What turned him into a star was the romantic drama Magnificent Obsession (1954), co-starring Jane Wyman, produced by Hunter and directed by Sirk. The film received positive reviews, with Modern Screen Magazine citing Hudson as the most popular actor of the year.
Which film established Rock Hudson as a star? Rock Hudson's role as a repentant scoundrel who selflessly dedicates himself to the woman he accidentally blinded in Douglas Sirk's tearjerker Magnificent Obsession (1954) established him as a star.
Tags. Henry Willson was one of the quintessential power brokers in Hollywood during the late 1940s and 1950s when he launched the careers of Rock Hudson, Lana Turner, Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood, and many others. He was also a true casting couch agent, brokering sex for opportunity on the silver screen.
After her split from Hudson, Gates pursued a career as an interior designer in Los Angeles and never remarried, per The Guardian. She died at age 80 on January 4, 2006, from lung cancer.
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. During the last 18 months of his life, Hudson's weight dropped from 215 lbs to 140 lbs. He weighed 126 lbs at the time of his death.
What Was Rock Hudson's Net Worth? Hudson had an estimated net worth of $10 million at the time of his death, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The Illinois native was born Roy Harold Scherer Jr. on November 17, 1925.
In real life, Hudson was dating men, like Lee Garlington, who in the documentary recalled, "We were ordered never to have our picture taken together, because somebody would know that we were gay." Hudson even married his agent's secretary, Phyllis Gates. It lasted just three years.
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.
He was discharged after the end of World War II and decided to move to Los Angeles. During his Navy days, Hudson served in the Philippines as an airplane mechanic, according to The New York Times. Upon returning to the States, he tracked down his father and decided to move in with him in Los Angeles with his new wife.
On his paperwork, Rock wrote that he had no children. An unnamed source in Mark Griffin's All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson alleges that while serving "he had a weekend fling while back home with the mother of a high school classmate."
Rock Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer Jr. (We hate to break it to you, but there's no relation to Kate Hudson.) He started acting in the 40s and is revered as one of the biggest stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. By the time of his death in 1985, he'd appeared in more than 70 movies.
He made nearly 70 movies and acted in several television productions during a career of more than three decades, and he received the Golden Globe Award four times. Hudson was a closeted homosexual. He was one of the first major Hollywood personalities to die from AIDS.
The strange relationship between Hudson and Gates was originally dismissed as a sham marriage of Hudson and his agent's secretary. But more recent research has indicated that Hudson and Gates indeed had strong romantic feelings for each other.
The main Heir to Rock Hudson's estate, along with the three Charities, was George Nader. George Nader was my God Father. I was also his good friend and worked for him as His Estate Manager.
Because Dean died without a Will, his assets were passed to his heirs using intestate law. As his mother predeceased him, his father inherited his entire estate.
Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., in Winnetka, Illinois, the only child of Katherine Wood, a telephone operator, and Roy Harold Scherer, Sr., an auto mechanic who abandoned the family during the depths of the Great Depression.
Did Rock Hudson have a relationship with Doris Day?
Hudson and Day met while filming Pillow Talk. Upon meeting him, she asked him if his name was really Rock. He had a nickname for her, which was Eunice. They remained friends for the rest of his life.
Although Marilyn and Rock never worked together, they came close several times… Hudson was the initial favourite at Twentieth Century-Fox for Marilyn's leading man in Bus Stop (1956.)
