Bonus video! The mysteries & lies of Rock Hudson's marriage
Hello there!
I took a quick research-trip down to Los Angeles this week to visit the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' archives, and did my best to untangle all the lies, myths, and misdirections surrounding the marriage of Rock Hudson -- a closeted film star whose career began in the 1950s, when queer figures were forced by social stigma to concoct elaborate false personae for themselves. Rock's heterosexual façade is one of the most tangled in Hollywood history, and this week we'll do our best to zero in on what's true, what's false, and what questions remain for us to continue pondering.
Backup link in case the video doesn't play: https://youtu.be/BsquK4DRhPU
Comments (4)
I loved MacMillian &Wife as a kid, and most of the eps still held up when rewatched as an adult, but I was always wary about him. There's a certain tightness around his eyes that said "Mean" to me as a child.
During my first time at the house there was one man sitting by himself in the kitchen, crying and not interacting with anyone. The person who paid me told me he was Hudson's boyfriend, he and the others didn't seem to respect his despair nor comfort him. I was in my twenties and didn't understand treating someone who was in mourning with such disrespect. I've since learned the evil of jealousy.
I was one of a handful of female locksmiths in Los Angeles CA in the 80s. At the time of Hudson's death I worked for Grover's Lock & Key in WEHO, and was sent to his house to rekey all the locks as too many people had keys. I was called in again after Hudson's boyfriend was put out of the house. One of the statues around the pool got relocated in front of a walled mansion on Sunset Blvd west of Beverly Hills, I smile when I drive by it.
Oh wow what a connection. I wonder who the man in the kitchen was -- probably Marc Christian, who was (in an it's-complicated way) Rock's romantic partner at the time, or possibly Tom Clark, his previous partner who was still around. Might've been Ron Channell, his trainer, with whom he was close. It was a very chaotic environment, as I'm sure you saw! Also I think I know the statue you're talking about! I've seen photos of his pool in the 80s and there's one of what looks like a big kid swinging a little kid over the water. Looks like it would fit right in with that odd sculpture garden on Sunset just before you enter BH from the west side.