ACTOR
Rock Hudson
61 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (61)
- #001
Rock Hudson turned down the role Marlon Brando played in Sayonara (1957), the role William Holden played in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and the role Charlton Heston played in Ben-Hur (1959), all for the sake of A Farewell to Arms (1957). The three films he rejected went on to great success and positive reviews, while A Farewell to Arms proved to be one of the biggest flops in history.
- #002
Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS on June 5, 1984, but when symptoms appeared, his publicity staff and doctors told the public he had liver cancer. Less than a month after he disclosed that he had AIDS, Hudson wrote a $250,000 check to help launch the then-new National AIDS Research Foundation (NARF). Over the last 18 months of his life, Hudson's weight dropped from 215 lbs to 140 lbs; at his death he weighed 126 lbs. He died the same day as George Savalas; he and Savalas's older brother Telly Savalas had appeared together in Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971). At his death Hudson's estate was valued at $22 million. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea. Pat Boone, an elder at The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California, was allowed to pray for Hudson's soul at the actor's Hollywood mansion as he lay dying. Ironically, according to close friends, Hudson had been an atheist all his life despite being raised a Catholic. A private nurse told reporters that she asked him whether he wanted to know Jesus now, whether he wanted to invite him into his heart, and that he said, "Well, I guess it's about that time." A Roman Catholic priest, Father Sweeney, also prayed the "sinner's prayer" with Hudson.
- #003
When he was diagnosed with AIDS, Hudson was in talks with Doris Day and Tony Randall for a sequel to Pillow Talk (1959). The story reportedly had his and Doris Day's characters married and dealing with their daughter's impending marriage to Tony Randall's son.
- #004
Hudson was the first choice to play Jason Colby in The Colbys (1985), the Dynasty (1981) spin-off, but had to turn the role down because of his declining health; the part went to Charlton Heston instead. When he took the guest role of Daniel Reece on Dynasty (1981) in late 1984, the AIDS virus was consuming him. He soon began suffering memory loss and had to use cue cards to read his lines, and he also had difficulty speaking. In July 1985, when he traveled to Carmel, California, to help his Pillow Talk (1959) co-star Doris Day launch her cable series Doris Day's Best Friends (1985), his gaunt appearance and obvious disorientation suddenly made the cheerful reunion of one of Hollywood's most beloved screen couples the focus of media attention. He died just three months later.
- #005
After announcing in July 1985 that he had AIDS, Hudson received telegrams of support from Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck, Marlene Dietrich, James Garner, Carol Burnett, Ali MacGraw, Jack Lemmon, Richard Dreyfuss, Ava Gardner, Mickey Rooney, Milton Berle and Madonna. President Ronald Reagan, who had recently undergone colon cancer surgery, personally called him from the hospital.
- #006
Early in his career Hudson had surgery on his vocal cords to deepen his voice and had his teeth capped. The surgery had the unfortunate side effect of making it impossible for him to learn to sing, so when he played King Arthur in "Camelot" he had to speak his way through the songs, just as Rex Harrison had done in My Fair Lady (1964).
- #007
During the period when he knew he had AIDS, Hudson was in a relationship with Marc Christian but allegedly did not disclose it to Christian. Christian hired Marvin Mitchelson and sued Hudson's estate for damages and emotional distress. A jury award of $21.7 million in 1989 was reduced to $5.5 million in 1991.
- #008
After Hudson chose his new first name, Rock, on the suggestion of agent Henry Willson, the actor objected when Universal tried to shorten the spelling to Roc.
- #009
The box-office failure of Seconds (1966), which he considered his best performance and hoped would show the public he could be a versatile film actor, was a great disappointment to him.
- #010
When he first moved to Los Angeles, Hudson worked as a truck driver, but spent his free time hanging around outside studio gates and mailing his photographs to various producers.
- #011
Hudson had always criticized cosmetic surgery, but in 1981, after a cameraman convinced him he would look better on screen, he had surgery on his eyelids.
- #012
Along with Cary Grant, Hudson was considered one of Hollywood's best-dressed male stars.
- #013
At the age of fourteen, Hudson stood five feet tall.
- #014
As a young man Hudson was a film fan and worked as an usher. Before taking his first film role he had his teeth capped and trained intensively in acting, singing, dancing, fencing and horseback riding. Even so, his first film, Fighter Squadron (1948), required at least 38 takes before he could successfully deliver a single line.
- #015
Hudson attended New Trier Township High School East (Winnetka, Illinois) with Ann-Margret, Charlton Heston, Ralph Bellamy, Hugh O'Brian, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford, Virginia Madsen and Liz Phair.
- #016
Hudson began smoking at the age of twelve.
- #017
To win Hudson more mature roles, his manager shaved two years off his birth date, changing it from 1925 to 1923.
- #018
Hudson was a very close friend of the singer Dusty Springfield.
- #019
While Hudson and his partner Marc Christian were driving near downtown Los Angeles, the couple pulled off the road so they could meet Michael Jackson during the filming of his award-winning music video Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983).
- #020
Rock Hudson was the first choice to play Jason Colby in The Colbys (1985), the spin-off of Dynasty (1981), but he had to turn the role down because of his declining health. The part went to Charlton Heston instead.
- #021
After finishing the film Tobruk (1967) in the summer of 1966, Rock Hudson was released from his studio contract. Five years later, in 1971, he signed a contract with Universal Studios for McMillan & Wife (1971) for one of the highest salaries seen on television up to that time.
- #022
Rock Hudson grew a mustache and sideburns for his role in The Undefeated (1969). He later decided to keep the look throughout the 1970s.
- #023
Talent agent Henry Willson invented the stage name "Rock Hudson" by combining the Rock of Gibraltar with the Hudson River.
- #024
Rock Hudson was reportedly Universal Studio's first choice to play Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), but he was rejected because he was 36 years old and looked too young.
- #025
Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky reportedly coined the term "Beefcake" with Hudson in mind.
- #026
Rock Hudson was very nearsighted and always wore glasses off screen. He rarely allowed himself to be photographed wearing them, however.
- #027
In November 1981, after chest pains, Rock Hudson underwent emergency quintuple heart bypass surgery to relieve severely blocked coronary arteries, and he started smoking again shortly after leaving the hospital. As a result, during the winter of 1983-84, while in Israel for the filming of The Ambassador (1984), he was very thin and did not get along with his alcoholic co-star Robert Mitchum. Production of his television series The Devlin Connection (1982) was also suspended for a year while he recovered from the quintuple bypass surgery.
- #028
MGM offered Universal $750,000 for Rock Hudson to star in Ben-Hur (1959), but the studio refused.
- #029
After a right shoulder injury in 1973, Rock Hudson often used his left hand to write on McMillan & Wife (1971) and to pick up objects.
- #030
A conservative Republican, Rock Hudson joined Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, Irene Dunne and Raymond Massey in the campaign for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election. In May 1984, Hudson stayed at the White House as a guest of then-President Ronald Reagan. In a letter to Hudson, First Lady Nancy Reagan said how pleased she and her husband were to see him looking well after his surgery.
- #031
Rock Hudson appears as the lead in the Universal Studios theatrical trailer for the film "Francis" (1950).
- #032
Rock Hudson applied to the University of Southern California's theater program but was rejected because of his low grades.
- #033
After Raoul Walsh sold Rock Hudson's contract to Universal, he retained the right to one film's worth of Hudson's services. This was finally settled ten years later, when Walsh was given a percentage of the profits from Come September (1961).
- #034
In 1956, Rock Hudson starred in two films said to have had a major influence on television soap operas: Giant (1956) and Written on the Wind (1956).
- #035
Rock Hudson had no formal acting training.
- #036
Rock Hudson actively sought the lead role in Ice Station Zebra (1968), and after Laurence Harvey withdrew from the project, Hudson was cast.
- #037
Rock Hudson served in the Navy during World War II.
- #038
Empire magazine named Rock Hudson one of the 100 sexiest stars in film history (#28).
- #039
In June 2014, Rock Hudson was honored as Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month.
- #040
Although Rock Hudson played their father in Giant (1956), he was only 6 years older than Carroll Baker, 9 years older than Fran Bennett and 11 years older than Dennis Hopper.
- #041
Rock Hudson was only cast in The Golden Blade (1953) after Tony Curtis and Farley Granger turned it down.
- #042
Rock Hudson's stepfather was Wallace Fitzgerald, a Marine Corps officer whom he never liked.
- #043
Rock Hudson's mother once said that Roy Harold Scherer Sr. was not his biological father.
- #044
Although Rock Hudson tried out for roles in school plays, he never won any of them because he could not remember the lines.
- #045
On August 2, 2020, Rock Hudson was honored for his film work in Turner Classic Movies' Summer Under the Stars festival.
- #046
Rock Hudson needed 38 takes to deliver a single line in his first film, Fighter Squadron (1948).
- #047
One of Rock Hudson's jobs before entering films was as a gas station attendant.
- #048
Before his acting career began, Rock Hudson worked as a truck driver.
- #049
In 1977, Rock Hudson toured 13 cities as King Arthur in the musical "Camelot."
- #050
Before being discovered by a Hollywood agent, Rock Hudson worked as a truck driver, a mailman and a vacuum cleaner salesman.
- #051
Rock Hudson earned an Oscar nomination for his role in Giant while he was on loan to Warner Brothers.
- #052
When Rock Hudson's ashes were scattered over the Pacific from a boat, a rainbow appeared.
- #053
When Rock Hudson starred in comedies, he usually played the straight man of a duo or group, or characters whose seriousness seemed out of place in increasingly surreal situations. When he was coached for his first comedy role, he was instructed to play his lines completely straight, which would heighten the comedy. He used the same approach in his later comedy roles.
- #054
Over five years, Rock Hudson appeared in eight films directed by Douglas Sirk: Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952), Taza, Son of Cochise (1954), Magnificent Obsession (1954), Captain Lightfoot (1955), All That Heaven Allows (1955), Written on the Wind (1956), Battle Hymn (1957) and The Tarnished Angels (1957).
- #055
Universal called Rock Hudson the Baron of Beefcake.
- #056
Universal's refusal to loan him to MGM cost him the title role in Ben-Hur.
- #057
He worked a variety of jobs until Raoul Walsh, who directed his first film, discovered him. A year later he signed a contract with Universal Pictures.
- #058
He was mentioned in the Columbo episode Uneasy Lies the Crown (1990).
- #059
Toward the end of his life, especially after he began to be billed behind Robert Mitchum in "The Ambassador," he came to be seen as a fading star.
- #060
He had veneers placed on his front teeth.
- #061
In honor of what would have been his 100th birthday, he was named Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in November 2025.
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