Rock Hudson, pseudonym of Roy Harold Scherer Jr. (November 17, 1925, Winnetka (Illinois) – October 2, 1985, Beverly Hills, California, was an American actor.
Harold Scherer Jr., During World War II, served in the United States Navy as an aircraft repairman. When Navy paychecks stopped, he took a job as a postman. His mother worked in the telephone service, and when she transferred to California, Roy moved with her to Pasadena. Roy’s biological father also lived there. He had remarried and with whom he had maintained contact.
Roy went to work for his father and sold vacuum cleaners door to door. He then found work as a driver and moved into a home in Westlake Park with three colleagues. Roy wanted to be discovered for the film and would naively regularly park his truck at the studio entrance.
Carelessly leaning against the car, smoking a cigarette, he hoped to stand out. This story is a myth, as well as the story that he would have delivered photos to the Selznick Studios. In reality, Roy was part of a gay group. He had been sleeping with Ken Hodges, producer of Lux Radio Theater, since 1940. Ken had an apartment in Long Beach and promised to put Roy in touch with officers. At a party in Ken’s apartment, he met Agent Henry Willson, who fell head over heels for him. Roy became the protégé of Willson, fifteen years his senior, and had a sexual relationship with him.
It was also Willson who came up with the name Rock Hudson. Willson sent him to the dentist to straighten his incisors, they went to fancy restaurants together, and he bought his clothes. He had been sleeping with Ken Hodges, producer of Lux Radio Theater, since 1940. Ken had an apartment in Long Beach and promised to put Roy in touch with officers. At a party in Ken’s apartment, he met Agent Henry Willson, who fell head over heels for him. Roy became the protégé of Willson, fifteen years his senior, and had a sexual relationship with him.
It was also Willson who came up with the name Rock Hudson. Willson sent him to the dentist to straighten his incisors, they went to fancy restaurants together, and he bought his clothes. He had been sleeping with Ken Hodges, producer of Lux Radio Theater, since 1940. Ken had an apartment in Long Beach and promised to put Roy in touch with officers. At a party in Ken’s apartment, he met Agent Henry Willson, who fell head over heels for him. Roy became the protégé of Willson, fifteen years his senior, and had a sexual relationship with him.
It was also Willson who came up with the name Rock Hudson. Willson sent him to the dentist to straighten his incisors, they went to fancy restaurants together, and he bought his clothes. At a party in Ken’s apartment, he met Agent Henry Willson, who fell head over heels for him. Roy became the protégé of Willson, fifteen years his senior, and had a sexual relationship with him.
It was also Willson who came up with the name Rock Hudson. Willson sent him to the dentist to straighten his incisors, they went to fancy restaurants together, and he bought his clothes. At a party in Ken’s apartment, he met Agent Henry Willson, who fell head over heels for him. Roy became the protégé of Willson, fifteen years his senior, and had a sexual relationship with him.
It was also Willson who came up with the name Rock Hudson. Willson sent him to the dentist to straighten his incisors, they went to fancy restaurants together, and he bought his clothes. In 1948 he starred in a movie for the first time, Fighter Squadron. The one sentence Hudson had to say must be repeated 38 times because he kept forgetting the punishment. In 1956 he was nominated for an Oscar for best male actor, and two years later, he was named Star of the Year by “Look Magazine”.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Hudson mostly acted in comedies, regularly alongside Doris Day. For example, they played together in Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back and Send Me No Flowers. Many consider his role as an elderly New York banker in the film Seconds (1966) to be the artistic pinnacle of his career. Between 1971 and 1978, Hudson co-starred with Susan Saint James on the hit television series McMillan & Wife, broadcast by NBC.
