The earliest known image of Roy Scherer, Jr., who would become world-famous as Rock Hudson (Photo courtesy of Diane Markert).
All That Heaven Allows reveals why Roy Fitzgerald was listed as a senior in both the 1943 and 1944 editions of the New Trier High School yearbook.
In January of 1944, Roy Fitzgerald enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an Apprentice Seaman.
"I saw a face that had the possibility of flipping a lot of women," agent Henry Willson would say of his first meeting with Roy Fitzgerald in the late 1940s.
Former truck driver Hudson said of his early days as a Universal contract actor, "I played everything in the book. I was a bomber pilot, detective, soldier...I even played a truck driver."
Before this image of Rock appeared in "Screen Stars" magazine, an editor sent a note to his retoucher: "Mel - Put some hair back under his left arm!" Every effort was made to promote Hudson as ultra-masculine.
"I became the beefcake king," Hudson said of the type of exploitative publicity he had to endure at the beginning of his career. "I was a principal sufferer of those excruciating days and too naive to know what to do except go along with it."
Dear Mr. Hudson...Members of Rock's Portland (Oregon) fan club prepare to send him a giant postcard celebrating the release of The Golden Blade in the fall of 1953.
Hudson and fellow Universal contract player Barbara Rush appeared together in three films directed by Douglas Sirk – Taza, Son of Cochise, Magnificent Obsession and Captain Lightfoot.
Rock's Reata: The exterior facade of the ranch house seen in Giant was constructed at Warner Brothers and shipped to Marfa, Texas for location shooting. (Photo courtesy of Wally Cech).
Rock and wife Phyllis Gates and director George Stevens attend the Hollywood premiere of Giant on October 17, 1956. For his performance in the film, Hudson was nominated for an Oscar in the ‘Best Actor’ category.
Hudson welcomes wife Phyllis Gates to the MGM lot during production of Something of Value (1957). The couple were married from 1955 to 1958.
In 1957, Rock was named "Male Star of the Year" by the readers of Photoplay magazine.
In 1951, Rock found a lifelong friend in fellow Universal contract player George Nader.
Rock and heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano in San Francisco in 1958.
Rock and his "discovery," Cindy Robbins, at the premiere of This Earth, is Mine in 1959.
Hudson visits fellow Universal-International contract player Tony Curtis on the set of Operation Petticoat (1959).
Esther Williams, Rock and Tallulah Bankhead hosted The Big Party for CBS in 1959. "I could really make plans for him," Bankhead said of Hudson. "If I hadn’t already decided to become a maid at The Rockefellers."
Hudson and Doris Day in the blockbuster comedy Lover Come Back (1962). The Hollywood Reporter hailed Rock as "one of the best light comedians in the business."
Hudson seated in the front row at Judy Garland's historic Carnegie Hall comeback in April 1961.
Marilyn Maxwell pays a visit to the set of "The Spiral Road" (1962) and she and Rock are serenaded by troubadours.
Rock on vacation in Puerto Vallarta (Photo courtesy of Lee Garlington).
In 1966, Rock guest-starred on Carol and Company, a CBS variety special headlined by close friend Carol Burnett.
Claudia Cardinale and an apparently surprised Hudson at a dinner in the 60's. "From the first day I met him, I knew we were going to be great friends," Cardinale would say of Hudson. "In so many ways, this was a man to treasure."
Rock's companion, Jack Coates, celebrates the Fourth of July in his own inimitable style. (Photo courtesy of Cathy Hamblin).
The birth of an urban legend...the cover of the National Examiner in 1971. While the "marriage" was pure fabrication, the rumors refused to die.
As rumors swirled about Hudson being romantically involved with Gomer Pyle star Jim Nabors, the press overlooked some of Rock's real liaisons. That's NFL quarterback Roman Gabriel on the right.
From page 308 of All That Heaven Allows: "I think it was probably around 1972 when we met in Miami," says Kenneth Griggs. "I also remember [Rock] telling me that I was totally his type."
Rock in the 1976 thriller Embryo. Virtually all of Hudson's highly publicized nude scene wound up on the cutting room floor.
Twenty-five years after they starred in Giant, Elizabeth Taylor and Hudson were reunited on screen in the all-star mystery The Mirror Crack'd (1980).
Rock was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February of 1960.
Illeana Douglas, Piper Laurie, and Mark Griffin pay tribute to Rock Hudson at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood (February 2019).
