Rock Hudson's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Dynasty Daniel Reece The Martian Chronicles Col. John W… 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons Rock Hudson The Devlin Connection Brian Devlin

Main Movie Roles 1992 - Peter's Friends 1985 - Volunteers 1980 - The Mirror Crack'd 1970 - Darling Lili 1969 - The Undefeated 1968 - Ice Station Zebra 1967 - Tobruk 1966 - Seconds 1964 - Man's Favorite Sport? 1964 - Send Me No Flowers 1961 - The Last Sunset 1961 - Come September 1959 - Pillow Talk 1957 - The James Dean Story 1956 - Written on the Wind 1956 - Giant 1955 - All That Heaven Allows 1954 - Magnificent Obsession 1953 - Gun Fury 1953 - Beneath the 12-Mile Reef 1952 - Bend of the River 1951 - Tomahawk 1950 - Winchester '73

BIOGRAPHY:

He was the son of an auto mechanic and a telephone operator who divorced when he was eight years old. He failed to obtain parts in school plays because he couldn't remember lines. After high school he was a postal employee and during WW II served as a Navy airplane mechanic. After the war he was a truck driver. His size and good looks got him into movies. His name was changed to Rock Hudson, his teeth were capped, he took lessons in acting, singing, fencing and riding. One line in his first picture, Fighter Squadron (1948), needed 38 takes. In 1956 he received an Oscar nomination for Giant (1956) and two years later Look magazine named him Star of the Year. He starred in a number of bedroom comedies, many with Doris Day (I), and had his own popular TV series "McMillan & Wife" (1971). He had a recurring role in TV's "Dynasty" (1981) (1984-5). He was the first major public figure to announce he had AIDS, and his worldwide search for a cure drew international attention. After his death his long-time lover Marc Christian successfully sued his estate, again calling attention to the homosexuality Rock had hidden from most throughout his career.


TRIVIA:

• In 1977 he toured 13 cities as King Arthur in the musical "Camelot".
• He was the original choice to play Jason Colby in the _"Dynasty" (1981)_ (qv) spin off _"The Colbys" (1985)_ (qv), but had to turn it down due to his declining health. The part went to 'Charlton Heston' (qv) instead.
• He was Universal Studio's first choice to play Atticus Finch in _To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)_ (qv), but was rejected as being too young at 36.
• He had always been critical of plastic surgery, although in 1981 he had surgery on his eyelids after a cameraman convinced him it would make him look better on screen.
• Less than a month after announcing he had AIDS, Hudson wrote a check for $250,000 to help get the then-fledgling National AIDS Research Foundation (NARF) off the ground.
• 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.
• He stayed at the White House in May 1984 as a guest of then President 'Ronald Reagan (I)' (qv). First Lady 'Nancy Davis (I)' (qv) wrote to Hudson saying how glad she and her husband were to see him looking well following his operation.
• Even though some sources claimed he was 6' 6" tall, he was actually 6' 5", which can be seen in such films as _Send Me No Flowers (1964)_ (qv), in which 'Clint Walker (I)' (qv), at 6' 6" looks taller than Hudson, and in _The Undefeated (1969)_ (qv), in which he looks about an inch taller than 'John Wayne (I)' (qv), who was 6' 4" tall. It should be noted however that by 1969 Wayne was no longer at his peak height following the removal of his entire left lung and two ribs five years earlier, and therefore wore lifts inside his boots.