Life of rock hudson movie

American actor (1925–1985)

For the 1990 film, see Rock Hudson (film).

Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. He was a prominent figure in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

He achieved stardom with his role in Magnificent Obsession (1954), followed by All That Heaven Allows (1955), and Giant (1956), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Hudson also found continued success with a string of romantic comedies co-starring Doris Day: Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961), and Send Me No Flowers (1964). During the late 1960s, his films included Seconds (1966), Tobruk (1967), and Ice Station Zebra (1968). Unhappy with the film scripts he was offered, Hudson formed his own film production companies, first 7 Pictures Corporation, then later Gibraltar Pictures, to have more control over his roles; later he turned to television, starring in the mystery series McMillan & Wife (1971–1977). His last role was as a guest star on the fifth season (1984–1985) of the primetime ABC soap opera Dynasty, until an AIDS-related illness made it impossible for him to continue.

Although he was discreet regarding his sexual orientation, it was known among Hudson's colleagues in the film industry that he was gay. In 1984, Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS. The following year, he became one of the first celebrities to disclose his AIDS diagnosis. Hudson was the first major American celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness, on October 2, 1985, at age 59.

Early life

Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer Jr. on November 17, 1925, in Winnetka, Illinois, the only child of Katherine (née Wood), a homemaker and later telephone operator, and Roy Harold Scherer Sr., an auto mechanic.^&

Stephen Kijak’s film shows the movie star as both an icon of the ’50s and ’60s—and a gay man whose death from AIDS changed public perception of the disease

On screen, actor Rock Hudson was the epitome of American masculinity: square-jawed, broad-shouldered, and standing well over six feet tall. An iconic movie star of the 1950s and ’60s, Hudson was known for his leading roles in Douglas Sirk’s melodramas (Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind), George Stevens’ sprawling film adaptation of Edna Ferber’s Giant, which earned him his only Oscar nomination, in 1956, and a string of sly, romantic comedies costarring Doris Day (Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, Send Me No Flowers). He also starred in the popular 1970s TV series McMillan & Wife. 

Hudson was also gay, a secret closely guarded in the film industry for fear that news of his sexual orientation would torpedo his career. 

That double life is the subject of a new HBO documentary, Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed, by filmmaker Stephen Kijak (COM’91). The film traces Hudson’s career, from small roles in B-rated adventure films to leading man. It also explores the actor’s personal life, including a sham marriage to the secretary of his Hollywood agent that would last three years, “countless lovers, short-term boyfriends, and weekend flings,” and the efforts—mostly thwarted—by tabloids to out him. The film concludes with the news, in 1985, that Hudson had AIDS. His death that year would, as the film makes clear, change the way the world perceived AIDS and would help to launch the funding desperately needed to find treatments for the disease—an effort spearheaded largely by his former costar and lifetime friend, actor Elizabeth Taylor. 

Kijak is best known for a series of films about musicians, including Stones in Exile, a documentary commissioned by the Rolling Stones, an

World Premiere

Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed

Documentary Competition

Documentary, LGBTQIA+, Biography

Cast & Credits

Directed by

Stephen Kijak

Contacts

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1990 American TV series or program

Rock Hudson is a 1990 American biographical dramatelevision film directed by John Nicolella and written by Dennis Turner. The film is based on My Husband, Rock Hudson, a 1987 autobiography by Phyllis Gates, actor Rock Hudson's ex-wife (1955–1958). It is the story of their marriage, written after Hudson's 1985 death from AIDS. In the book Gates wrote that she was in love with Hudson and that she did not know Hudson was gay when they married, and was not complicit in his deception. The movie is also based on magazine articles, interviews and court records, including transcripts of the Los Angeles Superior Court trial after which Marc Christian won a large settlement ($21.75 million) from the actor's estate because Hudson had hidden from him the fact that he was suffering from AIDS. Later, Marc Miller (Hudson's secretary) accused the movie of malicious lies. In April 1989, the court award to Christian was reduced to $5.5 million.

In 1989, both ABC and NBC started developing plans for a biography of Hudson, NBC had announced it had commissioned a script, but ABC had already completed a movie. It aired on ABC on January 8, 1990. NBC later decided not to complete its four-hour miniseries.

Thomas Ian Griffith, who had gained considerable fame in the 1980s for his recurring role on the NBC soap opera Another World (1984–1987) and as the villain in The Karate Kid Part III (1989) was chosen to portray the actor; he is 6 feet 5 inches tall and Hudson was 6 feet 4 inches. He had to spend up to four hours in makeup to portray the older Hudson.

The movie was reviewed badly by many critics, attracted only 24% of the viewing audience and suffered some advertiser defections because of concern over the depiction of Hudson's homosexuality. It placed 29th in t