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Last Update : 12/03/23

I’ve recently been reappraising some of Rock Hudson’s cinematic and television work via the Internet Archive. Born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; he was one of the most popular movie stars of his time, with a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob 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). In the 70’s, he would forge an equally successful career in television – “MacMillan & Wife” and an adaptation of Arthur Hailey’s “Wheels” spring readily to mind.

Although discreet regarding his sexual orientation, it was known among Hudson’s colleagues in the film industry that he was homosexual (I make no apologies for not using the G word; surely one of the most ridiculous hijackings of a descriptive term for being carefree – it’s embarrassing to sing even the Flintstones theme let alone a plethora of songs from the Great American Songbook 1900-1950).

In 1984, Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS and was the first major celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness, on October 2, 1985, at the age of 59. At the time of his death, AIDS was not fully understood by the medical community and the disease was stigmatized by the general public as a condition affecting only homosexual men, intravenous drug users and people who received contaminated blood transfusions.

As well as some of the film titles already mentioned, he was a consummate light comedian – “Come September” (1961)and “Strange Bedfellows (1965) with Gina Lollobrigida being obvious examples, but it is the dark psychological science fiction movie “Seconds” (1966) which highlights his versatility.

An extremely professional and well liked personality in Hollywood, his movies – with the exception of one or two – rarely play on terrestrial television; an undeserving fate for someone who was a top drawer star. It appears as if his acting reputation remains as stigmatized as his private life. In today’s world with advanced treatments, he may well have survived in more ways than one.