01of 11
CA. 1950
Hudson was born in Winnetka, Illinois, in 1925 and moved to California in 1946 to pursue an acting career. Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, Hudson starred in box office hits likeGiantandPillow Talkand proved himself to be Hollywood’s dream leading man – charming, talented, handsome and, yes, dimpled.
02of 11
1952
“Rock was the biggest movie star in the world, and it was career suicide to reveal you were gay,” his onetime boyfriend Lee Garlingtontold PEOPLE. (Hudson secretly dated Garlington from 1962 to 1965.) Here, Hudson lounges in his home in North Hollywood, California.
03of 11CA. 1954Sharland/The LIFE Images Collection/GettyHudson swings from a ladder alongside fellow heartthrobs Tony Curtis and Robert Wagner in a shoot forLifeMagazine. “He was one of the most handsome men I have met in my life,” said Yanou Collart, his former French publicist. (Collart would later handle the press frenzy when Hudson collapsed in his Paris apartment in 1985 toward the end of his battle with AIDS.)
03of 11
CA. 1954
Sharland/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty
Hudson swings from a ladder alongside fellow heartthrobs Tony Curtis and Robert Wagner in a shoot forLifeMagazine. “He was one of the most handsome men I have met in my life,” said Yanou Collart, his former French publicist. (Collart would later handle the press frenzy when Hudson collapsed in his Paris apartment in 1985 toward the end of his battle with AIDS.)
04of 111955Michael Ochs Archives/GettyThe actor inGiantwith Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean in Marfa, Texas. According to his former business manager Wallace Sheft, Hudson “once drank margaritas for God knows how many hours with Elizabeth one night during the shoot. The next morning they were both blurry-eyed and couldn’t say one line. The director [George Stevens] told them it was a fantastic performance.”
04of 11
1955
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
The actor inGiantwith Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean in Marfa, Texas. According to his former business manager Wallace Sheft, Hudson “once drank margaritas for God knows how many hours with Elizabeth one night during the shoot. The next morning they were both blurry-eyed and couldn’t say one line. The director [George Stevens] told them it was a fantastic performance.”
05of 11
1957
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty
06of 11CA. 1959Silver Screen Collection/Getty"He called me ‘Eunice,'" said his longtime friend Doris Day, pictured here with Hudson on the set of 1959’sPillow Talk. “He’d holler, ‘Eunice, I’ll be over in a minute with a doughnut.’ We had a marvelous time.”
06of 11
CA. 1959
Silver Screen Collection/Getty
“He called me ‘Eunice,'” said his longtime friend Doris Day, pictured here with Hudson on the set of 1959’sPillow Talk. “He’d holler, ‘Eunice, I’ll be over in a minute with a doughnut.’ We had a marvelous time.”
07of 111962SNAP/Rex USA"When you met him, the sexuality was unbelievable. Just to be in his company – there is an aura about some people when they come into a room, and he had that aura," said casting agent Esther Shapiro, who later cast Hudson inDynasty. Here, Hudson poses flirtatiously with friend Marilyn Monroe at the 1962 Golden Globe Awards.
07of 11
1962
SNAP/Rex USA
“When you met him, the sexuality was unbelievable. Just to be in his company – there is an aura about some people when they come into a room, and he had that aura,” said casting agent Esther Shapiro, who later cast Hudson inDynasty. Here, Hudson poses flirtatiously with friend Marilyn Monroe at the 1962 Golden Globe Awards.
08of 11CA. 1963Courtesy Lee GarlingtonHudson enjoys a drink with Garlington at a bar in New Orleans. “Nobody in his right mind came out in those days,” Garlington, now 83, told PEOPLE. “We all pretended to be straight. When Rock and I went to a premiere together, we each had our own date.”
08of 11
CA. 1963
Courtesy Lee Garlington
Hudson enjoys a drink with Garlington at a bar in New Orleans. “Nobody in his right mind came out in those days,” Garlington, now 83, told PEOPLE. “We all pretended to be straight. When Rock and I went to a premiere together, we each had our own date.”
09of 111984Courtesy Ronald Reagan Presidential LibraryAt a White House State dinner, friend Nancy Reagan told Hudson that he looked too thin. He didn’t tell her the reason why. Hudson hadn’t yet received a diagnosis, but his health had already started to deteriorate. That June, immunologist Dr. Michael Gottlieb received a call from a patient who wanted to avoid publicity. When Hudson came in for treatment, “he had several lesions of Kaposi sarcoma that established a diagnosis,” Gottlieb told PEOPLE. “There wasn’t much we could do. Within a week he prepared several letters to past sexual partners … He said, ‘I wanted to do the right thing.’ "
09of 11
1984
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
At a White House State dinner, friend Nancy Reagan told Hudson that he looked too thin. He didn’t tell her the reason why. Hudson hadn’t yet received a diagnosis, but his health had already started to deteriorate. That June, immunologist Dr. Michael Gottlieb received a call from a patient who wanted to avoid publicity. When Hudson came in for treatment, “he had several lesions of Kaposi sarcoma that established a diagnosis,” Gottlieb told PEOPLE. “There wasn’t much we could do. Within a week he prepared several letters to past sexual partners … He said, ‘I wanted to do the right thing.’ "
10of 111985ABC Photo Archives/ABC/GettyAs his health waned, he performed his final role as Daniel onDynastyalongside Linda Evans. They shared a kiss that became controversial once Hudson’s AIDS diagnosis was revealed. Hudson kept his illness secret from all but a few friends. “I didn’t know he was sick until I read it in the papers,” Garlington told PEOPLE.
10of 11
1985
ABC Photo Archives/ABC/Getty
As his health waned, he performed his final role as Daniel onDynastyalongside Linda Evans. They shared a kiss that became controversial once Hudson’s AIDS diagnosis was revealed. Hudson kept his illness secret from all but a few friends. “I didn’t know he was sick until I read it in the papers,” Garlington told PEOPLE.
11of 111985Chris Hunter/APRumors about his condition begin to spread on July 15, 1985, when Hudson appeared onThe Doris Day Showlooking gaunt and frail. “When I first met him, I never could have imagined he would be the pivotal person in the history of AIDS epidemic, the single most influential patient ever,” Day told PEOPLE. Hudson died at home on October 2, 1985.
11of 11
Chris Hunter/AP
Rumors about his condition begin to spread on July 15, 1985, when Hudson appeared onThe Doris Day Showlooking gaunt and frail. “When I first met him, I never could have imagined he would be the pivotal person in the history of AIDS epidemic, the single most influential patient ever,” Day told PEOPLE. Hudson died at home on October 2, 1985.
source: people.com
