Phyllis Gates

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Phyllis Lucille Gates (born December 7, 1925 in Dawson , Minnesota , United States - † January 4, 2006 in Marina del Rey , California , United States) was an American secretary and interior designer who, through her three-year marriage to the actor Rock Hudson became known. The story of their marriage was told in the 1990 television movie Rock Hudson, starring Daphne Ashbrook (as Gates) and Thomas Ian Griffith (as Hudson).

Life

Gates grew up on a farm. At first she worked as a saleswoman in a department store, as a flight attendant and as the secretary of a talent agent from New York City . She then moved to Hollywood to work for Hollywood agent Henry Willson , who oversaw actors Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter and Rory Calhoun .

Marriage to Rock Hudson

Gates met Rock Hudson in October 1954. They later met again and were married on September 9, 1955 in Santa Barbara, California , shortly after filming Giants . After their honeymoon in Jamaica , their marriage began to decline. They split in 1957 after rumors that Hudson committed adultery while filming In Another Country in Italy . The rumors were later confirmed by a close friend of Gates', who also revealed that the adultery took place with a man. The divorce was finalized in 1958.

Next life

Gates later worked as a successful interior designer. She died of lung cancer in her California home on January 4, 2006, at the age of 80 . She was survived by her sister Marvis Ketelsen and her brother Russell Gates.

In her autobiography, published in 1987 after Hudson 's death from AIDS in 1985, Gates wrote that she was in love with Hudson and did not know Hudson was gay when she married . However, author and journalist Robert Höfler wrote in his biography The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson : "Those who knew her (Gates) say she was a lesbian who tried to blackmail her husband (Hudson)" and "You then got addicted to being the wife of a star and didn't want a divorce (...) Phyllis could play with women, but Rock had to stay true to her. In a way she was just pragmatic: She feared that Rock's exposure would ruin his fame, which in turn was her gain. "

This was denied by Gates in an interview with Larry King in which she said that people were trying to protect Hudson by telling lies about them. Gates had been the one to file for divorce because of her husband's behavior. Gates said she didn't get much in the divorce because she didn't want to take advantage of him. She never stopped loving him and he was the "love of her life".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rock Hudson in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  2. ↑ a b Phyllis Gates, 80; Former Talent Agency Secretary Was Briefly Married to Rock Hudson in '50s . Los Angeles Times . August 9, 1987. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
  3. ^ Robert Hofler: Outing Mrs. Rock Hudsonr . In: Regent Media (ed.): The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) . No. 2006, February 28, 2006. Retrieved October 4, 2017.

literature

  • Hudson, Rock and Davidson, Sara (1986). Rock Hudson: His Story , William Morrow, 311 pages, ISBN 978-0-688-06472-3
  • Hofler, Robert (2014). The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson , Univ. of Minnesota Press / Reprint edition (February 15, 2014), 472 pages, ISBN 978-0-8166-9129-6
  • Gates, Phyllis (1987) and Sara Davidson, My Husband, Rock Hudson , Doubleday, 232 pages, ISBN 978-0-207-15784-4

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gates, Phyllis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gates, Phyllis Lucille (full name); Hudson, rock
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American secretary and interior designer
DATE OF BIRTH December 7, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Dawson , Minnesota , United States
DATE OF DEATH January 4, 2006
Place of death Marina del Rey , California , United States