Overview

Rock Hudson reigned in the late 1950s and early ‘60s as “Hollywood’s greatest ambisexual swordsman,” seducing icons who included Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Joan Crawford, Ava Gardner, and Lana Turner. Mamie van Doren, the busty, provocative, and promiscuous bombshell, asserted loudly that “the boulder that Rock’s agent named him after was a big one.” Usually in secret, Hudson’s close friends and lovers asserted that his greatest performances were the “personae” he was forced to act out in public as a means of sustaining his heterosexual credentials. Privately, he performed, perhaps addictively, in many hundreds of (nominally) secretive sexual trysts, fighting off blackmail attempts and investigations by the FBI. He went on to survive a hastily arranged marriage to Phyllis Gates, who later emerged as a manipulative antagonist with a blackmailing agenda of her own. Although maligned by the media because of the stigmas associated with his AIDS-related death in 1985, Rock showed inner courage and manly grace as he lay dying. “This is my shining hour,” he told his closest friends, as the media rushed to “out” him as a “celebrity bisexual” who’d been stricken by the then-stigmatizing scourge. Today, beloved by hordes of cultish fans and film buffs around the world, Rock Hudson is the often misunderstood (until now) golden boy of a glamorous bygone era.

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9781936003556

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Rock Hudson Erotic Fire is based on some fifty years of information from Rock Hudson's friends, many lovers, and associates, proffering an in-depth biography which includes much information not contained in prior books about Hudson's life. This fact is especially surprising since over thirty years has passed since his death, and because so much has already been written about him that one might wonder at the need for yet another survey of his life. Rock Hudson fans will find much to enjoy in this expose about the iconic actor which gives information about his bisexuality and many lovers along with reconsiderations of his acting career, vivid life, and death. The part that really stands out is the in-depth surveys of his relationships with men and women alike, revealing many aspects of a part of Hudson's world that other books have either glossed over or only lightly touched upon. The result is an expose that offers the depth and detail any avid Hudson fan should receive. It's especially recommended for prior enthusiasts and collections strong in Hollywood biographies.--Diane Donovan, Donovan's Bookshelf Donovan's Literary Services, November 2017 Rock Hudson was the ultimate movie star - gorgeous, manly, sufficiently talented, charming, and hung. The whole world loved him. What they didn't know at the time was that Rock Hudson was gay. And not just any kind of gay, but a real slut, who had sex almost daily and racked up numbers in the thousands. Studio head Ed Muhl once said, Rock ... saw sexual intercourse as little more than a handshake. Rock Hudson: Erotic Fire is the new tell-all biography from Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince of Blood Moon Productions. It is juicy beyond words. Born Roy Fitzgerald, Rock started doing bit parts in the '50s, at one point even playing an Indian chief. But when he began working with director Douglas Sirk, some sort of magic happened. The movies, glossy melodramas like All That Heaven Allows and Magnificent Obsession, made him the top romantic star of the time. He reached his peak with a Best Actor nomination for George Stevens' epic Giant, then broke box office records when he teamed up with Doris Day for Pillow Talk. Rock enjoyed a 30 year career in both movies and TV, but he was forced into a silly sexless marriage with Willson's secretary Phyllis Gates, herself a lesbian. ( Both Phyllis and Rock asked that the word 'obey' be removed from their vows. ) Of course the marriage was a Hollywood joke. Debbie Reynolds reportedly said When he got married, the whole industry laughed itself silly. Gates herself said that she brought Rock to a psychiatrist who told her Your husband has the emotional development of an eight-year-old. Rock worked constantly, but one day his old friend First Lady Nancy Reagan noticed a blotch on his neck. Later examination revealed it to be karposi sarcoma, and Rock Hudson spent the last years of his life unsuccessfully treating and hiding the fact that he had AIDS. In 1985, the world's most famous movie star became the world's most famous person with AIDS. Most biographies provide all the standard facts, and this one is no different, but only the DPs can provide this sort of information, about Rock's encounter with Psycho star Anthony Perkins: â ¨ Tony had this specialty. He fills his mouth with the hottest water he can stand. Then he goes down on you. He calls it a 'hot flash'. So. Not only did the book teach me a lot about Rock Hudson, I also learned something that I'm going to try out later tonight.--Paul Bellini, Paul Bellini, an acerbic, no-nonsense commentator on the arts scene in Canada, is one of that country's foremost book reviewers. MyGayToronto.com, December 14, 2017

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"Sometimes I.D.'d as ""The Tabloid Kings of Golden-Age Hollywood,"" Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince are the authors of at least 40 exposes of ""the story behind the stories"" of America's entertainment industry. Subjects they've (notoriously) aimed their spotlight on, usually to critical acclaim, have included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Peter O'Toole, Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen, Linda Lovelace, The Gabor sisters, the Clintons, the Reagans, Donald Trump, and a gaggle of other luminaries who found either success or notoriety--or both--en route to the scandal-soaked fulfillment of their hopes and dreams."

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