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Rock Hudson

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Rock Hudson
from the trailer for Giant (1956)
Born
Leroy Harold Scherer, Jr.
Other namesRoy Fitzgerald
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 cm) [1]
SpousePhyllis Gates (1955 - 1958)

Rock Hudson (November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was a popular American film and television actor, noted for his splendid, virile looks and most remembered as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s. Hudson was voted Star of the Year, Favorite Leading Man, or any number of similar titles by countless movie magazines, and was unquestionably one of the most popular and well-known movie stars of the time. He completed nearly seventy motion pictures and starred in several television productions during a career that spanned over three decades. Hudson was also one of the first major Hollywood celebrities to die of AIDS-related complications.

Biography

Early life

Hudson was born Leroy Harold Scherer, Jr., in Winnetka, Illinois, the son of Katherine Wood, a telephone operator, and Roy Harold Scherer, Sr., an auto mechanic who abandoned the family during the depths of the Great Depression, in the early 1930s. His mother remarried and his stepfather adopted him, changing his last name to Fitzgerald. Hudson's years at New Trier High School were unremarkable. He sang in the school's glee club, and was remembered as a shy boy who delivered newspapers, ran errands, and worked as a golf caddy. After graduating from high school, he served in the Philippines as an aircraft mechanic for the Navy during WW II. In 1946 he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career and applied to the University of Southern California's dramatics program, but was rejected due to poor grades. Among a number of odd jobs, he worked as a truck driver for a couple of years to support himself, longing to be an actor but with no success in breaking into the movies. A fortunate meeting with powerful Hollywood talent scout Henry Willson in 1948 got Hudson his start in the business.

Early career

Willson coined Roy's new name, a combination of the Rock of Gibraltar and Hudson River, and Hudson made his debut with a small part in the 1948 Warner Bros' Fighter Squadron. According to Hollywood gossip, Hudson needed no less than thirty-eight takes before successfully delivering his only line in the film. He was further coached in acting, singing, dancing, fencing and horsebackriding, and he began to feature in film magazines where he was promoted on the basis of his good looks. Success and recognition came in 1954 with Magnificent Obsession in which Hudson plays a bad boy who is redeemed. The film received rave reviews, with Modern Screen Magazine citing Hudson as the most popular actor of the year. Hudson's popularity soared in George Stevens's Giant, based on Edna Ferber's novel and co-starring Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. As a result of their powerful performances both Hudson and Dean were nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars. Following Richard Brook's notable Something of Value in 1957 and a moving performance in Charles Vidor's A Farewell to Arms, based on Ernest Hemingway's novel, Hudson sailed through the 1960s on a cloud of romantic comedies. He portrayed humorous characters in Pillow Talk, the first of several profitable co-starring performances with Doris Day. This was followed by Come September, Send Me No Flowers, Man's Favorite Sport?, and Strange Bedfellows.

Later career

His popularity on the big screen diminished in the 1970s. He performed in a 13-city tour of the musical Camelot.[1] He was quite successful on television starring in a number of made-for-TV movies. His most successful series was McMillan and Wife opposite Susan Saint James from 1971 to 1977. In this series, Hudson played police commissioner Stewart "Mac" Mcmillan with Ms. Saint James playing his wife Sally. Their on-screen chemistry helped make the show a success.

File:McMillan&WifeDVD1.jpg
Rock Hudson with Susan Saint James in McMillan and Wife

Following years of heavy drinking and smoking, by the early 1980s, Hudson began having health problems. Heart by-pass surgery sidelined Hudson and his then-new TV show, The Devlin Connection, for a year; the show suffered for the delay and was cancelled not long after it returned to the airwaves. He recovered from the surgery, but a couple of years later Hudson's health had visibly deteriorated again, prompting different rumors. In 1984 and 1985 Hudson landed a recurring role on the television drama Dynasty. While he had long been known to have difficulty memorizing lines, now his speech itself began to deteriorate.

Personal life

While Hudson's career was blooming, he was struggling to keep his personal life out of the headlines. Throughout his career, he epitomized wholesome manliness, and In 1955 he wed his agent's secretary Phyllis Gates, and the news was made known by all the major gossip magazines. The union lasted three years. Gates filed for divorce in April 1958, charging mental cruelty; [2] Hudson did not contest the divorce, and Gates received an alimony of $250 a week for 10 years. In Gates' 1987 autobiography My Husband, Rock Hudson, the book she wrote with veteran Hollywood chronicler Bob Thomas, Gates insists that she dated Hudson for several months and lived with him for two months before his surprise marriage proposal. She claims to have married Hudson out of love and not, as it was later purported, to stave off a major expose of Hudson's sexual orientation. One magazine story, headlined "When Day Is Done, Heaven Is Waiting," quoted Hudson as saying, "When I count my blessings, my marriage tops the list."

According to the 1986 biography, Rock Hudson: His Story, by Hudson and Sara Davidson, Hudson's other (some more, some less) significant relationships were with American novelist Armistead Maupin, Jack Coates, Hollywood publicist Tom Clark, who also later published a memoir about Hudson, Rock Hudson: Friend of Mine; and Marc Christian.

Later years

In 1985, Hudson joined his old friend Doris Day for the launch of her new cable show, Doris Day's Best Friends. His gaunt visage, and his nearly-incoherent speech, was so shocking that it was broadcast again all over the national news shows that night and for weeks to come. Doris Day herself stared at him throughout their appearance together.

Hudson was diagnosed with HIV on June 5, 1984, but when the signs of illness became apparent, his publicity staff and doctors told the public that he had liver cancer. It was not until July 25, 1985, while in Paris for treatment, that Hudson issued a press release announcing that he was dying of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

In a later press release, Hudson speculated that he may have contracted HIV through transfused blood from an infected donor during the multiple blood transfusions he received as part of his heart bypass procedure. At the time of his operation, blood was not tested for the then-unknown HIV antibody. Hudson lived out the remainder of his life with dignity, withstanding the ravages of his illness and the intrusions of the tabloid press.

Shortly before his death Hudson stated, "I am not happy that I am sick. I am not happy that I have AIDS. But if that is helping others, I can at least know that my own misfortune has had some positive worth." After Hudson's death in 1985, Doris Day, widely thought to be a close off-screen friend, said she never knew that he was gay. Carol Burnett, who often worked on television and in live theatre with Hudson, was a staunch defender of her friend, telling an interviewer that she knew about his sexuality and did not care. As Morgan Fairchild said, "Rock Hudson's death gave AIDS a face." Hudson's death is said[citation needed] to have pushed his long time friend and then Republican President Ronald Reagan to change his tune on efforts to fight and publicize the epidemic.

Hudson was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea. [3] Following the funeral, his partner Marc Christian sued Hudson’s estate on grounds of "intentional infliction of emotional distress." Christian tested negative, but according to Christian, Hudson continued having sex with him for a year after Hudson knew he had AIDS. Hudson biographer, Sara Davidson, later stated that by the time she had met Rock Hudson, Christian was living in the guest house (a converted garage made into a play room - living room [4]) and Tom Clark, who had been Hudson's life partner for many years before, was living in the house.

Hudson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6104 Hollywood Boulevard.

Trivia

  • Hudson's height was 6'6".
  • Made "Top 10 stars of the year" eight times 1957-1964.
  • He served in the United States Navy during World War II as an airplane mechanic.
  • In the early 1990s, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen purchased and demolished The Castle, Hudson's house, in 9402 Beverly Crest Drive, Beverly Hills.

Filmography

Awards

  • Academy Award: Nominated 1957 Best Actor for Giant
  • Golden Globe: Winner 1959 World Film Favorite: Male actor
  • Golden Globe: Winner 1960 World Film Favorite: Male actor
  • Golden Globe: Co-Winner with Tony Curtis 1961 World Film Favorite: Male actor
  • Golden Globe: Winner 1963 World Film Favorite: Male actor

References

  1. ^ Playbill.

Sources

  • Rock Hudson: His Story by Rock Hudson and Sara Davidson (1986)
  • My Husband, Rock Hudson by Phyllis Gates (1987)
  • Rock Hudson, Friend of Mine by Tom Clark (1990)
  • Rock Hudson by David Bret (2006)
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