Rock Hudson: podcast appearances and interviews

Rock Hudson was an American actor born Roy Harold Scherer Jr. on November 17, 1925. He was one of the most popular film stars of his era and had a career that spanned over three decades, making him a prominent figure in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Hudson gained fame with his performances in films such as Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, and Giant, the latter earning him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also enjoyed success in romantic comedies alongside Doris Day, starring in Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, and Send Me No Flowers. In the late 1960s, his film work included titles such as Seconds, Tobruk, and Ice Station Zebra. Discontent with the scripts he was being offered, Hudson established his own production companies, 7 Pictures Corporation and Gibraltar Pictures, to have greater control over his roles. Later in his career, he transitioned to television, starring in the mystery series McMillan & Wife from 1971 to 1977. His final acting role was as a guest star in the fifth season of the ABC soap opera Dynasty in the mid-1980s. Hudson was known to colleagues as being discreet about his sexual orientation, though it was understood that he was gay. In 1984, he was diagnosed with AIDS, and in 1985, he became one of the first major American celebrities to publicly disclose his illness. He died on October 2, 1985, at the age of 59, from an AIDS-related illness.