affection and mutual respect between Rock and Phyllis for the duration of their relationship, and the public perception of Rock Hudson as a “straight” movie star was firmly established.
Rock’s greatest career triumph to date followed shortly after his marriage, when he starred with James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor in Giant in 1956 . Not only did Rock walk away with a truly prestigious film and his first Oscar nomination under his belt, but he also formed a close friendship with Elizabeth Taylor that would last for the rest of his life.
After several more moderately successful dramatic roles, Rock found a whole new niche in romantic comedies costarring another dear friend, Doris Day. Their charming chemistry resulted in three box-office hits— Pillow Talk ( 1958 ), Lover Come Back ( 1961 ), and Send Me No Flowers ( 1964 ).
Film roles became fewer and farther between as the 1960s progressed, and in 1971 Rock reluctantly waded into the television business with a movie of the week called Once upon a Dead Man, which evolved into the six-year detective series McMillan and Wife, with Susan Saint James, John Schuck, and Nancy Walker.
In 1982 Rock signed to star in a second series, The Devlin Connection, but filming was interrupted, and the show was ultimately cancelled, when Rock had a massive heart attack, his health compromised by many years of heavy smoking and scotch drinking. His quintuple bypass surgery was a success, but he never seemed to rebound completely. Although he was signed to play the recurring role of Linda Evans’s character’s love interest in the hit drama Dynasty in 1985 , his increasing weight loss, unsteadiness, and apparent frailty forced the producers to write his character out of the series after fourteen episodes.
Rock went into seclusion for several months until July 1985, when he made his last public appearance to help his friend Doris Day launch her new talk show Doris Day’s Best Friends . He was heartbreakingly gaunt, pale, and mumbling as he admitted the obvious to her and to the rest of the world—he was dying. Photographs of the ravaged star were broadcast around the world, and it wasn’t long before Rock filled in the missing piece to the story and confirmed that it was AIDS that was taking his life.
On October 2, 1985, Rock Hudson died of AIDS-related complications. In the wake of his death, now having a once beautiful and beloved face to attach to the then relatively dismissed scourge of HIV-AIDS, the public, the medical establishment, and the Hollywood community began moving AIDS awareness and treatment to the top of their priority lists, with Elizabeth Taylor leading the march toward fund-raising, care, and compassion in the name of her dear fallen friend. Rock Hudson’s legacy extends far beyond his more than seventy film and television roles—it’s impossible to calculate the impact of his life and death on AIDS victims throughout the world from 1985 on.
From Francine
Like most AIDS victims, Rock was ecstatic to leave his body and come Home to fully restored health and vitality. His mother was the first to greet him, once she made it through a wildly enthusiastic herd of large dogs, led by an Irish setter he especially adored. They were promptly joined by Roddy McDowall, Marlon Brando, and a host of other Hollywood friends, including Montgomery Clift, with whom Rock had always felt a unique connection—Rock says he was among the first on the scene of the tragic car accident that nearly killed and, in the long run, devastated Clift’s life, and it moved Rock to tears to see him thriving again.
He definitely returned Home with an agenda. It took all the patience he could muster to sit through the replay of his latest lifetime at the Scanning Machine, because he was so eager to begin training as an Orientator, to help other AIDS victims make as smooth and peaceful a transition as possible to the Other Side. He also volunteered himself for intensive study at one of our
Rock’s greatest career triumph to date followed shortly after his marriage, when he starred with James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor in Giant in 1956 . Not only did Rock walk away with a truly prestigious film and his first Oscar nomination under his belt, but he also formed a close friendship with Elizabeth Taylor that would last for the rest of his life.
After several more moderately successful dramatic roles, Rock found a whole new niche in romantic comedies costarring another dear friend, Doris Day. Their charming chemistry resulted in three box-office hits— Pillow Talk ( 1958 ), Lover Come Back ( 1961 ), and Send Me No Flowers ( 1964 ).
Film roles became fewer and farther between as the 1960s progressed, and in 1971 Rock reluctantly waded into the television business with a movie of the week called Once upon a Dead Man, which evolved into the six-year detective series McMillan and Wife, with Susan Saint James, John Schuck, and Nancy Walker.
In 1982 Rock signed to star in a second series, The Devlin Connection, but filming was interrupted, and the show was ultimately cancelled, when Rock had a massive heart attack, his health compromised by many years of heavy smoking and scotch drinking. His quintuple bypass surgery was a success, but he never seemed to rebound completely. Although he was signed to play the recurring role of Linda Evans’s character’s love interest in the hit drama Dynasty in 1985 , his increasing weight loss, unsteadiness, and apparent frailty forced the producers to write his character out of the series after fourteen episodes.
Rock went into seclusion for several months until July 1985, when he made his last public appearance to help his friend Doris Day launch her new talk show Doris Day’s Best Friends . He was heartbreakingly gaunt, pale, and mumbling as he admitted the obvious to her and to the rest of the world—he was dying. Photographs of the ravaged star were broadcast around the world, and it wasn’t long before Rock filled in the missing piece to the story and confirmed that it was AIDS that was taking his life.
On October 2, 1985, Rock Hudson died of AIDS-related complications. In the wake of his death, now having a once beautiful and beloved face to attach to the then relatively dismissed scourge of HIV-AIDS, the public, the medical establishment, and the Hollywood community began moving AIDS awareness and treatment to the top of their priority lists, with Elizabeth Taylor leading the march toward fund-raising, care, and compassion in the name of her dear fallen friend. Rock Hudson’s legacy extends far beyond his more than seventy film and television roles—it’s impossible to calculate the impact of his life and death on AIDS victims throughout the world from 1985 on.
From Francine
Like most AIDS victims, Rock was ecstatic to leave his body and come Home to fully restored health and vitality. His mother was the first to greet him, once she made it through a wildly enthusiastic herd of large dogs, led by an Irish setter he especially adored. They were promptly joined by Roddy McDowall, Marlon Brando, and a host of other Hollywood friends, including Montgomery Clift, with whom Rock had always felt a unique connection—Rock says he was among the first on the scene of the tragic car accident that nearly killed and, in the long run, devastated Clift’s life, and it moved Rock to tears to see him thriving again.
He definitely returned Home with an agenda. It took all the patience he could muster to sit through the replay of his latest lifetime at the Scanning Machine, because he was so eager to begin training as an Orientator, to help other AIDS victims make as smooth and peaceful a transition as possible to the Other Side. He also volunteered himself for intensive study at one of our
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