to prevent photographs or other information from leaking to the media. Willson was also said to have a relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, who could take care of any black-mailers that may try to use Hudson.
Hudson began to be promoted in film magazines thanks mostly to his rugged good looks. His first successful film as a leading man was Giant (1956) which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Many today consider Hudson’s finest performance to be in the thriller, Seconds (1966). The film was considered ahead of its time however, and performed poorly at the box office.
Throughout the 1970s, Hudson lost his box office appeal but continued to find success on television. Between the years of 1971 and 1978 Hudson starred on the series, McMillan and Wife alongside Susan Saint James.
In the early 1980s, Hudson joined the cast of the television show, Dynasty. At the same time he was suffering from HIV which made it difficult for him to speak and resulted in severe memory loss. On June 5, 1984 Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS, but his publicity staff told the public that he had been diagnosed with liver cancer.
Hudson died on October 2, 1985 after an exhaustive search for a cure that took him around the world. His partner, Marc Christian filed a palimony lawsuit following Hudson’s death against his estate on the grounds that he had never been told by Hudson that he was HIV positive. The jury awarded Christian $25 million, which was then reduced by the judge to $5 million.
His close friends Doris Day, Carol Burnett, and Ronald Reagan all rallied behind Hudson following his death, which also prompted Reagan to focus the public’s awareness on AIDS and finding a cure.
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Yuddy top celebrities
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