Transforming a Gay Truck Driver into the Biggest Star in Hollywood: Rock Hudson's Rise & Fall

in the middle of the 1950s America fell in love with Rock Hudson Rock Hudson Rock Hudson handsome rugged Rock Hudson ranked the number one box office draw in the country rock was an American ideal of 50s masculinity strong confident and above all romantic ladies and gentlemen but the figure that America worshiped as the perfect man was really a facade I don't know how long I can get away with this act propped up by years of schem Ing and betrayals we were ordered by that evil agent of his never to have our picture taken together it was a secret that stayed hidden in plain sight for years hiding in closets isn't going to cure you until a crisis struck destroying Decades of secrets and lies in an instant just what is wrong with Rock Hudson and kicking off a movement that would go on to change the course of millions of lives he pretty much did change the course of history there was no other star that made that kind of impact that hasn't been one since this is the story of Rock Hudson the romcom star who became a symbol of American masculinity wow he's a big one isn't he and what happened when that image was shattered oh we got the facts on you kid you got an evening of surprises ahead of you our story starts in the middle of the Great Depression with an extended family of 11 that shared a cramped one-bedroom Bungalow in winetka Illinois back then the boy who had become Rock Hudson was a happy kid named Roy Jr who liked playing on nearby farms and entertaining all the C cousin and aunts and uncles that he lived with but his father Roy senior felt no particular tie to his family and one day when Roy junr was 6 years old he came home from a relative's farm and his mother explained his dad had packed a suitcase and walked out that day marked a turn in young Roy's life his dad's abandonment left him sad and withdrawn lonely family members recalled that he seemed to have few interests or Joys except one Roy loved to disappear into movie theaters it's where he developed his first first crush on handsome leading man John Hall and it's where he'd wish that he could become an actor himself and join his screen Idols Roy later told a friend that he used to have dreams about a diamond surrounded by points of light and when he woke up he would tell himself that diamond was him and one day he'd escape winetka and become a famous movie star but that wasn't a dream that he could share with many people especially after his mother got remarried to a man named Wallace Fitzgerald who thought Roy Jr was too weak Wallace confiscated toys that he considered girly he punished Roy for showing emotion and when Roy let it slip that he wanted to be an actor Wallace beat him I could never freely say I'm going to be an actor when I grow up yeah because that's [ __ ] stuff Roy learned early in life he'd have to lie to protect himself about what he liked and who he liked only a few people knew about his acting Ambitions and according to some his mother was one of them and she wanted to help make them come true shortly after her son graduated from high school she left her abusive second husband and then she and Roy moved out to Pasadena California so they could be close to Hollywood while Roy studied acting at USC there was also something else calling them out west after Roy's father walked out on them he settled in LA and opened an appliance store as it happened not too far from the campus where Roy had enrolled Roy had spent years missing his father and one day between classes he tracked down his dad's address showed up and introduced himself at first it was a warm reunion his father invited him in and even said Roy could stay with him while he went to school but then Roy told his dad he was studying to become an actor his father recoiled not very stable he said and told Roy that he should give up that dream and join his father in The Appliance business Roy really wanted a relationship with his dad and he gave it a shot for 6 months his father sent him door Todo selling vacuum cleaners and at the end of that period Roy hadn't sold a single one his father sensing that his son's heart really wasn't in the retail business fired him and kicked him out of the house with no money coming in Roy had to drop out of school and take the only job that he could find driving a delivery truck he tried to make the best of it he bought a suit best he could afford a Shabby outfit that barely fit and between deliveries he' drive to the gates of movie studios change into the suit and hang around outside hoping to be noticed that didn't work rejected ignored Roy's dream of becoming a star seemed totally Out Of Reach how does a truck driver get to be a movie star anyhow it was while he was trying to figure out his next steps that he stumbled across a group of people that he never knew existed in the mid1 1940s La had a relatively large gay scene if you knew where to look homosexuality was considered a crime and a mental illness queer people had to stay quiet and underground in a later Memoir Roy recalled stumbling across a bar where a bunch of guys were listening to a woman sing dirty songs he joined them and they invited him to a nearby Beach that was favored by gay men fun and gay there Reigns Supreme in an atmosphere of complete inform formality my boy coming from a small conservative Town Roy had never known any openly queer people before but now he had some friends to hang out with friends he didn't have to hide anything about himself from and better yet friends who worked in chiz among them was a couple named Mark and George Mark and George were a few years older than Roy both working actors and in their home Roy saw stability domestic happiness Mark and George took him under their wing they looked out for him they become something like the loving father figures that he'd never had seeing a happy committed gay couple gave Roy some hope that he might fall in love with someone too and that's just what happened when a mutual friend introduced him to a man named Ken hodj Ken was a radio producer and from the moment he and Roy met there was instant attraction they started spending all their time together and they soon moved into a shared Department in Hollywood from Ken's time working in radio he'd made a few entertainment industry connections and he wanted to help Roy get his acting career off the ground he offered to become Roy's unofficial agent it was Ken who got Roy his first professional head shot shots introduced him to his colleagues and threw parties so Roy could Network and it was likely at one of Ken's parties that Roy met a man named Henry Wilson Henry was a powerful agent who represented big stars and who had a reputation for pressuring his clients for sex in exchange for work Henry extended an invitation to Roy to come to a private meeting at Henry's house so they could discuss his future and when he showed up at Henry's Place Henry was ready he watched Roy walk up the pathway and he turned on the sprinklers so by by the time Roy got to the door his cheap suit was soaking wet Henry helped him out of it and then made his pitch he could make Roy star told him there was just one thing standing in their way Ken Roy's boyfriend and unofficial agent Henry made it clear if Roy wanted his help he'd have to drop Ken it was a difficult decision Henry knew the most powerful people in Hollywood he worked with the major Studios he'd already transformed many other upand comers into big names he could open doors that Ken could never access and so Roy returned to Ken and told him he was going to sign with Henry it was just good business but Ken was devastated he felt betrayed heartbroken he moved out of the home that he shared with Roy couldn't stand to see their circle of friends anymore and moved to Europe his family said in later interviews that Ken never fell in love again Roy hadn't meant to hurt him but it was done and now with the new client in his clutches Henry got to work trying to make Roy a star according to Henry one of the first things he did was give him a tougher butcher name Rock Hudson but according to at least one of Roy's friends that's a lie it was actually Ken who came up with the name and Henry stole it whatever the case by the late 1940s the transformation had begun from Roy Jr and awkward aspiring actor into Rock Hudson an American Dreamboat but despite the manly new name Rock wasn't an easy cell he had almost no formal training he was nervous and shy and he made a terrible first impression and Henry coached Rock to seem sophisticated and worldly and to lie about his age so he'd seem more experienced but at one early meeting with a producer when asked how old he was Rock got so flustered that he turned to Henry and said how old am I an even bigger problem as far as Henry was concerned is that rock had what Henry considered eminite mannerisms Henry told him his voice was too high he giggled too much he swayed his hips like a girl Henry watched Rock like a hawk and smacked his hand when he held a cigarette too Loosely and he smacked him elsewhere when notice Rock's hip Swang that training didn't seem to help at one point they had a meeting with a head of talent at MGM a woman named Lucille Ryman Caroll as soon as he arrived Rock tripped over his own feet and nearly smashed a glass table in Lucille's office Henry caught him but Lucille noticed that for the rest of the meeting Henry held Rock's hand to her it looked like they were lovers and that was a problem Lucille said because in her words the studio was very anti-gay when it came to hiring Stars they mostly only hired gay men in art related roles here Clarence put that in the trunk and don't wear it selfish she knew Rock wouldn't last a minute there so at the end of the meeting she thanked them for their time and sent them on their way getting desperate Henry brought rock to a meeting with director rul Walsh Walsh was a swaggering tough guy director he specialized in gangster pictures war movies westerns he wasn't impressed with Rock's acting abilities but Rock had a good-look face which rul happened to need For an upcoming project Walsh told Henry well at the very least he'll be good scenery he signed Rock to a one-year contract and ordered him to report to set for a World War II picture called Fighter Squadron it was Rock's first film roll and he was mostly in the background with just one or two lines but even in that tiny role Rock was a total clutz unfamiliar with film acting he kept standing in the wrong spot blocking the camera and ruining takes his big line in the film was you're going to need a bigger Blackboard but he flubbed it so many times they wound up giving it to another actor with rock delivering a simpler line off camera pretty soon you're going to have to write smaller numbers director Walsh was exasperated but he'd already put Rock under contract and he was stuck with him for at least a year so instead of using Rock in any other movies he had Rock paint his house drive his car run errands and eventually hoping to unload what he thought was dead weight Walsh sold Rock's contract to Universal and considered himself lucky to be done with him that was a lucky break for rock too Universal had an acting school for new talent and he could finally take some lessons but shaping rock into a screen ready presence took a lot of effort from a lot of people in post World War II America audiences wanted Leading Men Who were almost cartoonishly rugged unemotional assertive Brave aggressive almost the total opposite of rock in real life his Universal acting teachers drilled him on delivering lines with confidence they made him take lessons in boxing horseback riding sword fighting Rock struggled to develop a more Butch persona but he was committed and over time his fellow students saw a shift like the actress Ivona Carlo that's the future Lily monster she appeared with him in a handful of films and said she could see Rock style changing becoming more confident swaggering bold his teachers kept pushing one vocal coach had him deliberately get sick and then scream for hours in order to tear his vocal cords so they'd sound deeper when they healed amazingly that worked but it also did so much damage he lost his ability to sing for the rest of his life meanwhile Universal had PR people plant news stor about the Studio's rugged new star they arranged a photo shoot with Rock and his then roommate another actor named Bob prel doing manly things around the house these photos come off today as looking like a nice gay couple and in fact when the cameras weren't around Rock and Bob were casually hooking up but the public had no idea to them this just looked like a real Ladies Man the difference between Rock's personal life and his public Persona was starting to get wider and wider but for all that effort Universal Executives mostly just put Rock in minor roles usually in low-budget action films and time was running out on his contract if Universal didn't extend it he'd be out of work with few prospects his agent Henry Wilson thought Rock just needed more publicity so in late 1949 Henry decided to do something drastic every year Hollywood stars organized what was called the photographers ball a big costume party where celebrities dressed up in silly outfits and invited Paparazzi to take photos the photographers got great pictures to and the Stars got lots of free press Henry decided to send Rock to the ball with an eye-catching date an actress named Vera Ellen who was a huge star and just to make sure they got noticed Henry ordered them to strip down cover themselves in gold paint and carry swords so they looked like a pair of Oscar statues and as soon as they entered they were swarmed with photographers the stunt worked for the next few weeks photos of rock and ver Ellen's date were plastered all over newspapers and magazines that publicity got the attention of two Executives at Universal one was producer Ross Hunter a gay man known as the king of big glamorous soap opera melodramas the other executive was Ed Maul who had a pretty straight laac reputation but at least according to rock would occasionally call Rock to his office for hookups after the costume stunt garnered more public interest in rock these two Executives decided he was being wasted in pulpy action films they wanted to put him in romances instead and they had the perfect role in a film called Magnificent Obsession Rock would play a man who starts off as a selfish Rich Playboy but when he meets a blind Widow he falls in love with her and pretends to be a selfless hero so she'll love him back by the end of the movie Her Love transforms him and the Playboy realizes that the kind generous Persona he'd been playing is who he was always meant to be it was the first in a long line of films where Rock would play men who pretend to be someone they're not and he nailed it Magnificent Obsession was a big hit rock exudes that post-war male ideal of confident strong masculinity and he had great chemistry with the leading lady actress Jane Wyman who by the way was in real life recently divorced from her first husband a no Talent hack named Ronald Reagan who would re-enter Rock's life many decades later after Magnificent Obsession it was clear this was the kind of role that rock was meant to play if not born for then shaped for through the Intensive training of his agent his teachers and the pr created around him perfect archetype for American masculinity at that time that was followed by a string of successful romances many produced by gay men All That Heaven allows one desire Never Say Goodbye these movies were big hits once again playing to that 50s ideal of the American man and as audiences flocked to see Rock in these roles Universal and Henry Wilson worked together to present the same persona for rock in real life they staged dates for him with various starlets they planted news stories about his burgeoning romances in reality that version of rock was as fictional as the roles that he played on screen he was actually a a shy homebody who liked needle point cooking and crosswords when he wasn't working he liked to hang out with Mark and George the couple that had taken him under their wing and also he was known for flirting with other actors on set huh seconds maybe tomorrow Cowboy Butch it up if there was one aspect of his public Persona that hinted at the real him it was the Romantic streak while he played a man who was searching for the right woman on screen in real life Rock yearned to find the right man his friends Mark and George knew he was looking for love and one night they invited Rock to dinner with a friend named Jack Navar another handsome young actor and coincidentally also a client of Henry Wilson Jack was super nervous about meeting Rock and for most of the evening he just avoided him but after dinner Rock struck up a conversation with him Mark and George saw that they were getting along well and they turned down the lights and stepped outside and the evening concluded with rock extending an invitation back to his place first to listen to music and then to his bedroom that was the start of a whirlwind romance between Rock and Jack they got a shared home together they spent all their time with each other they alternated dinners with each other's moms aren't they a picture aren't they a lovely mother and son here of course they had to hide what they were doing in public which meant engineering their dates so they look like business meetings forget your job interview there's only one place raise male heterosexual dance hall if they went to a restaurant with friends they had to make sure there was at least one woman present or that there was an odd number of guys so it didn't look like dates they never let themselves be photograph together here's one of Rock's friends Joe carbury at that time nobody lived openly he wanted to yeah that bothered him Rock and Jack even developed a code for when they wanted to say I love you but other people were around they'd knock three times on a Surface one 2 three meant I love you it was very sweet but not everyone thought so Henry Wilson didn't mind when his clients had the occasional hookup and in fact he indulged in quite a few of his own but he thought that committed relationships were a risk it could lead to exposure gossip here's one of Rock's other boyfriends Lee Garlington we were ordered by Henry Wilson that evil agent of his never to have our picture taken together because somebody would see it and know that we were gay the longer Rock and Jack stayed together the more Henry wanted to drive them apart just like he' done with Rock and his boyfriend Ken a few years earlier Henry got his chance when Rock was in Italy shooting the film Captain Lightfoot Henry called Jack and casually observed rocks away and you're just sitting there why don't you and Phyllis take a trip Phyllis was Henry's secretary Phyllis Gates she was a young woman who'd grown up in the Midwest and moved to LA a few years earlier she was around Rock and Jack's age and was on a friendly basis with most of Henry's clients Henry told Jack Phyllis had a vacation coming up and had no one to go with and if Jack wasn't doing anything he ought to keep her company that sounded like fun so Jack borrowed Rock's car as he often did picked Phyllis up and they headed out on the road for a drive by all accounts it was a fairly uneventful trip but that's not the story that got back to rock there's no proof who told him but word somehow got to rock that Jack had been throwing Rowdy orgies at Rock's house while he was away that the police had come that someone had robbed the home rock called Jack in a fury and they had a big fight Jack explained he wasn't even in town and after the call he asked Henry to corroborate his story but Henry refused he told Jack that his relationship was a threat to career Henry went on to say that he and his Associates at Universal would do everything to come between them according to Jack Henry's words were threatening quote the studio is capable of taking Extreme Measures to protect a property Jack felt terrible he loved his boyfriend but he could see that rock was surrounded by people who wanted to keep him isolated and that he was easily swayed by whatever they told him jack didn't want a relationship under those conditions so when Rock got back from Italy he found that Jack had cleaned out his stuff from their home and moved on Rock was unhappy about how it went down but Henry was delighted with Jack out of the picture he could engineer more heterosexual publicity for his client why was that so urgent well by this point Rock was nearing his 30s and while he'd been seen on lots of dates with women there was no indication of any serious relationship for a 29-year-old star in the mid-50s that was a little unusual there's a rule in Hollywood for actors both gay and straight Thou shalt be married happily and respectably married whether you like it or not that's right magazines were starting to wonder what was going on life ran an article openly demanding that rock get married or explain why not to try to calm the talk Henry arranged dates for rock in highly public places with a familiar figure his secretary Phyllis Gates by all accounts Rock and Phyllis did get along well they made each other laugh they had lots in common in fact according to some who knew them Phyllis herself had dated women but for her part Phyllis later said that's not true and that she had no idea Rock was gay until years later so who's telling the truth it's hard to say for context in the 1950s homosexuality was so taboo that it was never discussed in polite company an accusation like that could end a person's career or send them to prison so it was considered polite to ignore any talk about homosexuality or to deny it outright even among queer people denying that a person was gay was thought of as the ethical loyal thing to do essentially protecting that person being a good friend so a lot of people had genuine reasons for denying the truth back then and it's hard to say for sure who knew what but whatever the case Rock and Phyllis grew close and were often seen together that satisfied some of the gossip about rock but not all of it there were some who were determined to destroy Rock's career among the tabloids of the 1950s the dirtiest sleaziest one was a magazine called confidential it was owned by a right-wing Republican named Robert Harrison who hated homosexuals saw it as his mission to expose CLA posited celebrities as one of his reporters put it quote Hollywood should be grateful we're doing the industry a favor exposing all these perverts Rock's friends Mark and George remembered every gay man working in Hollywood living in Terror of being exposed George later said every month when confidential came out our stomachs would turn which of us would be in it confidentials owner Robert Harrison had a network of informants and he was able to track down people who could ruin Rock's life the first was his former roommate Bob preal Harrison approached Bob and asked him to tell in exchanged for $10,000 that's around 115,000 in today's money Bob had lived with rock he' hooked up with him he knew everything about Rock's personal life but he turned confidential down According to some because Rock had already paid Bob more to keep quiet next Harrison found someone with even more damaging information and a potential ax to grind Jack nvar the ex-boyfriend that Henry Wilson had sent packing Jack's acting career wasn't going great and he needed cash Harrison's offer of $10,000 would have been a huge win fall and when Harrison approached Jack thought it over and then he made a call but not to Harrison to Henry Wilson to tip him off that someone was trying to take rock down even after all that he'd been through and as tough as times were Jack wouldn't turn on his ex Henry didn't share Jack's sense of Honor after he found out what confidential was planning he reached out and offered them a deal in exchange for dropping the rock story he'd give them dirt on some of his other clients Harrison accepted and sure enough confidential ran an expose on someone else check out my video about Tab Hunter for how that turned out even with that agreement in place Henry Wilson knew Rock wasn't safe word was going around that another man that rocket slept with had photos of the two of them in a compromising situation and he was planning to blackmail him Henry hired a private investigator to track the man down and demand the materials when he wouldn't turn them over Henry's goons beat the man up and took the photos Rock's repeated close calls LED his friend George to say rock had an angel on his shoulder or he'd made a packed with the devil but Henry Wilson knew he could only hold back those rumors for so long they needed a more permanent solution and so one day in the summer of 1955 Rock walked into Henry's office with a solution in hand it was a small box he handed it to Phyllis the secretary that had become friendly with and he told her it was something he'd been given in exchange for appearing on a TV show when Phyllis opened the box inside she found a diamond ring she looked at him in Surprise and he told her you can have it she was a little confused did he just propose she said no thanks but he insisted I want you to have it Phyllis later said she was pretty annoyed about how weird he was being the details of what happened next are a little foggy and everybody has a different version but one way or another a few weeks later Rock and Phyllis were standing at a courthouse filling out a marriage certificate according to Phyllis she and rock had fallen in love very fast and simply couldn't wait to get married According to some of Rock's Friends Henry and Universal Executives forced Rock to marry her to put a stop to the rumors however it happened the whole thing was definitely organized by Henry Wilson everyone agrees he's the one who brought them to the marriage counter and he even picked out phyllis's dress a lovely Bridal Brown and he arranged it so that after the ceremony Rock and Phyllis didn't call their families to tell them first they called reporters the marriage was a major surprise to everybody and a huge news story it was covered by every celebrity magazine in extensive detail for weeks if there were any rumors about rock being gay this effectively drowned them out to the Delight of rock and especially Henry and at least at first to friends it looked like rock and Phyllis had a genuinely happy marriage they went on double dates with Mark and George they seemed warm and affectionate meanwhile Rock's career was in better shape than ever offers were pouring in the most tempting from director George Stevens Stevens was making a film version of the book giant it's a multi-generation epic about an oil family sort of a precursor to the show Dynasty Stevens loved Rock's manly onscreen Swagger and he wanted him for the film's lead an oil tycoon named Bick Benedict a man who's strong but stubborn to the point of being self-destructive Rock wanted that role too it was more complex than the Flawless perfect man heroes he'd been playing there was just one problem giant was being made at Warner Brothers and rock was under contract to Universal Stevens asked Universal to loan rock out but Executives refused it was going to be a lengthy shoot which meant they wouldn't have their top star for months at a time but Rock was determined According to some sources he went to Ed mul Universal's head of production who Rock said had a desperate crush on him it's a little unclear what happened to that meeting according to rock Ed usually spent their time together on his knees but whatever transpired Rock's loan out was approved immediately afterward before filming began director George Stevens told rock that bck Benedict needed to be rugged viral a paragon of masculinity the type of character Rock had played a dozen times before but Stevens also wanted more depth a hidden emotional side that only only those close to the character could see Stevens took Rock to a screening room where he prepared hours of footage of what he considered Cinema's greatest Leading Men Gary Cooper and Spencer Tracy he told Rock to study them pick up what made them work create a character who melded their manly traits it's noteworthy that Stevens picked those two actors it was an open secret in Hollywood that in the 1920s Gary Cooper had a close relationship with an actor named Anderson Lawler and those who knew Spencer Tracy later described his quiet hookups with men of course times being what they were neither Cooper nor Tracy ever spoke publicly about those relationships and others who knew them denied the rumors including Katherine heurn but denials of homosexuality were simply expected back then and heern was known for zealously protecting the privacy of people in her life as she told biographer Anne Edwards I don't care what you write as long as it's not the truth meanwhile telegrams and letters reveal loving language between Gary Cooper and Anderson Lawler as well as a close relationship between Spencer Tracy and the Sportsman Timothy Durant the depths of those relation ships weren't public knowledge but they were well known to Hollywood insiders in essence Stevens wanted Rock to study two actors who were known for having queer personal lives who' created manly characters on screen and who' done it so well they had become icons of masculinity Rock busied himself with his studies and then he headed out to join the rest of the cast in Texas right away there was tension when he met one of his co-stars a younger actor named James Dean Dean had just appeared as a troubled youth in Rebel Without a Cause And he did not get along with rock he stepped on Rock's lines he upstaged him in scenes and pulled Focus away off camera he was standoffish and openly hosle according to people who knew him James Dean thought Rock was a hypocrite for taking roles that were so different from who he was in real life Dean had studied method acting and he thought that actors should base their performances on something genuine and personal that's the approach they had taken on Rebel Without a Cause Dean told his co-star by seexual actor Salo to play his character as if he was in love with Dean's character but Rock wasn't interested in that approach he preferred to put as much distance as he could between himself and his characters and as shooting went on he needed an escape from the hostility on the set he found it with his other co-star Elizabeth Taylor Taylor had been acting since she was a child and like rock she' been trained to play a character whenever she was around other people her whole life she'd been told to always be on her best behavior to make a good impression to exude femininity just as rock represented the perfect man so it was a huge relief that she could let her guard down with rock she could goof off and just have fun during filming they'd make each other laugh during takes they went out drinking together during a hail storm they ran around Gathering chunks of ice for drinks getting big bruises wherever the hailstones hit them one night they invented a chocolate martini and they got so drunk that the next day they kept throwing up during their scenes in fact they had so much fun that people back in La started to get suspicious at the time Taylor was married to producer Michael Todd and he was convinced that she was having an affair with Rock Hudson Rock's wife Phyllis also got a little concerned and both both she and Todd took a train out to the set to check on their spouses but what they found was no hanky panky just two actors who had spent years under intense pressure to project a certain Public Image finally away from Hollywood for a few weeks free to cut loose and have a little fun Rock and Elizabeth's closeness translated really well to the big screen even in serious scenes they make a compelling loving couple and when giant came out in November of 1956 it was an immediate hit it got numerous Oscar nominations including one for rock he was thrilled and he hoped this would lead to more interesting complex roles flawed men struggling to balance masculinity and fallibility and the roles that followed were a simple pure-hearted war hero a noble reporter a selfless Soldier not the Nuance or depth he'd hope for even after giant directors only wanted Rock to play uncomplicated men essentially just a pretty face he was still playing good scenery just like in his first film the image of the perfect man had been created so perfectly for him he just just couldn't escape Rock's best chance at a more complex role came in an adaptation of William F's tarnished Angels where he'd play a complex disreputable man in preparation Rock bought a Shabby suit and used shoes to look like he was down on his lock but when Executives saw him they were Furious they told him you can't play the part like that you're a star you have to be welld dressed as far as they were concerned Rock could only appear in cleancut roles with each picture that he did it became clear that what he wanted didn't matter to the people around him the the only thing that mattered was selling him to the public as a perfect man on screen and off that pressure was taking a heavy toll on both Rock and on his wife Phyllis since they'd been married Rock had been working non-stop and she started to feel left out he was constantly filming traveling promoting when she came to set he ignored her and when he came home his mind was somewhere else and indeed it was somewhere else on how frustrated he was that he couldn't hook up with other men anymore both Rock and Phyllis were feeling intense pressure and unhappiness and they started lashing out things reached a Breaking Point when Universal sent them to Italy for a husband and wife press tour in her Memoir Phyllis recounted how they were walking through Rome and they heard a voice calling Rock's name they turned to see a handsome Italian man approaching Rock explained to Phyllis he'd met the man years earlier when he was in Italy filming a war movie Phyllis watched the two men catch up and then make plans to meet each other the next day what seemed like it was clearly a hookup after the Italian man had it off she and rock got into a bitter fight as Phyllis describes it she used a homophobic slur to describe the Italian man to which rock responded by slapping her that terrible moment seems to have been a turning point in their relationship they tried to make up afterwards but neither one trusted the other and they both started planning their escape from the marriage for his part Rock spent even less time at home and he started seeing other men Phyllis was fed up and she not only confronted Rock about being gay she hired a private eye to plant a secret tape recorder in their her house the recording captured Phyllis asking Rock to confirm that he was a homosexual Rock starts to cry Phyllis tells him he's destroying his career he tells her it's not something he can help that he doesn't want to lose her she says she wants to help him and then they both changed the subject by that point Phyllis was already deep into planning a divorce Rock could probably tell because one morning he walked out leaving a note that it was time for them to go their separate ways there was a quick divorce proceeding and then after just 3 years the marri was over that breakup was rough on both of them and on their friends many of whom felt like they needed to take sides in particular Mark and George the couple who had always looked out for rock were Furious about how he had treated Phyllis and they stopped talking to rock for a year with the marriage over Rock needed something to revamp his Public Image an opportunity came along in 1959 thanks to producer Ross Hunter who had put Rock in his first starring romantic roles Hunter was now working with the singer Doris Day who had a very cleancut wholesome image hunter wanted to shake things up and put her in something daring a sexy romantic comedy with Rock Hudson as the leading man when Ross approached Rock about doing a romcom he was dubious he'd only ever done soapy melodramas but hunter insisted he'd be perfect that playing a funny part as though it was serious would only make it funnier and so rock agreed and work began on a film to be called Pillow Talk in the film Rock's character and Doris's character play neighbors who can't stand each other but they've only ever communicated on the have you any idea what it's like to be on a party line with a a sex maniac Rock's character happens to meet her at a nightclub and he realizes who she is he decides he'll trick her into falling in love with him by posing as a shy Southern gentleman but then to his surprise he falls in love with her and shenanigans and Su there's something so wholesome about a man who loves animals I hope this stupid horse knows where he's supposed to go having Rock play a man who Woos a woman under false pretenses was strangely true to life I don't know how long I can get away with this act especially since the movie includes a sequence in which he leads Doris's character to think that he might be gay there are some men who just uh well they're very devoted to their mothers you know the type that likes to uh collect cooking recipes or exchange bits of Gossip that was such a bold and risque plot point that the production code Administration intervened to make them tone down the gay inuendo and given the rumors about rock it really seems like they were playing with fire tell me about your job must be very exciting working with all them colors and fabrics and all but by the end of the film the character's homosexuality turns out to be a ruse and everyone winds up heterosexually coupled mommy where are that man taking that lady sh I'll tell you when you're older audiences loved Rock's comedic turn so much that Universal started churning out rockets and romcoms as fast as they could and strangely almost all of them have at least a little little queer subtext Pillow Talk was followed by lover comeback in which Rock's character once again poses as someone he's not then there's strange bedfellows in which rock is told that he has to change his lifestyle from now on you're going to have a new look no more gay married Bachelor and then winds up in bed with another man would you like to put your money where I imagine your mouth is you'll come I'd be delighted and also a very special favor which includes this line from his character psychiatrist hiding in closets isn't going to cure you despite all the gay innuendo in these films the heterosexuality of Rock's character is always affirmed in the end and these romcoms proved incredibly successful they're the roles that he would probably be remembered most for but despite their success Rock started to get a little tired of roles like these he was also getting tired of his agent Henry Wilson Rock had stuck with Henry after all these years but those who knew him said that rock had always resented Henry for pushing him to marry Phyllis Rock was also annoyed that Henry took credit for all his success and that Henry had advised Rock to pass on parts that he really wanted like the lead in Ben her which wound up going to Charlton hon and won an Oscar for it but Henry didn't care that rock was annoyed from his point of view Rock needed him and he didn't have the nerve to fire him but there was something that Henry wasn't counting on in 1964 Rock met a press agent who worked at MGM named Tom Clark there was an instant attraction and they started dating secretly of course as part of Hollywood's PR machine Tom knew all about Henry's bad reputation his sleazy deals he started pushing Rock to get rid of Henry Rock resisted at first but then things started to change when Henry picked up a new client named dick Scher Henry was totally obsessed with dick he renamed him chance Gentry and he lavished attention on him and he ignored Rock friends recalled seeing Rock getting increasingly jealous until finally he couldn't take it anymore with Tom by his side rock called Henry told him he was leaving and tried to let him down easy it was after all just business but Henry didn't take it well he screamed at rock that he never had any Talent he said he'd expose all of Rock's secrets that all rock had going for him was his looks and that Henry had a jar of acid in his desk that he was going to throw on Rock's face I got something for your face mother in a lifetime of rough breakups this might have been the roughest Rock went through a series of Agents after Henry but none of them were as good at picking roles for him he ended a series of flops from the mid 60s into the early '70s some lowbudget War films a heist movie that the new New York Times called soggy and a jaw-dropping sex comedy called pretty maids all in a row that movie looked promising at first it was written by Star Trek's Gene Roddenberry and it had an All-Star cast originally football player Joe namoth was supposed to be the movie's main villain the sex addicted High School coach who kills his students but when Joe dropped out and they needed a replacement the producer's wife happened to see Rock swimming and thought he'd be a handsome backup rock is definitely handsome in the role look at that mustache but he'd never played an outright villain before audien's only knew him as a romantic hero and they were totally turned off by the film especially after MGM ordered a bunch of cuts to avoid an X-Ring Roger ibert called the movie embarrassing as his movie career spiraled Rock tried switching to other media he did a made for TV movie called once upon a dead man where he played a San Francisco cop who solves crimes with his wife that was more in keeping with what people knew Rock for and it did well enough that NBC asked him to reprise the role in an occasional series that became known as McMillan and wife for the next couple of years McMillan filled NBC's schedule between episodes of Columbo and that paid well but rock found TV frustrating filming was so fast-paced there was no time for him to do the best job that he could he also tried getting to music teaming up with a singer songwriter named Rod mccuan who had a huge crush on him they recorded songs for an album called Rock gently and Rod said that rock had the best singing voice he'd ever heard but that might have been the crush talking beautiful people are treated differently from moderately Pleasant looking people remember at the start of his career Rock was told to make his voice lower by getting sick and then screaming for hours which ruined his ability to sing when we played the album for friends they struggled to find anything nice to say open the window and see all the clowns sales were disastrous in the end Rock wound up buying many of the copies himself so people wouldn't see them Gathering dust in record stores and he canceled plans for a follow-up album called Rock for the fun of it Rock's reputation was entering a nose dive just a few years earlier the theater Owners of America had named him actor of the year he got a star on the Walk of Fame a film industry trade group had ranked him at the number one box office draw for seven years in a row but by the mid-60s they bumped rock down to the number two position then number 10 and by 1970 they took him off the list completely just when things seemed like they were at their worst Along Came another setback it started as a joke between a group of men in Long Beach they were throwing a party their invitations joke that they'd be celebrating the marriage of Rock Hudson and another closeted actor Jim Neighbors there was no truth to the joke Rock and Jim were friends you can see them joking around together on this episode of The Carol brunette show but they were never romantic as Rock's housekeeper said at the time rock would never date Jim quote Jim's not even blonde but somehow the joke invites made their way to someone who thought they were real and the Rumor started spreading radio DJs joked about it gossip columnists fueled speculation there was a whole comic about it in Mad Magazine at first both Rock and Jim tried to ignore it it's a kind of thing that was easily buried in decades past I've read some pretty weird things about you in the fan magazines have you ever filed a liel suit for anything has ever been written or said about you have you wanted to and what why didn't you I've always wondered because it calls attention to it and only it makes it worse but Rock didn't have a ruthless agent like Henry Wilson to deal with those rumors anymore and the story refused to go away Rock even got heckled at a movie premiere walking the red carpet he could hear onlookers shouting the fs slur at him finally to put the whole thing to rest he and Jim gave separate interviews denying it all that they had a relationship and that they were gay that helped quiet things down but the damage was done Jim's Variety Show was quietly cancelled I have a whole separate video about Jim Neighbors and how he bounced back from that and Rock's reputation was lower than ever many producers saw him as a liability that if they cast him as romantic lead now audiences would just laugh that meant the office roles got worse than ever the director Roger Corman approached Rock about doing a disaster movie called Avalanche and rock said yes because he thought disaster movies would be hot in the 70s and while that might have been true this one was not Corman was known for schlocky lowbudget films and Avalanche is pretty unwatchable unless you watch the version from Mystery Science Theater I don't want to talk about this mess you were here I L please for the great Rock Hudson Rock's friends could see things weren't going great for him and they stepped in to help out however they could like his friends Mark and George the couple that he had met after he moved to LA Rock asked them to help him manage his business Affairs something that he' always struggled with he also got a Lifeline from Carol brnette they'd become friendly when Rock appeared on her show and in the 1970s she invited Rock to join her in a touring production of the romcom musical I do I do rock had never done much live theater and he wasn't sure he was up for it but as they headed out on the road he had a blast he and Carol would clown around on stage they'd crack each other up he had such a good time he signed on for more tours the following summer and it was on one of those theatrical tours that he made an intriguing new friend Rock's company was passing through San Francisco and one night after the show he met a young writer named armastad mopin armastad was just starting work on a serialized story about life in San Francisco in fact the first chapter of the story was scheduled to be published the next day under the title tales of the city Armstead was a bit younger than Rock and he' grown up knowing him as a screen icon a sex symbol he' even included a mention of Rock in the first chapter of his story Rock was flattered and he invited armastad back to his hotel for a party with friends they headed over they had some drinks and then Rock shushed the party and did a dramatic reading of armstead's story Armstead was over the moon I think he sort of expected it to charm the pants off of me and uh it more or less did that was the start of a close friendship Armstead showed rock around San Francisco he took him to the Castro to gay bookstores and coffee shops and nightclubs Rock had never seen a place where queer people could be so open and out and he was fascinated arson told him he'd recently come out to his family and that it felt like a huge burden had been lifted he encouraged Rock to do the same to come out publicly to stop living the lie that had been concocted for him over the years by agents and Studios and gossip magazines I felt like I was a member of a new generation that wanted to show them it doesn't have to be that way that was tempting especially after Armstead and his friends brought rock to some of San Francisco's busier bath houses here's one of the friends recalling how it went we watched Rock walk around and go in a booth and you can hear this scream oh my God it's Rock Hudson wow he's a big one isn't he after that experience Rock could see how liberating coming out had been for armastad and everybody that he knew it was something he wanted for himself but wanting it was one thing actually doing it was another rock had spent his whole career creating a public Persona that mirrored the characters he played on screen if he threw that away he wondered what would be left he talked it over with his Bo boyfriend Tom who is strongly opposed Tom his partner at the time said Not until my mother dies and I thought that what an odd thing to say if I was [ __ ] Rock Hudson I would want my mother to know immediately ultimately Rock decided he just couldn't coming out was fine for younger folks but he was sure it would never be possible for someone from his generation it was around that time that rock got an invitation that would change his life years earlier he'd been friendly with his first Leading Lady Jane Wyman and also her ex-husband Ronald Reagan and his new wife Nancy Reagan had been elected president in 1980 and he liked to invite his old Hollywood Connections to the White House in the early ' 80s he and Nancy invited Rock to a banquet and rock happily attended but when Nancy saw him she was concerned she told Rock he looked worryingly thin and when photos from the event were published Rock's close friends Mark and George noticed that he had a strange mark on the back of his neck They begged him to get it checked out rock wasn't worried and he kept putting it off but finally they talked him into going to a doctor and getting some tests that's where he got the news he tested positive for a mysterious new illness doctors didn't know much about it they'd only recently given it a name AIDS what they did know is that one of the groups attended to effect was gay men and that there was no known cure Rock asked how dangerous it was and his doctor took a long pause and then told him he should probably get his Affairs in order getting a diagnosis like that would be stressful enough for anyone and it threw rock into a panic in 1984 the social stigma around HIV was intense if word got out Not only would it be seen as confirmation that he was gay the association with a deadly disease would destroy everything he'd worked so hard to build he confided in a close Inner Circle at first he only told his friends Mark and George they were stunned but they agreed for rock safety nobody else could know Mark and George got to work researching Medical Care back then treatments for HIV were experimental and unproven but they found a doctor in France who had some success with a drug called HPA 23 Rock was reluctant to go but Mark and George booked an appointment pushed him onto a plane sent him on his way at the clinic in France Rock met with a doctor named Dominique Dormont who explained the procedure there was a chance that hp23 might prevent the virus from replicating it wasn't a cure but it could maybe stop the spread there was a catch though in order for it to be effective Rock would have to undergo regular treatment at the clinic in France for the next few months and avoid any strain which meant no acting roles for the foreseeable future Rock didn't like the sound of that acting was the center of his world his whole identity not only that he just got an attempting offer to appear in a hit TV series just as he' arrived in France Rock got a message from Aaron Spelling the producer of Dynasty Aaron wanted to add a touch of golden age Hollywood class to the show and he' asked Rock to appear in a series of episodes as a handsome manly love interest it was the perfect role for him and making it even more tempting if audiences like the character they create a new spin-off series just for him Rock was faced with an agonizing Choice stay in France getting a treatment that might or might not prolong his life or fly back to Hollywood and appear in a role that would boost the profile of the Persona he'd spend his whole life building essentially choosing between Rock the person and rock the product at first he stalled the producers of Dynasty for a few days as his treatment began he told him he was was thinking it over wasn't sure it was right for him back in La the dynasty team couldn't understand what he meant how could it not be right they created it specifically for him he played that kind of role a million times a week or two went by and then Dynasty co-creator Esther Shapiro showed up in Paris she'd come to personally beg Rock to appear on the show they desperately wanted Rock Hudson she told him there was no one else who would do he asked her for some more time to think it over by this point about a month had passed since he started treatment and doctors had some good news his viral load was dropping the drug was working they just needed two more months to complete the therapy he thought that meant he was cured and he cut short the treatment and booked a flight back to LA to shoot his episodes when Rock returned Mark and George tried to talk him out of it they could tell he still wasn't well he was tired gaunt forgetful they told him he needed rest not work and that if he appeared in front of cameras everyone would see something was wrong but Rock couldn't back out now he showed up to the dynasty set around the start of 198 85 and his storyline was a throwback to dramatic roles that he played 30 years earlier in the 50s a strong stoic man confident successful uncomplicated Linda evans's character Crystal Falls for him despite being married to another man and the romance plays out over several episodes culminating in a kiss that kiss had Rock terrified about a year earlier scientists had determined that casual contact was unlikely to spread HIV but the science was still very new and at this point there was no guidance from the federal government about how to reduce risk so rock did what he could to keep Linda safe before the scene he scrubbed his mouth with a disinfecting agent and when cameras rolled for the kiss he kept his lips clamped tight so there was no exchange of saliva Linda could tell something was strange she didn't know what exactly was going on with rock but she had noticed that for the last few days he seemed extremely stressed out and exhausted I knew he knew how to kiss passionately and that's why I was surprised he's a fine actor he he knows what he's doing um so it was confusing whatever was troubling him she didn't want to make a scene or call attention they finished the shot and moved on as filming on dynasty was wrapping up Brock got a call from an old friend it was dor day who' appeared with him in all those romcoms back in the 60s she was starting a new talk show and she wanted him to make an appearance once again Mark and George tried to talk him out of it the dynasty filming had been exhausting they were worried that another shoot would do real harm to his health and if he showed up looking unwell To His Image try as they might Rock couldn't be talked out of it he had genuine love for Doris he couldn't tell her no he felt he owed his old friend a favor and he said I'll be there you can count on me and that was the truth all his friends and there were so many could always count on Rock Hudson but when he showed up to film The segment everyone could see he wasn't well in a few weeks since filming his dynasty appearance he'd lost significant weight he was physically weak you can see Doris holding him up as they walk but you can also see how genuinely happy he is to be reunited with his friend after all those years after the shoot was over dor told Rock she was worried she thought he might have cancer maybe an infection after a bad bow of the flu Rock tried to reassure her and reminisce about the good old days but his strength was failing and he could barely stay conscious finally he apologized and said he had another engagement he had to get to but she knew that wasn't true she could tell he was on the verge of collapse two days later he was on a plane back to Paris I can only tell you my friends that it was a heartbreaking time for me when he arrived in Paris Rock was severely dehydrated he could barely breathe he made it to the American Hospital but doctors there didn't know about his HIV status they thought he was having heart problems even worse the doctor who'd been treating him earlier Dr Dormont didn't have admitting privileges there so he wasn't allowed to visit or treat Rock in order for Dr Dormont to take over Rock's care they'd have to transfer him to Percy Military Hospital which which was operated by the French military but Percy officials denied the request it was against procedure to admit Americans they said Rock's friends Mark and George were terrified for him at this point and they Enlisted the help of a publicist to send a telegram to the only people they could think of for help Ronald and Nancy Reagan Rock's friends begged the Reagans to intercede with the president of France and get permission for the transfer White House Records show the telegram was received and a top Aid conferred with Nancy Reagan her response documented in a 1985 White House memo she did not feel this was something the White House should get into and that was it Rock was on his own meanwhile things were getting ugly at the American Hospital in Paris staffers had found out about rock status and they were enraged they didn't want their facility to be associated with AIDS the hospital staff said that if Rock's people didn't get him transferred to another hospital they would go to the press and tell them everything that he was gay that he had what was then called full-blown AIDS and that he was near death the Press had caught wind that rock was there and the place was already surrounded by reporters and Rock's friends frantically tried to keep rumors from spreading but speculation was getting out of control just what is wrong with Rock Hudson the nature of his illness has become clouded in mystery and confusion yesterday it was reported that Hudson had liver cancer and possibly AIDS a spokesman just said Hudson was tired at this point Rock had a close circle of trusted people looking after him it was his friend Mark who had flown to Paris to be by Rock's bedside Rock's publicist who had finally been told what was going on and a French publicist named named yanu card who was one of Rock's close friends they talked over their options and decided it was only a matter of time before the news leaked they needed to get ahead of it and make an announcement yanu volunteered to write it and at 2: p.m. she stepped out of the hospital to talk to a swarm of reporters the rest of the group watched from Rock's hospital room as she read the statement Mr Rock Hudson has air immune deficiency syndrome which was diagnosed over a year ago in the United States laying out the truth tearing down all those years that it took to build up the myth of Rock Hudson the lessons the stage dates the news stories the marriage all over the news was met with International shock tonight David da reports another case of AIDS has been confirmed affecting the most well-known victim yet and then to rock surprise an outpouring of Love telegram started pouring in immediately first from his friend Elizabeth Taylor who wrote that by coming forward Rock would help destigmatize the virus and saved millions of lives messages came in from Carol brunette Frank Sinatra Tony Curtis Gregory peek and one from Madonna telling rock that he'd been her heartthrob since childhood and that she sent all her love rock couldn't believe it he told Mark I don't even know Madonna and it wasn't just celebrities the hospital was flooded with messages from regular people around the world Rock didn't know them but they felt that they knew him through his roles on film and TV and to his amazement now that they saw the real him they stood by him him a day later Rock was well enough to move and his friends asked what he wanted to stay in the hospital or return home Rock told him I want to die in my own bed and as the weight of what was happening sunk in he half smiled and said what will I do for an encore as Rock's friends worked to get him home a controversy was brewing about actors like him who were HIV positive the fact that he had kissed Linda Evans had become a major cause of concern in the industry even though it's not possible to transmit HIV and saliva began pushing for new rules that would prevent HIV positive actors from working other industry leaders pushed back among them Ed Asner who is the president of the Screen Actors Guild and Linda Evans herself who said that she stood by Rock she supported him and her only concern was for his well-being here she is talking about it years later I know he was protecting me he was doing everything he could do to make it all right for me reacting to the controversy many actors wanted to show solidarity for their friends Ed by HIV and in the years that followed they found a symbol to do just that the Red Ribbon created by the visual aids artist caucus in New York when you watch footage of awards shows especially in the 9s you'll see almost everyone with a red ribbon on their lapel it served as a signal that those actors supported their colleagues with HIV and that they stood against discrimination but that was still years away with Rock's Health failing the most immediate concern was getting him home they reached out to various Airlines but the answer was we don't think eight people on board so they rented a private jet to fly him back home as soon as he was back in the US his friends began to vigil by his side all of his friends came to visit Elizabeth Taylor even stuck into the hospital via the loading dock so the Press wouldn't get in her way when she saw Rock she pulled back the covers climbed into bed and held him in her arms this was a time when many people even healthcare workers were afraid to even touch people with HIV about a month after returning home Rock's Health entered a decline he summoned his friends and told him he decided decided to authorize a memoir a tellall book about his life that would finally for the first time be the honest story about who he was and how he lived he found a writer named Sarah Davidson who he trusted to tell his story and he asked them all to be completely open with her to hold nothing back and he told them he wanted the proceeds from the book to go towards programs supporting the treatment and prevention of HIV his friends promised they'd abide by his witches and then early in the morning of October 2nd 1985 Rock Slipped Away in his sleep there's a tearful scene at the gates of his home with friends emerging from the house to let the media know that he was gone here's producer Ross Hunter who gave rock his first romantic lead role have you anything to say for for the fans just that he was the best friend I ever had in the world but that wasn't the end of Rock's Story the book that rock had authorized came out in 1986 and it raised a huge amount of money but it also galvanized numerous other HIV fundraisers the knowledge that this man this beautiful handsome man that everyone had loved had AIDS changed things completely it was Rock's own physician who said Rock Hudson was the single most influential AIDS patient in history because he changed the way that the disease was perceived millions of dollars started pouring into various nonprofits just a few days after his death Congress allocated $221 million for medical research and kept that funding going over the next few years Government funding of AIDS research has increased $70 million in the year since Hudson's death and private fundraising for all AIDS organizations has tripled it was clear that a coordinated effort was needed to make sure that money was put to the best possible use and so a coalition of groups came together to start AAR the American foundation for AIDS research founded with a quarter million donation from the sales of rocks Memoir and shared by his friend Elizabeth Taylor one of the first celebrities to talk openly about HIV I was so made so aware of the silence this huge loud silence regarding AIDS and it so angered me that I finally thought to myself [ __ ] do something yourself in the years since Anar has distributed thousands of Grants to people around the world supporting teams that developed rapid tests for HIV that developed drugs making HIV a manageable condition that educate people on reducing the risk and that just this year launched clinical trials of an HIV vaccine as Elizabeth Taylor predicted Rox and imp has indeed saved millions of lives if you do your bit with all of your heart and I do my bit with all of my heart and everybody out there does the same thing we will make a godamn difference I'll tell you one thing Rock Hudson's announcement did do it gave people hope because they were hopeless Rock spent his whole life split between two personas there was the personal private version a man who was gentle shy who preferred needle point to sports who just wanted to be loved and the public version the icon of American masculinity rugged unemotional an entire life spent building a wall between those two and then when the wall was suddenly gone people could see the real man behind the image and overwhelmingly what they had to say was we still love you he pretty much did change the course of history around age he didn't intentionally do it but there was no other star that made that kind of impact before there hasn't been one since really in my research into Rock's life I came across tons of great stories that I just didn't have room for in this script from the fascinating details of his marriage to the very gay subtext hiding just below the surface of his films to the many shocking stories about his agent Henry Wilson I'll be posting those in bonus videos over on patreon that's at patreon.com matbow and if you like stories from behind the scenes of movie and TV history you'll probably like my newsletter every week I share a fascinating tale about the making of some iconic entertainment and also the people who made it happen you can sign up for the newsletter at matb down.com I want to give a big thanks to everybody who helped me with this video especially folks on patreon who assist assed with research and the staff at the Margaret herck library and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences now if you'll excuse me I got to get out of here never me convince that fellow coming towards us

Channel: Matt Baume

Views: 538,084

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Id: sUt3CKFwNmU

Length: 61min 7sec (3667 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 10 2023