Rock Hudson

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Rock Hudson (left) with Nancy and Ronald Reagan on May 15, 1984

Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr. November 17, 1925 in Winnetka , Illinois , † October 2, 1985 in Marina del Rey , California ) was an American actor .

In the 1950s and 1960s he was a sought-after Hollywood actor, among others in the melodramas of Douglas Sirk and as a comedy actor alongside Doris Day . In 1985, Hudson and the young activist Ryan White helped to multiply American AIDS coverage. He was one of the first celebrities to die as a result of the disease.

Life

Rock Hudson was born in Illinois in 1925 . He was the only child of operator Katherine Wood and auto mechanic Roy Harold Scherer. After graduating from high school, he served in the US Navy as a mechanic during World War II . When he returned to his homeland after the end of the war, he made his first contacts in the film industry. In 1948 he got his first role in the war film Fighter Squadron , but was not mentioned in the opening and closing credits . After that first appearance in a Hollywood movie, Universal Picture Studios became aware of Hudson and signed him. Since Hudson had a sporty, muscular build, he was mainly cast in westerns of the 1950s, for example at the side of James Stewart in Winchester '73 .

Hudson starred in many films in the 1950s and 1960s. His roles were mainly those of the smart lover, womanizer and husband. After the westerns, it was melodramas first , directed several times by Douglas Sirk . One of his most famous films was Giants directed by George Stevens and starring Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean . From 1959 he starred in comedies alongside Doris Day in Bettgeflüster (1959, for whose soundtrack he also sang), Ein Pajama für Zwei (1961) and Schick mir keine Blumen (1964). He had another success in this category together with Paula Prentiss in A Goldfish on a Leash (1964). However, Hudson could not build on these successes again in the next few years. In the 1970s he was still involved in some film productions and US television series; for example in the dystopian science fiction film The Man Who Lived Twice and in the detective series McMillan & Wife and in 1980 in the feature film Murder in the Mirror based on a novel by Agatha Christie , in which Hudson appeared with Tony Curtis and Elizabeth Taylor.

Rock Hudson was gay. From 1955 to 1958 he was married to Phyllis Gates (1925-2006). She was the secretary of Hollywood agent Henry Willson , who also represented Hudson. Two years after Hudson's death, she published the book My Husband, Rock Hudson .

Illness and death

Rock Hudson was one of the first celebrities and the first Hollywood star to die of complications from AIDS , which drew media attention to the subject. His last television appearance was a role as a special guest star in the television series Denver-Clan from December 1984 to April 1985. On July 21, 1985 , he collapsed at the Hôtel Ritz and was taken to the Hôpital américain de Paris . Army Archerd first wrote about the diagnosis in his July 23 column in Daily Variety magazine :

“The whispering propaganda about Rock Hudson can and should stop. He flew to Paris for more help. […] His illness was no secret to close friends of Hollywood, but its true nature was revealed to very few. Doctors warn that if a cure is not found soon, the anxiety disorder will reach catastrophic proportions in all communities. "

- Army Archerd
Rock Hudson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

On the same day, Hudson's neighborhood decided to make the diagnosis public. On July 25th, Collart read the note outside the hospital. On July 30, he arrived in Los Angeles, where he at the University Hospital of UCLA a pneumonia auskurierte and was subsequently discharged home.

Elizabeth Taylor hosted the first AIDS benefit gala where Burt Lancaster read a message from Hudson:

“I'm not happy that I'm sick. I am not happy that I have AIDS. But if it helps others, at least I can be certain that my misfortune will have a positive effect. Thank you, Elizabeth. Thank you to all of my friends who attended this evening and to the thousands for their prayers, thoughts, love, wishes and support. "

An appearance on Doris Day's Best Friends , Doris Day's talk show on CBN , was his first public appearance after hospitalization. He had a friendship with his fellow actors Doris Day and Elizabeth Taylor, which lasted until death. He died on October 2, 1985 at the age of 59. His body was cremated and the ashes scattered in the sea. At 6104 Hollywood Boulevard , Rock Hudson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

Filmography (selection)

Awards

  • 1957: Nomination for an Oscar for the film Giants
  • 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964: Bravo Otto
  • 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963: Bambi (the 1961 Bambi was received for him by his mother)
  • 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1963: Henrietta Award as World Film Favorite - Male at the Golden Globes
  • 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1963: Golden Laurel as Top Male Star at the Laurel Awards
  • 1956, 1957 and 1959: Most Popular Male Star of the Photoplay Awards
  • 1977: TP de Oro in Spain for Best Actor in McMillan & Wife (1971)

Discography (selection)

  • 1959: Pillow Talk Soundtrack
  • 1971: Rock, Gently
  • 1996: Pillow Talk Soundtrack (Extended)

literature

Aftermath

Movie and TV

Exhibitions (selection)

  • Change of scenery 2.0: Rock Hudson and the AIDS crisis , Schwules Museum * Berlin 2016/2017

Web links

Commons : Rock Hudson  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A deceptively real enthusiast  article about Rock Hudson at prisma-online , accessed July 5, 2015
  2. ↑ Petra Eiden, Klaus Schönbach: 1987: AIDS reaches Germany. The "Bild" newspaper and the fear of a new epidemic - a case study . In: Journalism . tape 52 , no. 4 , 2007, ISSN  1862-2569 , p. 524–538 (including references to US studies).
  3. ↑ spiegel.de: So big, so indestructible
  4. ↑ tagesspiegel.de: How Rock gave Hudson Aids a face
  5. ↑ content.time.com: The Double Life of an Aids Victim
  6. ↑ nytimes.com: Review / Television; The Life, Death and Secrets of Rock Hudson
  7. ↑ thefreelibrary.com: Outing Mrs. Rock Hudson: the obits after Phyllis Gates died in January omitted some important facts: Those who knew her say she was a lesbian who tried to blackmail her movie star husband.
  8. ↑ Robin Abcarian: Army Archerd dies at 87; Variety columnist watched over Hollywood for half a century. In: Los Angeles Times . September 9, 2009, HTML page 2.
  9. ↑ a b c Rock Hudson - Beautiful Stranger (Rock Hudson - Dark and Handsome Stranger). Director: André Schäfer and Andrew Davis, November 14, 2010, ORF2, with: Michael Gottlieb (Rock's doctor at the UCLA hospital, Los Angeles), Yanou Collart (Rock's press officer in France and friend), Philippe Siou (Rocks [Not] - Doctor in Paris), Stockton Briggle (theater director and close friend).
  10. ^ Rock Hudson (1990) . In: imdb.com (accessed April 23, 2020).
  11. ^ Rock Hudson's Home Movies Awards . In: imdb.com (accessed April 23, 2020).
  12. ↑ E! True Hollywood Story: Rock Hudson . In: imdb.com (accessed April 23, 2020).
  13. ^ Rock Hudson - Dark and Handsome Stranger . In: imdb.com (accessed April 23, 2020).
  14. Jump up ↑ Stars of the Silver Screen: Rock Hudson . In: imdb.com (accessed April 23, 2020).
  15. ↑ Rock Hudson - Discovering . In: imdb.com (accessed April 23, 2020).
  16. ↑ http://www.schwulesmuseum.de/ausstellungen/view/tapetenendung-20-rock-hudson-und-die-aids-krise/
personal data
SURNAME Hudson, rock
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scherer, Roy Harold junior (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH November 17, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Winnetka , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH 2nd October 1985
Place of death Marina del Rey , Los Angeles County , California