I find it surprising that some people were surprised when the fact that Rock Hudson was gay was publicly revealed back in the mid-1980s, as the actor became the best-known person with AIDS in the world. After all, even my mother knew about that.
Anyhow, today's jaded crowd, looking at the above photograph, will surely assert that it's so obvious that Rock Hudson was gay. Just look at him! I thoroughly disagree. In fact, I don't see anything "obvious" about Hudson's sexual orientation in the photo. And no, I'm not blind. The guy just looks like a man — gay, straight, anything in between — doing his best to appear classy, or at least what used to pass for classy.
Personally, I don't find Hudson very convincing as a "classy" type à la Cary Grant. Whatever his sexual predilections, I've always found Rock Hudson much more believable in rugged roles, such as his gardener romancing middle-class widow Jane Wyman in All That Heaven Allows and, especially, his rancher in Giant, married to Elizabeth Taylor while competing with James Dean.
Now, I should add that the above photo is from the August 1967 issue of Movie Life magazine. But more importantly, you ask, What was Rock Hudson not? Well, the answer, as per Movie Life, is: (he was not) "Going to the Dogs." The magazine wasn't referring to Hudson's film career; the promo piece featured eight photos of the actor and his canine pals.
In truth, however, by the late 1960s Hudson's stardom, despite a well-received serious role in John Frankenheimer's 1966 thriller Seconds, was headed straight to the kennel — think A Fine Pair, Hornet's Nest, and the box-office disaster Darling Lili, which all but ruined Julie Andrews' film career.
The television series McMillan and Wife, co-starring Susan Saint James, boosted Hudson's popularity in the early 1970s, but only on the small screen. He was never to star in another major motion picture — unless, that is, you'd call Pretty Maids All in a Row, Embryo, Avalanche, and The Mirror Crack'd grade-A productions.
Hudson died of AIDS complications on October 2, 1985. He was 59 years old.
Rock Hudson was such a wonderful ,elegant, charming, handsome actor and I thoroughtly enjoy watching his movies on dvd. I particularly like his comedies with Doris Day and although people think Darling Lili was a disaster, I have such fun seeing the great, adorable Julie Andrews cursing him just to kiss him madly while taking a shower! To me Darling Lili is great Blake Edwards entertainment. I don't care about Rock's private life, just feel sorry that people still remember him mostly for the sunset days of his life. To me, all the way he was as brave and great in real life as he was in films. Elizabeth Taylor and Julie Andrews remained good friends and the latter always mentions him as 'so sweet' in interviews.
Who cares that Rock Hudson was gay. What is important is that he was a convincing actor, sometimes terrific and sometimes just good, depending on the part, the writing, and the direction. And yes, great with Douglas Sirk. No, he was not Cary Grant, NOBODY was, but he was a classy light comedy actor as well. He certainly carried himself at the end with dignity and class. RIP Rock!