By the mid-1980s, Rock Hudson was one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, a symbol of rugged masculinity whose broad shoulders and dark, brooding eyes had made him a romantic lead for three decades. He had been voted the nation’s top box office draw twice, won the respect of critics for his performances in films like Magnificent Obsession and Giant, and had moved effortlessly between drama and comedy, often opposite Doris Day. But on October 2, 1985, Hudson died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, from complications related to AIDS. He was fifty-nine years old.
He was the first major celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness. Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer Jr. on November 17, 1925, in Winnetka, Illinois. His family was blue collar; his father worked as an automobile mechanic and his mother as a telephone operator.
His years at New Trier High School were unremarkable. He sang in the glee club, delivered newspapers, ran errands, and worked as a golf caddy. Residents remembered him as a shy boy. But in 1937, the film The Hurricane captivated him and inspired the idea of an acting career.
In 1943, Hudson was drafted into the Navy. After his discharge in 1946, he briefly returned to Winnetka, where he worked as a piano mover after doing poorly as a salesman in his father’s appliance shop. He later took a job as a truck driver for a food company. Still chasing his dream, he moved to Los Angeles and applied to the University of Southern California’s dramatics program, but was rejected because of his poor grades.
Undeterred, he sent out numerous resumes and photographs to movie studios. Only one response came back, from talent scout Henry Wilson, a representative for producer David O. Selznick. Wilson renamed the ruggedly handsome young man Rock Hudson, taking “Rock” from the Rock of Gibraltar and “Hudson” from the famous New York river.
Hudson was introduced to Hollywood studios, but his shyness kept him from making a lasting impression. His screen test for 20th Century Fox was so poor that it was reportedly shown to beginning acting classes as a classic example of bad screen acting. He landed his first job in a one-line bit part in Raoul Walsh’s Fighter Squadron in 1948. According to Hollywood legend, it took him thirty-eight takes to deliver the line, “Pretty soon you’re going to have to write smaller numbers.
” Despite that shaky start, Hudson learned on the job. Within six years, he had appeared in twenty-eight pictures, mostly in roles that lacked depth. He came under the wing of Universal Studios tutor Sophie Rosenstein, who helped him through his bit parts and supporting roles. During the 1950s, he was cast in longer parts in a series of adventure films and B pictures.
Then came Magnificent Obsession in 1954, and his career took off. Modern Screen magazine cited him as the most popular actor of the year, and in 1955 Look magazine named him the top male movie star. That same year, he married Phyllis Gates. The marriage lasted three years, and Hudson did not remarry.
His career moved in a new direction as he became a sustaining figure in women’s pictures. Under the direction of George Stevens, he was able to give real depth to the character of Texas rancher Bick Benedict in Giant in 1956. After Richard Brooks’s Something of Value and a moving performance in A Farewell to Arms in 1957, Hudson shifted into comedy, usually paired with Doris Day. While the films varied in quality, they allowed him to explore his comedic talents through innuendo.
From 1959 to 1965, he appeared in Pillow Talk, Come September, Send Me No Flowers, and Strange Bedfellows. Afterward, Hudson appeared in a number of unsuccessful and mediocre films. By age fifty-five, he faced a dilemma: pursue a fading film career or take roles in television. He was initially not interested in the small screen, but the series McMillan & Wife, in which he starred as the police commissioner of San Francisco, became a hit in 1971.
He made few worthwhile films afterward, appearing in two television miniseries: The Martian Chronicles in 1980 and The Star Maker in 1981. He was also cast in the poorly conceived Devlin Connection in 1982. His last recurring television role was on Dynasty, beginning in 1981. He made his final screen appearance in the 1984 television film The Las Vegas Strip Wars.
The following year, while in Paris seeking medical treatment for an undisclosed illness, Hudson collapsed. The news broke that he had been diagnosed with AIDS. Friends stated that he had discovered he had the disease in mid-1984 but chose to continue acting on Dynasty while secretly undergoing treatment. For years, Hudson, his managers, and the studios had avoided the issue of his homosexuality.
His illness brought it into the open. Author Armistead Maupin stated that he met with Hudson in 1976 and urged him to reveal his homosexuality. Acquaintances often described Hudson as gay, but he refused to publicly comment on or acknowledge the reports. Rock Hudson became the first major public figure to declare he had AIDS.
His last public appearance, at a benefit hosted by his former leading lady Doris Day, revealed the horrifying truth of the disease in vivid and unflinching detail. 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.
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Rock Hudson died on October 2, 1985, at his home in Beverly Hills. Today he is remembered not only for his legacy as a talented screen actor but for his courageous choice to go public about his AIDS diagnosis, a decision that helped bring the disease into the national conversation and gave a face to an epidemic that had largely been ignored.