Rock Hudson: The Gentle Giant

“Do you want to know the secret of my second youth? Well, it must have something to do with my being surrounded by men. Women put too much of a strain on the heart!” Rock Hudson, 1984. Since David Bret published his best-selling biography of Rock Hudson in 2004, two key figures in Rock’s story—his wife Phyllis Gates and his last lover, Marc Christian—have died, along with several others, allowing a great deal to be told which could not be told whilst they were alive. In this much-revised and extended biography, Bret discusses every aspect of Rock’s life: parental abuse, discovering his sexuality while in the US Navy, his scores of male lovers, his prostitution to agents and talent scouts, the hidden truth behind his lavender marriage, his battle to conceal his sexuality from the media, his involvement with San Francisco’s gay scene, and the tragedy of his final years as the first major celebrity to contract AIDS. In Rock Hudson: The Gentle Giant, David Bret has produced a rewarding portrait of a warm-hearted, wonderful man who, though atrociously maligned by the tabloids and trash-mags back in 1985 when he died, remains revered by his millions of fans around the world. Contains over 40 candid photographs, filmography, and details of all of Rock’s stage and television appearances.