Rock Hudson (Paperback)

~ "He was born Roy Scherer Jr on 17 November 1925 in Winnetka, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, and his was an excessively crowded and miserable..." (more)
Key Phrases: Rock Hudson, Marc Christian, Mark Miller (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A new biography of movie legend Rock Hudson, Oscar-nominated star of films that include Giant, Pillow Talk, and A Farewell to Arms.

This is the first full account of Rock Hudson’s career and private life to appear since his death in 1985. With frankness, David Bret discusses every aspect of the actor’s life: his painful childhood, his scores of male lovers, the constant pressures of concealing his homosexuality from the press, and four decades of box-office success. Drawn from new material—including candid interviews given by Hudson himself and withdrawn until after his death—Bret’s portrait of this warm-hearted actor also sheds light on his later life. Rock Hudson was the first major public figure to announce he had AIDS, and his search for a cure drew international attention. After his death, his long-time lover successfully sued his estate, again calling attention to the homosexuality the star had hidden for most of his career.

About the Author

French-born David Bret is one of Britain's leading show business biographers. His previous books include biographies of subjects as diverse as Marlene Dietrich, Maurice Chevalier, George Formby and Elvis Presley.

Product Details

• Paperback: 306 pages
• Publisher: Anova Books (April 1, 2005)
• ISBN-10: 1861058551
• ISBN-13: 978-1861058553
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #761,767 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tracking a Movie Legend, April 22, 2006

By	Douglas Doepke (Claremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Balanced, straightforward biography of Hollywood's favorite leading man of the 1950's. The fact that he was both gay and promiscuous meant endless headaches for Hudson and his career managers during that most repressed of decades. The tension between big libido and big box-office underlay the actor's entire career, which author Bret tracks in pretty unsparing terms from early fan mags to coverup marriage to final tragic outing. The emerging portrait is generally favorable, particularly that of a generous on-screen professional, who at the same time could be a fickle and sometimes ungenerous lover off-screen. Names are named and there is a gossipy dimension for the curious. But the intimations remain pretty forthright without becoming catty or distasteful. Bret has handled this difficult but necessary aspect with understandable sensitivity. Still and all, he fails to clear up that murky veil drawn around Hudson's marriage to studio secretary Phyllis Gates, or the exact nature of his relationship with the controversial Marc Christian. So readers looking for resolution of these troubled phases of Hudson's personal life may be disappointed. My one real misgiving is with the plot synopses of Hudson's many films, big and small. Their inclusion in the text interrupts the flow and serves no discernable purpose other than padding the book's length (not that it needs padding). I found myself skipping entire pages as a result. Anyway, the biography comes across as an honest attempt to deal with the conflicted life of a movie legend, who, for better or worse, symbolizes an entire entertainment era.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars good intentions,interesting, but a number of inacuracies, November 30, 2007

By	Anthony A. Nelson "fabulous film fan" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rock Hudson by David Bret is interesting but poorly reserched and edited.Bret's book features glairing inacuracies such as stating that James Dean was nominated for best supporting actor oscar when in fact he was co-nominated for best lead actor along with Rock for this film. Bret states that Robert Stack won the oscar for Written on the Wind when in fact he lost to Anthony Quinn! How sloppy these mistakes are. In his plot description of The Mirror Crack'd he states that Elizabeth Taylor is playing Elizabeth the Great and Kim Novak Mary Queen of Scotts in the movie within the movie when in fact it is the other way around!
If Mister Bret can't even get the most obvious facts straight so to speak how is one to take or trust all the gossip about the many loves and lovers of Rock? The book is readable and entertaining but disapointing due to so many mistakes. As was stated by a previous reviewer, this book is filled with many plot summaries of Hudson's films, love it or hate it, I for one like it in my film star bios but once again, sloppy and inconsistant. Bret goes into great depth about "Embryo",totally ignores "avalanche",and doesn't do "Pretty Maids All In A Row" justice.
David Bret has fifteen other biographies listed to his credit beware of this hack, I'm sure he has more on the way.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars English author pulls no punches, July 19, 2007

By	Roger L. Vandermeer (Garden Grove, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

A friend recommended this author to me for his biography of Joan Crawdord. I have since read his biographies of Tallulah Bankhead and now Rock Hudson. The author does not gloss over any of the sordid details in any of these three biographies. All the dirt is there whether you want it or not.