Actor Rock Hudson
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Actor Rock Hudson
“As you get older, you learn to keep your mouth shut more, because you never know how badly you're going to embarrass yourself later.” “I always consider my job just as someone working in an office. Past 5 p.m., I lead my very own existence far from the cameras. It's essential for an actor to clearly separate private life from work ... essential for me, anyway.”
Noted for his exceptional good looks and comedic film performance, Rock Hudson was an iconic actor who, later in life, contracted and died from the AIDS virus.
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Rock Hudson began his career as a heartthrob, recognized widely for his good looks. Critics acknowledged his acting talent in Giant (1956), which also starred heavy-hitters Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean . He co-starred with Doris Day in many hit films, including Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). In 1984, Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS. The following year, he became one of the first celebrities to disclose both his homosexuality and AIDS diagnosis. Hudson was the first major celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness, on October 2, 1985, at age 59, in Beverly Hills, California.
Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer Jr. on November 17, 1925, in Winnetka, Illinois, and would go on to become an immensely popular actor, recognized widely for his good looks. During the Great Depression, his father, Roy Harold Scherer, lost his job as an auto mechanic and left the family. When Hudson was eight years old, his mother, Katherine Wood, remarried and the actor took the surname of his stepfather, Wallace Fitzgerald. Growing up, Hudson did not excel academically but had a certain charisma that made him popular among classmates.
In 1944, Hudson joined the U.S. Navy and served in the Philippines. Shortly after his discharge in 1946, he decided to move to Hollywood, California, to pursue an acting career. While he found work as a truck driver, most of his free time was spent hanging around the studios and handing out headshots to studio executives. It's not surprising that people soon began to take notice of the aspiring actor, with his good looks and charm.
In 1947, talent scout Henry Wilson took an interest in Hudson, taking the soon-to-be actor on as his protégé and crafting the moniker by which he's now best known: "Rock" for the rock of Gibraltar, and "Hudson" for the Hudson River.
Hudson had no professional training as an actor, which proved a difficult feat to overcome. After a few setbacks, Hudson broke into the business, acquiring a contract with Warner Brothers and landing his first role in the feature film Fire Squadron. In 1948, Universal Pictures bought out Hudson's contract with Warner Brothers and provided him with acting lessons.
Hudson went on to play bit roles in a number of films until he was hired as a lead in Douglas Sirk's Magnificent Obsession (1954). This film established Hudson as a star and his career, subsequently, began to skyrocket. He starred in several dramatic movies, including the critically acclaimed Giant (1956). Hudson received an Academy Award nomination for his performance in the film.
A pivotal period for Hudson's career came in 1959. He was cast opposite Day in Pillow Talk , the first of a film series in which he portrayed the romantic lead. The dashing actor quickly became a heartthrob; women lusted after him and men wanted to be him. He paired with Day in a number of later films, including Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). In 1966, the actor took a chance and accepted a role that was well out of his now-normal spectrum: He starred in John Frankenheimer's Seconds , a sci-fi thriller that wasn't well-received by audiences.
In 1971, Hudson joined the cast of the popular television investigative series Macmillin and Wife . In the '80s, he appeared on the show Dynasty .
Hudson married Phyllis Gates, an aspiring actress, in 1955. Unbeknownst to Phyllis, the marriage was arranged by her employer, Hudson's agent Wilson, to keep up appearances. A gay man, Hudson was not outward about his homosexuality due to the social stigma surrounding the topic at the time; he feared that publicly discussing it would be negative for his career. The marriage lasted for only three years; while Hudson was in Italy filming 1957's A Farewell to Arms , the couple divorced.
Throughout his career, Hudson's public image remained untarnished, but his private life was somewhat torturous. He had a number of homosexual lovers but continued to keep his sexuality a secret.
In June 1984, Hudson went to visit a doctor aboutan irritation on his neck. The irritation turned out to be a lesion and a sign of Kaposi sarcoma, a cancerous tumor that affects AIDS patients. Rock Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS on June 5, 1984. A year later, on July 25, 1985, he publicly announced that he was suffering from the disease — becoming one of the first celebrities to do so, as well as one of the first to disclose his homosexuality. His openness was a catalyst for public awareness of the worldwide epidemic.
Hudson spent the remainder of his life surrounded by friends and family. He died from AIDS-related complications on October 2, 1985, at the age of 59, in Beverly Hills, California. He was the first major celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness. Today, Rock Hudson is remembered not only for his legacy as a talented screen actor, but for his courageous choice to go public about his AIDS diagnosis.
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Alternate titles: Roy Fitzgerald, Roy Harold Scherer, Jr.
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Born:
November 17, 1925
Winnetka
Illinois
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Died:
October 2, 1985 (aged 59)
Beverly Hills
California
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What is Rock Hudson's original name?
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Rock Hudson and Dorothy Malone in Written on the Wind (1956), directed by Douglas Sirk.
Doris Day and Rock Hudson on a lobby card for Pillow Talk (1959), directed by Michael Gordon.
Scientists believe fossilized skulls of elephant relatives found by ancient Greeks were the basis for the mythological Cyclops.
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Rock Hudson was originally named Roy Harold Scherer, Jr. He was an American actor noted for his good looks and movie roles during the 1950s and ’60s and popular television series in the 1970s.
Rock Hudson's role as a repentant scoundrel who selflessly dedicates himself to the woman he accidentally blinded in Douglas Sirk’s tearjerker Magnificent Obsession (1954) established him as a star.
Hudson’s best film role is considered to be that of an earnest, old-fashioned Texas cattle baron in Giant (1956), for which he received an Academy Award nomination. By the end of the 1950s, Hudson had become one of Hollywood’s most popular and profitable male stars.
Rock Hudson died of AIDS-related complications at the age of 59. He was credited with increasing public awareness of the devastating nature of this disease.
Rock Hudson , original name Roy Harold Scherer, Jr. , later Roy Fitzgerald , (born November 17, 1925, Winnetka , Illinois , U.S.—died October 2, 1985, Beverly Hills , California), American actor noted for his good looks and movie roles during the 1950s and ’60s and popular television series in the 1970s. A well-liked actor of modest talent, Hudson was one of the first known Hollywood celebrities to die of AIDS -related complications; the extensive publicity surrounding his death drew attention to the disease.
After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II , Roy Fitzgerald went to Hollywood in 1946 to pursue an acting career. He found work as a truck driver but spent his spare time idling outside of studio gates and sending photographs of himself to various producers. In 1947 talent scout Henry Willson took an interest in him and invented a new name for his protégé: Rock Hudson—Rock for the Rock of Gibraltar and Hudson for the Hudson River . Despite a number of initial setbacks, owing to a complete lack of training as an actor, Hudson signed with Warner Brothers and played his first role in Fighter Squadron (1948). A year later his contract was purchased by Universal Pictures , which provided him with some much-needed acting lessons.
At Universal, Hudson graduated from bit parts to larger roles in a succession of westerns and adventure films, and he completed some 28 films in six years. He played a leading role in Douglas Sirk ’s tearjerker Magnificent Obsession (1954) as a repentant scoundrel who selflessly dedicates himself to the woman he accidentally blinded. The film established Hudson as a star, and he went on to play sympathetic protagonists in several more of Sirk’s melodramas and stylized “women’s pictures,” including All That Heaven Allows (1955) and Written on the Wind (1956). Hudson’s best film role is considered to be that of an earnest, old-fashioned Texas cattle baron in Giant (1956), for which he received an Academy Award nomination. By the end of the 1950s, Hudson had become one of Hollywood’s most popular and profitable male stars.
During the 1960s Hudson moved away from sentimentality and melodrama to play the series of roles for which he is best known. Paired with Doris Day in Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961), and Send Me No Flowers (1964), Hudson proved that he had a significant talent for light comedy. He repeated the success of those films in other sex farces , notably director Howard Hawks ’s Man’s Favorite Sport? (1964), in which Hudson delivered a performance compared by critics to Cary Grant at his best.
In 1966 Hudson revealed a greater acting range in the underrated avant-garde film Seconds , in which his character undergoes a complete physical transformation and has to cope with an agonizing identity crisis. The film was poorly received, however, and did not result in offers of more challenging roles. After the Cold War thriller Ice Station Zebra (1968), the remainder of Hudson’s screen career was unremarkable. He appeared in several stage productions and starred in the popular television series McMillan and Wife from 1971 to 1975.
Hudson, whose image was unequivocally heterosexual , kept his homosexuality a secret from the general public until shortly before his death from complications resulting from AIDS at age 59. He was credited with increasing public awareness of the devastating nature of this disease.
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Moved from westerns to sob stories to sosphisticated comedies
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#28). [1995]
The Prudential Life Insurance Co. stopped using its slogan "Get a Piece of the Rock" after Hudson's death from AIDS and the slogan became the subject of ridicule.
Went to the same school, New Trier Township High School East (Winnetka, Illinois), as Ann-Margret , Charlton Heston , Ralph Bellamy , Hugh O'Brian , Bruce Dern , Penelope Milford , Virginia Madsen and Liz Phair .
Worked as a truck driver when he first moved to Los Angeles, but he spent his spare time idling outside of studio gates and sending photographs of himself to various producers.
Talent scout Henry Willson coined the stage name, "Rock Hudson", by combining the Rock of Gibraltar and the Hudson River.
Although he tried out for roles in school plays, Hudson failed to win any because he could not remember lines.
Enamored of movies as a teenager, he worked as an usher. Before taking his first film role, he got his teeth capped and was coached intensively in acting, singing, dancing, fencing and riding. Still, it took no less than 38 takes before he could successfully complete one line in his first picture, Fighter Squadron (1948).
Hudson was the original choice to play Jason Colby in the Dynasty (1981) spin off The Colbys (1985), but had to turn it down due to his declining health. The part went to Charlton Heston instead. By the time he had taken the guest role of Daniel Reece on Dynasty (1981) in late 1984, the AIDS virus was consuming him. Before long, he was suffering from memory loss and was forced to use cue cards to read his lines. He also had difficulty speaking. When he went to Carmel, California, in July 1985 to help his Pillow Talk (1959) co-star Doris Day launch her cable series, Doris Day's Best Friends (1985), his gaunt appearance and obvious disorientation suddenly became the media focus of what was meant to be a joyous reunion of one of Hollywood'
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