Rock Hudson

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==Pictures==
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'''Rock Hudson''', (1925-1985), US Actor
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http://vargen57.unblog.fr/files/2006/08/Rock%20Hudson.jpg
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http://www.nndb.com/people/655/000026577/rock1.jpg
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<center>I am a professional genealogist. Contact me, if you'd like help in tracing your family tree, by clicking the below button.</center>
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<center>[http://www.countyhistorian.com/cecilweb/index.php/Rates_and_Hours http://i.keen.com/D1_cb-call-now-136x40_V5.gif]</center>
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This article should be cited as:<blockquote>"Rock Hudson", by Will Johnson, professional genealogist [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com], at CountyHistorian.com URL: http://www.countyhistorian.com/cecilweb/index.php/Rock_Hudson, copyright 2007-8, all rights reserved.</blockquote>
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This page is locked, if you'd like to add or correct anything, please email me. I am available for hire to assist you to trace your family or create a biography of you or your relative.  I charge $25 per hour.
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If you enjoy the research done here, consider making a [http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&amp;business=wjhonson@aol.com&amp;amount=15.00&amp;item_name=Rock_Hudson_Fund financial contribution] to keep research like this going.
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==Biography==
 
==Biography==
 
===Childhood===
 
===Childhood===
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Rock Hudson was an American actor, born as Roy Harold Scherer, Jr in 1925 in Winnetka, Cook County, [[Illinois]], the son of Roy Harold Scherer, Sr an auto mechanic, and his wife Katherine "Kay" Wood. Kay was the daughter of James Wood and Mary Ellen unknown.  Roy Sr left that family in 1932 and went to California.  After Roy left, Kay started dating Wally FitzGerald who worked shoveling coal at the Winnetka Water Works.  Kay and Wally married and he adopted Roy who became Roy FitzGerald.
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Rock Hudson was an American actor, born as Roy Harold Scherer, Jr on 17 Nov 1925 in Winnetka, Cook County, [[Illinois]], the son of [[Ancestry of Rock Hudson|Roy Harold Scherer, Sr]] an auto mechanic, and his wife [[Ancestry of Rock Hudson|Katherine "Kay" Wood]] (d. 1977), who had just married the year before.
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Kay was the daughter of James Wood and Mary Ellen unknown.  Roy Sr left the family in 1932 and went to California. Rock's obit in the NYT states that Roy had lost his job during the Depression.  After Roy left, Kay started dating Wallace "Wally" FitzGerald who worked shoveling coal at the Winnetka Water Works.  Kay and Wally married when Rock was eight, and Wally adopted Roy who became Roy FitzGerald.
  
 
Roy FitzGerald went to New Trier High School.  Wally and Kay fought and he would beat her and Roy.  They divorced, Kay married him a second time, and they divorced again when Roy was fifteen.  Kay became a live-in housekeeper for a wealthy family.  For several years they lived above Walgreen's Drug Store.
 
Roy FitzGerald went to New Trier High School.  Wally and Kay fought and he would beat her and Roy.  They divorced, Kay married him a second time, and they divorced again when Roy was fifteen.  Kay became a live-in housekeeper for a wealthy family.  For several years they lived above Walgreen's Drug Store.
  
 
===To California===
 
===To California===
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"Roy Fitzgerald enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943 and was shipped on the S.S. Lew Wallace, a Kaiser Liberty ship, to Samar, a sandy island in the Philippines." (''My Story'', p42) He was shipped home in 1946 and decided to go to California because his father, was living in Long Beach.  He found a job driving for Budget Pack.  In Long Beach, for the first time, he met men who were open about being gay.  One of these was [[Kenneth G Hodge]].  "...Ken Hodge had worked in radio for many years, producing [[Lux Radio Theatre]].  Ken was thirty-six and Roy was twenty-one...he lived in a penthouse...in the [[Chateau Marmont]], a building owned by his Aunt Bernadette." (''My Story'', p 43)
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"Roy Fitzgerald enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943 and was shipped on the S.S. Lew Wallace, a Kaiser Liberty ship, to Samar, a sandy island in the Philippines." (''Rock Hudson: His Story'', p42) (His obit in the NYT says he enlisted in 1944.) He was shipped home in 1946 and decided to go to California because his father, was living in Long Beach, with a new wife and a daughter.  He lived with his father for a short time, but it didn't work out well.  He found a job driving for Budget Pack.  In Long Beach, for the first time, he met men who were open about being gay.  One of these was [[Kenneth G Hodge]].  "...Ken Hodge had worked in radio for many years, producing [[Lux Radio Theatre]].  Ken was thirty-six and Roy was twenty-one...he lived in a penthouse...in the [[Chateau Marmont]], a building owned by his Aunt Bernadette." (''His Story'', p 43)</td></tr></table>
  
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Roy and Kenneth met in the Summer of 1947, together they left Long Beach and moved to Hollywood where they shared a bungalow in the hills.  Kenneth worked his contacts and threw parties to introduce his protege.  At one of these, Roy met [[Henry Willson]].  Without Ken's knowledge, Roy contacted Willson, they signed a contract and Willson became his agent.  A short time later, Kenneth moved back to Long Beach, alone.  Davidson reports that "..Roy's first check, made out to "Roy FitzGerald" from Vanguard Films of Culver City is endorsed on the back "Roy FitzGerald, Pay to the Order of Rock Hudson, Kenneth G Hodge"
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Roy and Kenneth met in the Summer of 1947.  Davison relates a story told her by [[Herbert Millspaugh]], claiming to describe how the name "Rock Hudson" came about.<blockquote>"I received a letter from Herbert Millspaugh, a retired clerk in San Francisco, who said he had been present the day Roy Fitzgerald was named Rock Hudson.  He included names, dates and supporting photographs</blockquote><blockquote>In the summer of 1947, Millspaugh said, he was living in Long Beach, working for the Texas Oil Company, hanging out by the Villa Riviera and going to parties at the penthouse of Ken Hodge.  Ken introduced him to an extremely handsome young man he'd just met, Roy Fitzgerald, who wanted to be an actor.  One sunday, a group of Ken's friends walked back from the beach to Ken's apartment, fixed gin and tonics and started trying to think up a name for the actor.</blockquote><blockquote>"Ken wanted a name that suggested strength," Millspaugh said. "Someone came up with Rock.  Then we looked through the Long Beach phone book to find a second name that sounded right.  We came up with Hudson.  Everything you've read in the press duing the last forty years about the origin of the name is malarkey." (''His Story'', p 44)</blockquote>
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Millspaugh also told this story on [http://www.tv.com/e!-true-hollywood-story/rock-hudson/episode/191177/summary.html The E! True Hollywood Story:Rock Hudson].  Robert Hefler claims that this Herbert died in 1999, however that Herbert A Millspaugh who died in Florida was born in 1917 in Indiana and more damning, his SSN was issued from Indiana.  The chance that he moved from Indiana to California by 1947 is diminished.  Checking the U.S. Public Records Index, I find a Herbert E Millspaugh, age 82, listed in San Francisco.  And I find him in the 1970 San Francisco Telephone directory at the same address.
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It's interesting that it's implied that they lived in the Chateau Marmont in one place, but in the Villa Riviera in another.  The Villa Riviera is at 800 East Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach (see [http://www.villariviera.net/component/option,com_magazine/func,show_edition/id,2/Itemid,44/ here]).
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===To Hollywood===
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<table><tr><td>http://www.nndb.com/people/655/000026577/rock1.jpg</td><td>Together, Roy and Ken left Long Beach and moved to Hollywood where they shared a bungalow in the hills.  Kenneth worked his contacts and threw parties to introduce his protege.  At one of these, Roy met [[Henry Willson]].  Without Ken's knowledge, Roy contacted Willson, they signed a contract and Willson became his agent.  A short time later, Kenneth moved back to Long Beach, alone.  Davidson reports that "..Roy's first check, made out to "Roy FitzGerald" from Vanguard Films of Culver City is endorsed on the back "Roy FitzGerald, Pay to the Order of Rock Hudson, Kenneth G Hodge"
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Hudson's first named role, according to his Wikipedia article was in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighter_Squadron ''Fighter Squadron''] in 1948.
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===Early Career===
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Rock appeared in the film ''[[Giant]]'' starring opposite [[Elizabeth Taylor]] and [[James Dean]].  It was Dean's last picture, he died in a car accident.  Phyllis Gates' in her autobiography relates that when Rock heard the news he start sobbing because he had wished Dean dead and now he was dead.
  
 
==Death==
 
==Death==
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Rock Hudson died of AIDS in the 1980s at his home in [[California]].
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His mother died of a stroke in "...the fall of 1977."(''His Story'', pg 203)
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Rock Hudson died of AIDS on 2 Oct 1985 at his home in [[California]].
  
 
==Entourage==
 
==Entourage==
 
Many articles have been writen about him, but many of the people swirling around him are shadows, whose lives are only illuminated in his presence.  That is, all the articles mentioning them, only mention them in relationship to him.  There are a few exceptions like his agent Henry Willson or the actor George Nader, who was one of his best friends for most of his life.
 
Many articles have been writen about him, but many of the people swirling around him are shadows, whose lives are only illuminated in his presence.  That is, all the articles mentioning them, only mention them in relationship to him.  There are a few exceptions like his agent Henry Willson or the actor George Nader, who was one of his best friends for most of his life.
  
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==See also==
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*Agent: [[Henry Willson]], also agent for [[Tab Hunter]] and Troy Donovan
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*Agent: [[Henry Willson]], also agent for Tab Hunter and Troy Donovan
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*Friends: [[George Nader]], also a movie star, and [[Mark Miller]], George's lover
 
*Friends: [[George Nader]], also a movie star, and [[Mark Miller]], George's lover
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*Lovers
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*Rock Hudson's Lovers in chronologic order:
 
**[[Kenneth G Hodge]], first-known live-in lover abt 1947/8
 
**[[Kenneth G Hodge]], first-known live-in lover abt 1947/8
 
**[[Robert Preble]], roommate? he claims they never had a relationship, 1950-3
 
**[[Robert Preble]], roommate? he claims they never had a relationship, 1950-3
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**[[Jack Navaar]], 1952-1954
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**[[Jack Navaar]], 1952-1954 (a pseudonym)
 
**[[Phyllis Gates]], married in 1955, divorced in 1958
 
**[[Phyllis Gates]], married in 1955, divorced in 1958
 
**[[Marilyn Maxwell]], 1961-1962? (died March 1972)
 
**[[Marilyn Maxwell]], 1961-1962? (died March 1972)
 
**[[Lee Garlington]], 1963-64, then on-and-off until 1973
 
**[[Lee Garlington]], 1963-64, then on-and-off until 1973
 
**[[Jack Coates]], 1967-1971
 
**[[Jack Coates]], 1967-1971
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**[[Tom Clark]], 1972-
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**[[Tom Clark]], 1972-1983
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**[[Marc Christian]], most well-known lover, who later sued his estate and was awarded 15 million
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**[[Marc Christian]], 1983-1984, most well-known lover, who later sued his estate and was awarded 15 million; they were estranged at Rock's death, the basis of the suit was Marc's claim that he was intentionally exposed to HIV without his own knowledge
 
*Personal Trainer: [[Ron Channell]], hired in 1983
 
*Personal Trainer: [[Ron Channell]], hired in 1983
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==See also==
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[[Ancestry of Rock Hudson]]
  
 
==Primary documentation==
 
==Primary documentation==
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*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&tips=0&gsfn=&gsln=scherer&sx=y&f12=Illinois&f4=cook&f7=&f15=&rg_81004011__date=1926&rs_81004011__date=0&f18=&f14__n=&_8000C002=&_80008002=&_80018002=&f10=&f16=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1930usfedcen&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=24&recid=22884914&recoff=3+19+20 1930 New Trier, Cook County, Illinois] showing : "Raymond Scherer, 30, IL, married at age 24, Proprietor, Garage; Katherine, 30 IL/England/IL; Raymond H 4 1/12; Lloyd 23 brother, IL, Helper, Gas Station"
 
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*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=James&gsln=Wood&sx=&f12=Illinois&f4=Cook&f7=&f15=&rg_81004011__date=&rs_81004011__date=0&f18=&f14__n=&_8000C002=&_80008002=&_80018002=&f10=&f16=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1930usfedcen&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=32&recid=22885883&recoff=1+2+20+21 1930 Census of New Trier, Cook County, Illinois] showing : "James Wood, 64, England; Mary E 65"
 
 
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=James&gsln=Wood&sx=&f8=Illinois&f9=Cook&f10=&f20=&rg_fa5__date=&rs_fa5__date=0&f16__n=&rg_f19__date=&rs_f19__date=0&f18=&fa20=&f21=&fa18=&f22=&fa14=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1920usfedcen&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=28&recid=18507238&recoff=1+2+20+21 1920 Census of New Trier, Cook County, Illinois] showing "James Wood, 53, b England/England/England; Mary 55, b Illinois/Ireland/Ireland; John H 22; Kathrine 19; David 18; John Anderson 34; Gustaw Shaw 42"
 
*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=James&gsln=Wood&sx=&f8=Illinois&f9=Cook&f10=&f20=&rg_fa5__date=&rs_fa5__date=0&f16__n=&rg_f19__date=&rs_f19__date=0&f18=&fa20=&f21=&fa18=&f22=&fa14=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1920usfedcen&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=28&recid=18507238&recoff=1+2+20+21 1920 Census of New Trier, Cook County, Illinois] showing "James Wood, 53, b England/England/England; Mary 55, b Illinois/Ireland/Ireland; John H 22; Kathrine 19; David 18; John Anderson 34; Gustaw Shaw 42"
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*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&tips=0&gsfn=&gsln=scherer&sx=y&f12=Illinois&f4=cook&f7=&f15=&rg_81004011__date=1926&rs_81004011__date=0&f18=&f14__n=&_8000C002=&_80008002=&_80018002=&f10=&f16=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1930usfedcen&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=24&recid=22884914&recoff=3+19+20 1930 New Trier, Cook County, Illinois] showing : "Raymond Scherer, 30, IL, married at age 24, Proprietor, Garage; Katherine, 30 IL/England/IL; Raymond H 4 1/12; Lloyd 23 brother, IL, Helper, Gas Station"
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*California Voter Registrations:
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**[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=1249&ti=0&iid=losangelescounty_68-0499&rc=613,1053,666,1066;682,1052,751,1065&fn=Kenneth&ln=Hodge&st=d&ssrc=&pid=3133651023 Los Angeles City, 1946] showing : "Kenneth G Hodge, 7136 Sycamore Trail, R[epublican]"
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**[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=1249&ti=0&iid=losangelescounty_71-0340&rc=683,1348,738,1362;749,1348,817,1361&fn=Kenneth&ln=Hodge&st=d&ssrc=&pid=3329475570 Long Beach, 1948] showing : "Roy H Fitzgerald, 921 E Broadway, R[epublican]; Kenneth G Hodge, 921 E Broadway, R[epublican]" (this appears to be an apartment building, about 15 people list it as their address)
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**[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=1249&ti=0&iid=losangelescounty_78-0373&rc=640,1437,696,1452;707,1437,776,1452&fn=Kenneth&ln=Hodge&st=d&ssrc=&pid=3783253743 Long Beach, 1950] showing : "Roy H Fitzgerald, 921 E Broadway, R[epublican]; Kenneth G Hodge, 921 E Broadway, R[epublican]"
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*[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=7039&iid=NEWS-PA-BR_ER.1951_05_08_0011&r=an&rc=3191,5800,3342,5846;3357,5800,3448,5846&fn=&ln=Record+Rock+Hudson+from+1951-1951&st=d&ssrc=&pid=498769931 ''The Bradford Era'' (Bradford, Pennsylvania)], 8 May 1951 (advertisement) "Dipsons Bradford, Starts Wednesday, Today, Gregory Peck, "Only The Valiant", Big Party Tonight, "Follow the Sun" Special, The Story of the Jet Fighters! Air Cadet starring Stephen McNally, Gail Russell, Alex Nicol, Richard Long, Peggie Castle, Charles Drake, Rock Hudson. 2nd Gay Feature, Song-Spashed! Fun-Filled! Rhythm Inn..."
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*[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=1136&iid=miusa1942d_066158-00515&r=an&rc=760,3168,828,3189;853,3168,958,3191&fn=&ln=Record+Rock+Hudson&st=d&ssrc=&pid=46493 Stars and Stripes Newspaper, WWII Europe and North Africa Editions, 1942-58], 1 Jun 1952 page 8 : "Life in Hollywood &mdash; ...Gene Tierney will be in England before many days....Gene has been stepping out with Rock Hudson recently, but this romance isn't serious enough to keep her from going to Europe."
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*[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=7488&iid=NYT715_8232-0550&fn=Rock&ln=Hudson&st=r&ssrc=&pid=3029620820 New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957] showing : "British Overseas Airways Corp., Embarked London, Disembarked New York, 28 Oct 1952, Rock Hudson aka Roy FitzGerald" ("aka Roy FitzGerald" is hand-writen)
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*[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=7488&iid=NYT715_8510-0007&fn=Rock&ln=Hudson&st=r&ssrc=&pid=3032776236 New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957] showing : "First Class, from Southampton, 16 Sep 1954 arriving at New York 21 Sep 1954 on the Queen Mary &mdash; Rock Hudson of 8383 Grandview Drive, Hollywood; born Illinois; 8 pieces of luggage"
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*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=CAdeath1940%2c&rank=0&tips=0&gsfn=rock&gsln=hudson&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416&o_it=21416&fh=0&recid=3487604&recoff=1+2 California Death Index, 1940-97] showing : "Rock Hudson born 17 Nov 1925 Illinois, died 2 Oct 1985 Los Angeles County; mother's maiden name Wood"
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*[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=50000&iid=114660641&fn=&ln=Record+Rock+Hudson+from+1985-1985&st=d&ssrc=&pid=1041844 New York Times, obituary "Rock Hudson"] 3 Oct 1985 "Rock Hudson, Screen Idol, Dies at 59" stating such bits as : "...During the Depression, his father lost his job as an automobile mechanic and left the family.  His mother, a telephone operator, remarried, and the actor, then 8 years old, took the surname of his stepfather Wallace Fitzgerald.  His mother's second marriage ended after nine years." "In 1944, he joined the Navy and served in the Philippines as an airplane mechanic."  None of his male lovers were named, his one-time wife Phyllis Gates was.
  
 
==Secondary Sources==
 
==Secondary Sources==
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*[http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0602,musto,71644,15.html Michael Musto] in the Village Voice
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Hudson "Rock Hudson"] on Wikipedia
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* ''Rock Hudson, His Story'', by Rock Hudson and Sara Davidson; William Morrow and Company, New York. 1986 ISBN 0688064728 [http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Hudson-His-Story/dp/0688064728 Buy it] at Amazon
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*[http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0602,musto,71644,15.html Michael Musto, ''La Dulce Musto'', "Phyllis Gates"] in the Village Voice, 10 Jan 2006
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*[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2006_Feb_28/ai_n16107748 "Outing Mrs Rock Hudson..."], ''The Advocate'', Robert Hefler, [[Feb 28]], 2006
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* ''Rock Hudson, His Story'', by Rock Hudson and [[Sara Davidson]]; William Morrow and Company, New York. 1986 ISBN 0688064728 [http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Hudson-His-Story/dp/0688064728 Buy it] at Amazon
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*[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/29/lkl.00.html ''Larry King Live''], transcript 2001
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*[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2006_Feb_28/ai_n16107748 "Outing Mrs Rock Hudson..."], ''The Advocate'', Robert Hefler, 28 Feb 2006
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*[http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:aFBWXk86dvQJ:pgw.com/catalog/catalog.asp%3FDBKey%3D180%26CatalogKey%3D0%26Action%3DView%26Index%3DTitle%26Book%3D327279%26Order%3D145+%22jack+navaar%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us PGW Catalog, ''The Man who Invented Rock Hudson''], an excerpt. Or search inside [http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Invented-Rock-Hudson/dp/078671607X here]
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*[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/29/lkl.00.html ''Larry King Live''], transcript, "Rock Hudson's Ex-Lover Speaks Out", Aired 29 March 2001
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*''The Man who Invented Rock Hudson''. Search inside [http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Invented-Rock-Hudson/dp/078671607X here on Amazon]
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[[Category:California]]
 
[[Category:California]]
 
[[Category:Illinois]]
 
[[Category:Illinois]]
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[[Category:Movies and Television]]
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[[Category:Famous Men]]
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[[Category:GLBT]]

Latest revision as of 17:34, 2 November 2010

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