The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson
Gregory Morrow
The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson : The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry
Willson (Hardcover)
Hardcover: 325 pages
Publisher: Carroll & Graf (September 9, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN: 078671607X
Book Description:
"Henry Willson started off as a talent scout under powerhouse mogul David O.
Selznick, for whom Willson procured women. The starmaker-to-be was therefore
on the lookout for promising newcomers-as actors, lovers and sometimes
both-when he received an unsolicited photograph from a movie star hopeful
named Roy Scherer. Unbeknownst to Willson, the photograph of the handsome
young man with bad teeth would have not only a career-defining impact for
himself but, more importantly, redefine Hollywood's concept of the male
heartthrob. Roy Scherer became Rock Hudson and for the next twenty-five
years Henry Wilson became the man behind movie "beefcake."
The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson delves into Willson's life in explicit,
unsparing detail. Variety reporter Robert Hofler deftly chronicles Willson's
maneuvers to sidestep the FBI's investigation into Hudson's sex life; the
starmaker's use of off-duty L.A.P.D. cops and Mob ties to scare off Hudson's
blackmailers; Hudson's "arranged" marriage to Willson's secretary, Phyllis
Gates; as well as Hudson's affair with a Universal Pictures vice-president
to help secure starring roles in Magnificent Obsession and Giant.
Additionally, the book digs into Willson's other star clients, including
Robert Wagner, Troy Donahue, Tab Hunter, and John Derek".
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
"Those who think Hollywood's current predatory political scene and celebrity
partner-swapping activities are new phenomena would be wise to dive into
this tell-all tale of Henry Willson, an agent who became a major star maker
to actors like Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter and Troy Donahue in the 1950s.
Rapacious, ambitious and fond of a sex-for-roles strategy, Willson
(1911-1978) is a compelling character worthy of this extensive biography.
His story, too, illustrates the rise of the studio star system, in which
actresses were pimped out to movie executives by their agents, and actors
married to cover their homosexual liaisons. Hofler, a former Variety senior
editor now the publication's theater reporter, delves into this shadowy,
sometimes seamy world with particular relish, and his writing has all the
sizzle of the films his subjects starred in. He includes interviews with a
number of Hollywood insiders (Roddy McDowall and Shirley Temple Black, to
name two), and shows remarkable sympathy for Willson, offering a glimpse
into a man and an era that may be past, but whose effects linger still.
Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All
rights reserved.
From Booklist
Henry Wlilson was a Hollywood reporter turned agent who represented, among
other actors, several who were gay, and his specialty was not only seducing
young Hollywood material but also "butching" them up for acceptance on the
silver screen in the heartland, where, in the 1950s and 1960s, the idea of a
matinee idol being homosexual simply could not be conceived. Willson was gay
himself but not handsome; however, he certainly knew a handsome face when he
saw one, especially the handsome face out of which a successful film career
could be made. One of Willson's major clients--one of his major
inventions--was Rock Hudson, and it is through Rock's story that this
delicious yet sad history of Hollywood in that era is refracted. Hollywood
was publicity driven and gay-repressed back then, but finally, what really
has changed? Hofler's chronicle is an important contribution to the
behind-the-scenes history of the movie industry and pairs nicely with the
recently published Tab Hunter Confidential. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Customer Review:
The American Dream Measured in Width and Inches , October 3, 2005
Reviewer: J. E. Barnes (Bayridge, Brooklyn, New York)
"As any number of books on the subject have shown, including Mary Astor's My
Story (1959), editor Rudy Behlmer's Memo From David O'Selznick (1972),
Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon (1981), Lawrence J. Quirk's Norma: The
Story of Norma Shearer (1988), and John Gilmore's Severed: The True Story of
the Black Dahlia Murder (1998), life near the power centers of the
entertainment industry during Hollywood's Golden Age wasn't any less
desperate a place than it is today.
At first glance, Robert Hofler's The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The
Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson (2005) appears to be little
more than another lowbrow show business expose, but Hofler is actually
providing a service by responsibly shedding some badly-needed light into the
darker corners of the American psyche. One of the book's themes is the
sociology of the American Dream: Hofler examines a world where physical
desire and the hunger for power meet and intertwine freely.
Broadly stated, The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson concerns the lengths many
now well-known men were willing to go to be given an opportunity at stardom.
For a great number, this meant repeatedly spending time on the homosexual
casting couch, regardless of what their own public persona, sexual
orientation, or marital status might be. The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson
supports the idea that yesterday's gossip and scandal is often presages
today's historical record.
While the book focuses on Willson, Hofler makes it clear that he was only
one of many Hollywood agents and talent scouts who typically found the
average handsome young man on the California streets more than willing to
climb into his bed in return for even a slight industry favor. Hofler
underscores that, once his reputation was established, Willson was not
always the initiator; while he freely exploited his clients, he was also
actively pursued by men who offered their bodies to him freely. At the
height of Willson's power, which endured for decades, the problem was not
too few willing candidates, but too many: one witness recalls the line of
male hopefuls trailing down the stairs of the agent's second floor office
and continuing down the block.
Despite the publication and notoriety of the Kinsey Report on Male Sexuality
in 1948, most Americans of the era remained ignorant about same sex
relationships; many were unable to conceive of how such a relationship was
possible or could be enacted physically. Supporting Kinsey's conclusions,
Hofler provides abundant evidence that there was indeed a much wider range
of sexual behavior occurring between males of the period than generally
assumed, especially among the ambitious and the opportunistic.
Thus, ironically, the idols of millions of teenaged girls, as well as many
of the ruggedly handsome heroes of television westerns of the Fifties and
Sixties, who were the masculine role models for American men and boys
everywhere, were actually both Wllson's clients and his sexual partners.
The difference between The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson and similar books is
that Hofler names names, and names names hand over fist. Hofler is unafraid
to refer to Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, and Caesar Romero as "homosexuals,"
or follow the meandering path of a sexual relationship between Guy Madison
and Rory Calhoun, going so far as to inform readers which man was the
physically dominant partner and which the submissive.
Like many of the men discussed, Troy Donahue seems to have lived in an
uncomfortable state of liminal sexual orientation, but Hofler quotes him as
admitting that he "got into a pile" at one of his agent's all-male orgies. A
later passage describes a firsthand account in which Donahue, "zonked out of
his mind," is found hosting a "midday drug orgy" composed of "degenerates,"
"degenerates" being standard code of the era for "homosexual." Hilariously,
Donahue's new bride, Suzanne Pleshette, files for divorce when she finds her
spouse sneaking in "through the bathroom window at 5 a.m."
Unsurprisingly, those clients of Wlilson's who are still living, such as
John Saxon and Mike Connors, state they were able to successfully fend off
the agent's advances, or that no advances upon them were ever made, while
evidence suggests that most of those who have passed away surrendered
willingly or succumbed eventually.
Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Anthony Perkins, Roddy McDowall, Farley Granger,
George Nader, even Raymond Burr--not all of whom were Willson
clients--Hofler tosses the idols of a generation on the fire. Other famous
"Willson boys" included Alain Delon, John Gavin, Robert Fuller, Clint
Walker, Van Williams, Guy Williams, and Chad Everett.
Willson, who also arranged sham marriages, publicly betrayed those who had
outlived their sexual usefulness, and threatened those who opposed him with
extreme violence, is today as fondly remembered by some as he is loathed by
others.
The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson will make uncomfortable reading for those
who would rather not know either the facts or the compromises that many of
their childhood heroes made in the name of entertainment industry success.
Readers will also have to decide whether the evidence presented is credible
on a case by case basis.
But Hofler's book, like the missing piece of a complex mosaic, balances out
several equations, including the extreme and awkward stratification between
'heterosexual' and 'homosexual' identities still presumed to exist today".
</>
Richie
and Mike Connors 'escaped' lol
Bubbles
Perkins, Roddy McDowall, Farley Granger, George Nader, Raymond
Burr, Alain Delon, John Gavin, Robert Fuller, Clint Walker, Van
Williams, Guy Williams, Chad Everett...
Good heavens -- even Zorro??? I suppose sneaking around at night in a cape
and boots should have been a clue. Looks like every man in Hollywood really
*is* gay.
(Please don't mention this book to my mother -- she *adored* Clint Walker.)
Bubbles
---
"You've mistaken that banana for a telephone."
(Japanese book of handy English phrases)
Gregory Morrow
Bubbles wrote:
> ...Guy Madison, Rory Calhoun, Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Anthony
> Perkins, Roddy McDowall, Farley Granger, George Nader, Raymond
> Burr, Alain Delon, John Gavin, Robert Fuller, Clint Walker, Van
> Williams, Guy Williams, Chad Everett...
>
> Good heavens -- even Zorro??? I suppose sneaking around at night in a
cape
> and boots should have been a clue. Looks like every man in Hollywood
really
> *is* gay.
>
> (Please don't mention this book to my mother -- she *adored* Clint
Walker.)
Clint was pretty cute...
IIRC Tony Curtis was one of Willson's proteges, too...
There was IIRC an A&E _Biography_ episode about Rock Hudson, his discovery
by this Willson guy was discussed. Willson also discovered these other
handsome fellows (my fave male star of all time is the stunningly gorgeous
Guy Madison...), so at the time I put two and two together...
Director George Cukor apparently would hold Sunday orgies at his mansion
with some of these guys attending. Pretty wild!
There is a splendid site with beefcake pics of some of these guys (this is
also an informative site about lots of actors, genres, etc.):
http://briansdriveintheater.com/index.html
This section has luscious pix of Guy Madison:
http://briansdriveintheater.com/index.html
Madison was discovered by agent Willson when Madison was still in the Navy.
He did some sexy shots for the iconic gay publication _Physique Pictorial_.
His first role was a bit as a sailor in in 1944's "home on the front" movie
_Since You Went Away_. He looks like a wet dream of a hot trick. His first
major role was in 1946's excellent "soldier returns home from the war" flick
_Till The End Of Time_ (it will be on Turner Classic Movies sometime this
month IIRC, check their schedule)...
He has been kind of an obsession with gay guys for a while, there was even a
short film made a few years ago by a gay filmmaker who had become obsessed
with him.
If you see either of the two films I've mentioned above you'll see why...he
is a dreamboat.
And Rory Calhoun was a hot, hot, guy. He and Guy must had made a SPLENDID
pair...woof!
Back in the mid - 50's _Confidential_ magazine was all set to blow the cover
off of Rock Hudson's homosexuality. His studio and Willson intervened and
the studio offered up Rory Calhoun as a sacrifice - he had been in prison
for a relatively petty crime years before and the magazine used that as
their juicy story, with Rory's mug shot on their cover...
--
Best
Greg
Richie
than the leading ladies of the era ...too gorgeous
to be taken seriously.
http://briansdriveintheater.com/johnderek.html
a famous womanizer btw
Foxxy Foxx1
This books sounds divine. I 'must' get it.
And even though I was a pre-teen girl when Troy Donahue was at the
height of his career, I thought he was to die for.
Good looking, blond, blue eyed guys are
one of my main weaknesses.
Spangliekins
"Foxxy Foxx1" <Foxxy...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:24526-434...@storefull-3272.bay.webtv.net...
It can't have ridiculous looking highlights, though. Blonde guys with
highlights are the worst. Peroxide is different, but highlights over a
darker shade of blonde is just nasty on a guy. I call it "chicken noodle
soup hair" and have since I was a child. It's just nasty and so feminine
looking. I like green eyes on a blonde better than blue,
though....especially if he's tanned......YUM.
JN
Foxxy Foxx1
Explorer wrote:
<<Hell, if I counted all the stars I thought were cute who turned out to
be gay - why I might just have to get naked ....>>
LOL, don't forget to tape all of your encounters. You could get rich.
Foxxy Foxx1
Spanglekins wrote:
<<It can't have ridiculous looking highlights, though. Blonde guys with
highlights are the worst. Peroxide is different, but highlights over a
darker shade of blonde is just nasty on a guy. I call it "chicken noodle
soup hair" and have since I was a child. It's just nasty and so feminine
looking. I like green eyes on a blonde better than blue,
though....especially if he's tanned......YUM.>>
Your name for certain hair colors is very clever.
I've only met three people who had green eyes. I complimented one girl
on her incredibly beautiful green eyes and she told me they were
green-colored contact
lenses and her real eye color was brown.
Richie
====================
and her tits were silicone
and her lips were collagen
her hair compliments of Clairol
a natural beauty no doubt
and insists upon using the phrase "i'm keeping it real"
Andrys Basten
Gregory Morrow <gregorymorrowEMERGENCY...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>This section has luscious pix of Guy Madison:
>
>http://briansdriveintheater.com/index.html
That sure takes me back! I was only about 14 or 15 when
I made my boor 11 yr old brother sit with me on The Emporium
roof watching Madison sign autographs. I don't think I've
ever seen anyone so good looking - it was unreal.
Best photos ther representing what mesmerized me:
http://briansdriveintheater.com/guymadison/guymadison47.jpg
http://briansdriveintheater.com/guymadison/guymadison/guymadison58.jpg
And most people never heard of him. Wonder what the story was
on his two marriages. Even as a kid I read about Gail Russell's
alcoholism.
- A
--
http://www.andrys.com
Andrys Basten
Andrys Basten <and...@panix.com> wrote:
>In article <awF0f.8623$QE1....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
>Gregory Morrow
><gregorymorrowEMERGENCY...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>This section has luscious pix of Guy Madison:
>>
>>http://briansdriveintheater.com/index.html
>
>That sure takes me back! I was only about 14 or 15 when
>I made my boor 11 yr old brother sit with me on The Emporium
! Well, no, my little brother wasn't a boor
but I did feel guilty about having the poor guy
sit there for over two hours.
>roof watching Madison sign autographs. I don't think I've
>ever seen anyone so good looking - it was unreal.
>
> Best photos there representing what mesmerized me:
Gregory Morrow
Andrys Basten wrote:
> In article <awF0f.8623$QE1....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
> Gregory Morrow
<gregorymorrowEMERGENCY...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> >This section has luscious pix of Guy Madison:
> >
> >http://briansdriveintheater.com/index.html
>
> That sure takes me back! I was only about 14 or 15 when
> I made my boor 11 yr old brother sit with me on The Emporium
> roof watching Madison sign autographs. I don't think I've
> ever seen anyone so good looking - it was unreal.
>
> Best photos ther representing what mesmerized me:
>
> http://briansdriveintheater.com/guymadison/guymadison47.jpg
> http://briansdriveintheater.com/guymadison/guymadison/guymadison58.jpg
>
> And most people never heard of him.
He seemed to be part of that wave of late WWII - era "glamour boys" that was
a fad, others in that genre were Van Johnson, Rory Calhoun, and Frank
Sinatra. Guy was the dreamiest by far!
His biggest success was on TV, e.g. _Wild Bill Hickock_ and he later did a
bunch of European grade - Z western and action flicks...
Wonder what the story was
> on his two marriages. Even as a kid I read about Gail Russell's
> alcoholism.
Very tragic about Russell's alcoholism. Many tried to help her, including
John Wayne...she died young.
As for Guy Madison, my "gaydar" went haywire when I first saw him in _Till
The End Of Time_ a few years back. Perhaps his marriages were shams? One
of his marriages resulted in a daughter. She ran a website about him but
now I see it's down. If you look on eBay you'll see lots of pix and stuff
for sale, he is still a big beefcake draw...I think the daughter even puts
his cancelled checks up for sale from time to time.
He died in '96 and still looked pretty good...kind of the "aging cowboy"
look. Here's another little site on him:
http://www.meekermuseum.com/guymad.html
I wish someone would do a real bio of him, would be fascinating for sure...
--
Best
Greg
Foxxy Foxx1
Gregory Morrow wrote:
<<This section has luscious pix of Guy Madison:
http://briansdriveintheater.com/index.html>>
Guy Madison sure was a hunky hunk.
I never considered John Gavin as a B
list actor. He was in the great movies, Imitation of Life and
Backstreet and he was gorgeous, too.
I read something about Troy Donahue being in a movie called The Thrill
Killers or something like that. Is that a thriller/suspence movie, too?
Andrys Basten
Foxxy Foxx1 <Foxxy...@webtv.net> wrote:
>I never considered John Gavin as a B
>list actor. He was in the great movies, Imitation of Life and
>Backstreet and he was gorgeous, too.
I remember him most for A Time to Love and a Time to Die!
Not the most expressive actor but he was excellen in this.
Andrys Basten
Gregory Morrow <gregorymorrowEMERGENCY...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>Andrys Basten wrote:
>
>> In article <awF0f.8623$QE1....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
>> Gregory Morrow
><gregorymorrowEMERGENCY...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>> >This section has luscious pix of Guy Madison:
>> >
>> >http://briansdriveintheater.com/index.html
>>
>> That sure takes me back! I was only about 14 or 15 when
>> I made my boor 11 yr old brother sit with me on The Emporium
>> roof watching Madison sign autographs. I don't think I've
>> ever seen anyone so good looking - it was unreal.
>>
>> Best photos ther representing what mesmerized me:
>>
>> http://briansdriveintheater.com/guymadison/guymadison47.jpg
>> http://briansdriveintheater.com/guymadison/guymadison/guymadison58.jpg
>>
>> And most people never heard of him.
>
>
>He seemed to be part of that wave of late WWII - era "glamour boys" that was
>a fad, others in that genre were Van Johnson, Rory Calhoun, and Frank
>Sinatra. Guy was the dreamiest by far!
Frank Sinatra??? I think From Here to Eternity made him (as an
actor) but I don't remember him as a glamour guy at all. He was,
to listeners, when he sang with bands though as a much younger guy.
>His biggest success was on TV, e.g. _Wild Bill Hickock_ and he later did a
>bunch of European grade - Z western and action flicks...
In fact, that afternoon at the Emporium, he came dressed
as Wild Bill Hickock. I still have the thick matte photo he was
signing for people and his sig on it. Must get it out!
By the way, am watching Tab Hunter on Larry King. I saw him
live once at a tv studio and had not been a fan. Don't know why,
but he seemed so wide-eyed it didn't seem real. But apparently
it was.
He looks GREAT now, and I'm now a fan. Beautiful guy with
absolute, real sweetness but a pretty wicked sense of humor too.
I loved how natural he is.
>Very tragic about Russell's alcoholism. Many tried to help her, including
>John Wayne...she died young.
>
>As for Guy Madison, my "gaydar" went haywire when I first saw him in _Till
>The End Of Time_ a few years back. Perhaps his marriages were shams?
I got the distinct impression there was something real going on there.
Maybe he was bi.
>One of his marriages resulted in a daughter. She ran a website about him but
>now I see it's down. If you look on eBay you'll see lots of pix and stuff
>for sale, he is still a big beefcake draw...I think the daughter even puts
>his cancelled checks up for sale from time to time.
That's pretty funny!
>He died in '96 and still looked pretty good...kind of the "aging cowboy"
>look. Here's another little site on him:
>http://www.meekermuseum.com/guymad.html
That's how he was dressed when I watched his signing gig. I think
one thing that impressed me was that our tv's back then were in
B&W. In color, he was of course even more eye-stopping. I was never
a boy-crazy type but I really could not get over how impossibly
good looking he was. More of a "Is this possible?" thing :-) Yes,
I did see many other actors when they came to town, but, no contest.
I do remember seeing Tony Curtis during Spartacus and thinking
how flawless complexions have to be to show up looking just 'normal'
on big screen. Kirk Douglas was in my row at the premiere and my
reaction to him was that I had just seen this huge figure on the
screen full of tan makeup but this guy was almost my height and
very pale!
Back to Madison:
>I wish someone would do a real bio of him, would be fascinating for sure...
Or at least a tv bio by MSNBC.
As far as a book, I've no idea if he was an interesting guy. Seemed
unassuming.