Rock Hudson helped to define cinematic manhood—and as gay man with major ambitions in a prejudiced world, he valiantly attempted to be all things to all people.
Hudson would finally break away from Willson in 1966, a move many friends felt was long overdue. But Hudson may have had his reasons. “I said to him, ‘Why don’t you fire the sonofabitch?’” Hudson’s boyfriend Lee Garlington recalled, per Griffin. “And he said, ‘I can’t fire him because he threatened to have one of his boys throw acid in my face if I ever fired him, and I knew he would do it.
But that wasn’t all, according to Griffin. Hudson, a by-the-book, studio-system star, didn’t understand Dean’s intuitive method acting and considered him “selfish and petulant.” Dean thought Hudson was a phony, playing it straight even though he had hit on bi-sexual Dean in the past. Both thought director Stevens was throwing the movie in favor of the other.in the California desert.
“Suddenly, one male voice loudly yelled out, “F****t!” … Soon, a group of teenage boys were chanting “F****t!” Then it seemed like everyone on the beach had joined in. … What hurt most of all was that Rock recognized some of his own neighbors in the crowd. They were shouting out… along with the others.”
Hudson would also throw elaborate Hollywood parties, including one for Carol Burnett in 1967 where, as Griffin writes, she mistook Prince Rainier of Monaco for country singer Tennessee Ernie Ford, greeting him with the catch phrase, ‘Hey, you Ol’ Pea Picker, you!’” By July 25, 1985, a critically ill Hudson was in Paris receiving experimental HPA-23 treatments. With the press circling, he bravely decided to tell the truth. At a crowded press conference, Hudson’s publicist announced he had AIDS, making him the most famous person ever to announce he had contracted the stigmatized virus. It was also taken as a tacit admission that he was gay.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rock Hudson documentary offers an intimate look into the Hollywood icon's double lifeHBO's 'Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed' re-examines Hudson’s legacy as an idealized heartthrob whose 1985 death changed the public perception of AIDS.
Read more »
‘Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed’ Review: A Closeted Star’s StoryReview: In the HBO documentary film 'Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed,' director Stephen Kijak delves into the gay actor's precarious life and career, mixing footage of Hudson and his films with new interviews featuring his lovers and friends
Read more »
The Real Rock Hudson: A Moving New HBO Doc Claims Him as a Gay IconThe new HBO documentary ‘Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed’ attempts to examine the star's closeted career—and the impact of his AIDS diagnosis.
Read more »
How Hollywood Hid Rock Hudson, Its Biggest Gay Movie StarHBO doc 'All That Heaven Allowed' dives into the life and death of 1950s' biggest movie star Rock Hudson — and all he was allowed to do if he hid his sexuality.
Read more »
'Rock Hudson: All that Heaven Allowed' review: A double life“‘Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed’ is the portrait of a boy from Winnetka who found fame and fortune on screen. But he lived a double life, which he kept under wraps until his fatal AIDS diagnosis in the ‘80s,” writes Tribune critic Nina_Metz.
Read more »