by Mark Griffin
“Some of Henry’s boys”: Bob Hofler, interview with author, 2005.
“I also saw a face” . . . “He’s wholesome”: “Rock Hudson: Why He is No. 1,” by Eleanor Harris, Look magazine, March 18, 1958, pp. 47–48.
“He liked my honesty”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, 1983.
“to develop a character”: Hofler, The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson, p. 4.
“He’s too green, Henry”: The Real Rock Hudson—Fans’ Star Library No. 6, The Amalgamated Press Limited, 1958, p. 39.
“He stumbled and giggled”: Hofler, The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson, p. 17.
“Raoul was tough”: Hofler, The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson, p. 162.
“I tend to believe” . . . “Walsh just saw” . . . “It must have”: Marilyn Ann Moss, interview with author, February 5, 2015.
“he’ll be good scenery”: Moss, Raoul Walsh, p. 281.
“It was considered”: Jack Larson, interview with author, December 16, 2014.
“Did you ever have” . . . “Get out the good dice”: The quotes are taken directly from the Warner Archive Collection DVD of Fighter Squadron (Turner Entertainment/Warner Bros. Entertainment, 2010).
“Rock had one” . . . “Finally, after many”: Jack Larson, interview with author, December 16, 2014.
“a goddamned Christmas tree”: Hofler, The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson, p. 164.
“It was very sad”: Jack Larson, interview with author, December 16, 2014.
“I remember when”: “Roy Fitzgerald Takes Some Time to Reminisce” by Rowland Barber, TV Guide, vol. 20, no. 18, April 29, 1972. Pages 24–28.
“I just couldn’t”: Pat McGuire, interview with author, January 15, 2016.
“When I took her” . . . “Save your money”: Oppenheimer and Vitek, Idol: Rock Hudson, 1986, p. 26.
“I remade High Sierra”: Moss, Raoul Walsh, p. 283.
“I took him on location”: McGilligan, Film Crazy, p. 46.
“He would wander onto”: Mayo and Van Savage, The Best Years of My Life, p. 75.
“He was certainly very”: Kathleen Hughes, interview with author, October 2014.
“The last winter of the war”: The quotes are taken directly from Rock Hudson’s screen test for 20th Century-Fox from July of 1949, which is included in the documentary, Hollywood Screen Tests, Take 2 (Image Entertainment, 2002, directed by Edith Becker).
Chapter 4: Universal
“the biggest moving” . . . “we blow up bridges”: Hirschhorn, The Universal Story, p. 12.
“the least ambitious”: Mordden, The Hollywood Studios, p. 323.
“Universal in those days”: Julie Adams, interview with author, December 14, 2014.
“His biggest asset is”: Star Stories: Rock Hudson by Jane Ardmore, 1956, p. 25.
“I first met Rock”: Piper Laurie, interview with author, November 18, 2014.
“Newest Chicagoland contribution”: “Tower Ticker” by [Jimmy] Savage, Chicago Daily Tribune, October 24, 1949, p. 31.
“Anthony Mann was”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“He did a very good job”: James Stewart’s comments are taken from an interview included on the DVD version of Winchester ’73 (Universal Studios, 2003).
“The best thing about Rock”: Soren, Vera-Ellen: The Magic and the Mystery, p. 135.
“Six feet four inches of”: The Real Rock Hudson—Fans Star Library No. 6, the Amalgamated Press Limited, 1958, p. 48.
“We went into a paint store”: Soren, Vera-Ellen: The Magic and the Mystery, p. 98.
“didn’t prefer women”: Soren, Vera-Ellen, p. 134.
“Vera’s family always”: David Soren, correspondence with author, 2017.
“Rock was absolutely stricken”: Peggy Dow, interview with author, April 2015.
“It was right then”: “How to Create a Movie Star” by Richard G. Hubler, Saturday Evening Post, September 27, 1952, p. 80.
“She was madly in love”: Kathleen Hughes, interview with author, October 2014.
“Henry was a guy”: Bob Preble’s comments are taken from E! True Hollywood Story: Rock Hudson, which aired on E!: Entertainment Television on July 11, 1999, season three, episode 27.
“We’re never attracted”: “Bachelor’s Bedlam!” by Bob Preble, Photoplay, September 1952, p. 82.
“I think it was a challenge”: Mamie Van Doren’s comments are taken from E! True Hollywood Story: Rock Hudson, which aired on E!: Entertainment Television on July 11, 1999, season three, episode 27.
“a little experimenting” . . . “a blast”: Hudson and Davidson, Rock Hudson: His Story, p. 39.
“We were called” . . . “When sex was involved”: Mark Miller, Trio of Forever Friends, unpublished memoir completed in 2007.
“Because instantly”: Mark Miller’s comments are taken from the documentary, Rock Hudson: Acting the Part, which was originally broadcast on the A&E Network on March 7, 1999 (Peter Jones Productions).
“We called him ‘Claudia’”: Miller, Trio, p. 17.
“We would get in drag” . . . “By using” . . . “We’ve got to get”: Miller, Trio, p. 12.
“There he was”: Miller, Trio, p. 86.
“Rock went much further”: Miller, Trio, p. 147.
”Rock was under contract”: Miller, Trio, p. 167.
“its heavyweight hero”: “The Fat Man Turns to the Films,” New York Times, May 25, 1951.
“It has all the elements”: Review of The Fat Man, The Hollywood Reporter, March 30, 1951, p. 3.
“Stop whatever you have”: from Dear Rock by Roger Jones, from the Roger W. Jones Papers (Collection #12621), archived at the University of Wyoming/American Heritage Center.
“I remember Rock saying”: Joyce Holden, interview with author, January 2015.
“Sam, you can’t do this” . . . “Do you want to be”: from Dear Rock by Roger Jones (unpublished manuscript), from the Roger W. Jones Papers (Collection #12621), archived at the University of Wyoming/American Heritage Center.
“He was very unhappy” . . . “I’ve found making lots of friends”: Oppenheimer and Vitek, Idol: Rock Hudson, p. 37 (Laurie); p. 41 (Hedda Hopper).
“Rock was dating” . . . “I remember the guard”: Jerry Scherer, interview with author, April 2015.
“A fight story”: Keyes, Scarlett O’Hara’s Younger Sister, 1977.
“standard for the course”: “The Screen: Three Movies Arrive,” New York Times, August 20, 1951, p. 14.
“I’d say the first”: Robert Osborne, interview with author, June 23, 2015.
“The studio executives”: Frankie Van’s comments are taken from This Is Your Life: Rock Hudson, which was originally broadcast on NBC on December 17, 1952.
“suddenly more like”: Oppenheimer and Vitek, Idol: Rock Hudson, p. 38.
“I was a messenger girl” . . . “Rock fit right into” . . . “He had a”: Betty Abbott Griffin, interview with author, January 2017.
“a camaraderie seldom seen”: “Rock’s Mystery Girl” by Maxine Arnold, Photoplay, November 1953, p. 110.
“Despite the diplomacy” . . . “I surely hope”: “Heading for a Wedding?” by Imogene Collins, Modern Screen, August 1954, p. 58.
“We would laugh”: Betty Abbott Griffin, interview with author, January 2017.
Chapter 5: “We Want Hudson!”
“I remember watching Jim”: Julie Adams, interview with author, December 14, 2014.
“pushed, pulled”: “Stars of ‘Bend of the River’ Swarmed in Damp Parade” by Phyllis Lauritz, The Oregonian, January 24, 1952, p. 1.
“It went to my head”: Hudson and Davidson, Rock Hudson: His Story, p. 37.
“The movie makers threw”: “Hollywood in Excelsis and Extremis!” by William M. Tugman, Eugene Register-Guard, January 30, 1952, p. 6.
“I first met Rock”: Bodil Miller, correspondence with author.
“He was doing leads now”: De Carlo and Warren, Yvonne.
; “After he gained some attention”: Robert Osborne, interview with author, June 23, 2015.
“It was a charming movie”: Piper Laurie, interview with author, November 18, 2014.
“Mr. Sirk was”: Betty Abbott Griffin, interview with author, January 2017.
“I saw a picture”: Halliday, Sirk on Sirk, p. 99.
“I think that”: Betty Abbott Griffin, interview with author, January 2017.
“Nobody knew Jimmy then”: Piper Laurie, interview with author, November 18, 2014.
“Horizons West bites the dust”: “Horizons West, a Story of Post-Civil War Texas, Opens at Palace,” New York Times, November 22, 1952, p. 16.
“so mean, he once”: Paul Trachtman, The Gunfighters (Old West series), New York: Time-Life Books, 1974.
“Rock Hudson is one of those” (footnote): Universal-International press release, May 6, 1952.
“He had a wonderful way”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“You had to give him”: Julie Adams, interview with author, December 14, 2014.
“absorbing sincerity”: Review of The Lawless Breed, The Hollywood Reporter, November 28, 1952, p. 4.
“fairly acceptable”: Review of The Lawless Breed by Philip K. Scheuer, the Los Angeles Times, February 21, 1953.
“The best thing you could do”: Eric Spilker, interview with author, November 22, 2014.
“It was a tumultuous affair”: Mark Miller, Trio, p. 146.
“We lived a very” . . . “If he did”: Hudson and Davidson, Rock Hudson: His Story, pp. 42–43.
“I don’t like”: De Carlo and Warren, Yvonne, p. 169.
“six feet four inches” . . . “a fine sense of”: “Rock’s All Right” by Bryan Forbes, Picturegoer, May 14, 1955, pp. 14–15.
“I shared rooms with Rock”: Moss, Raoul Walsh, p. 322.
“I didn’t feel”: De Carlo and Warren, Yvonne, p. 169.
“As they started”: De Carlo and Warren, Yvonne, p. 170.
“completely undistinguished”: “The Screen: Sea Devils” by Bosley Crowther, New York Times, July 31, 1953, p. 11.
“When we were shooting”: Piper Laurie, interview with author, November 18, 2014.
“They serve a purpose”: “Will Hudson in McMillan Be a TV Rock for NBC?” by Kay Gardella, New York Daily News, August 24, 1971, p. 37.
“I really didn’t want” . . . “Lee Marvin was”: Roberta Haynes, interview with author, June 5, 2016.
“So that they can”: Ross Hunter’s comments are taken from his interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, July 17, 1984, which is archived in the Ronald L. Davis Oral History Collection (#307) at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Margaret Herrick Library.
Chapter 6: Double Technicolor
“I looked like Joe College”: Hudson and Davidson, Rock Hudson: His Story, p. 37.
“I felt like such a fool”: Undated correspondence from Rock Hudson to George Nader.
“forceful” direction: Review of Taza, Son of Cochise, Variety, January 20, 1954, p. 6.
“It’s double-Technicolor”: Interview with Rock Hudson by Robert Feidan and Robert Colaciello [sic], Interview, 1971, pp. 12–13.
“like an ass”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“How long before”: Star Stories: Rock Hudson by Jane Ardmore, p. 34.
“I called the studio”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“Without Muhl”: Hofler, The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson, p. 236.
“Not true”: Alexandra Muhl, Internet Movie Database posting.
“I did it with”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“the most important figure”: Douglas, Magnificent Obsession, 1929.
“Everybody has taken”: Ross Hunter interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, July 17, 1984.
“My immediate reaction”: Halliday, Sirk on Sirk, p. 109.
“Rock Hudson was not”: “Two Weeks in Another Town: Interview with Douglas Sirk” by Jane Stern and Michael Stern, Bright Lights Film Journal, April 30, 2005.
“Rock was new”: Jane Wyman’s comments are taken from the documentary, Rock Hudson: Acting the Part, which was originally broadcast on the A&E Network on March 7, 1999 (Peter Jones Productions).
“Rock and I were”: Gregg Palmer, interview with author, February 4, 2015.
“I’m no actor”: From “Dear Rock” by Roger Jones (unpublished manuscript), from the Roger W. Jones Papers (Collection #12621), archived at the University of Wyoming/American Heritage Center.
“Women wanted to”: David Thomson, interview with author, August 8, 2016.
“There was this great”: Betty Abbott Griffin, interview with author, January 2017.
“Released for the first time”: Review of Magnificent Obsession, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, July 22, 1954.
“At last, Rock Hudson”: “Dramatic, Exalted Film” by Jim O’Connor, New York Journal American, August 5, 1954, p. 13.
“Bud was very anxious”: From “Dear Rock” by Roger Jones (unpublished manuscript), from the Roger W. Jones Papers (Collection #12621), archived at the University of Wyoming/American Heritage Center.
“When we were”: Arlene Dahl, interview with author, November 1, 2014.
“Hollywood’s most eligible” . . . “He likes single-breasted”: Modern Screen.
“I noticed that”: Arlene Dahl, interview with author, November 1, 2014.
“There is nothing”: “The Screen: Bengal Brigade vs. Sepoys at Palace” by Bosley Crowther, New York Times, November 13, 1954, p. 13.
“Rock Hudson was so”: Universal-International press release, June 25, 1954.
“deeply tanned face”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 137.
“Rock Hudson has resumed”: Universal-International press release, June 25, 1954.
“Oh, we had great”: Betty Abbott Griffin, interview with author, January 2017.
“Most of it was shot” . . . “In Hollywood, you have”: Halliday, Sirk on Sirk, p. 118.
“Hudson was playing”: Halliday, Sirk on Sirk, p. 118.
“Hudson is developing”: Review of Captain Lightfoot, Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1955.
Chapter 7: Is Rock Hudson Afraid of Marriage?
“Fans are urging”: “The Simple Life of a Busy Bachelor,” Life magazine, October 3, 1955, p. 129.
“It Was The Hottest Show”: Scott, Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, pp. 159–60.
“The descriptions of”: O’Hara and Nicoletti, ’Tis Herself, p. 202.
“The virile hero”: Scott, Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, p. 79.
“Confidential approached me”: Bob Preble’s comments are taken from the documentary, Rock Hudson: Acting the Part, which was originally broadcast on the A&E Network on March 7, 1999 (Peter Jones Productions).
“It was really terrifying”: Michael Childers, interview with author, April 25, 2016.
“It is the racy story”: Scott, Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, p. 87.
“Every month, when Confidential”: Hudson and Davidson, Rock Hudson: His Story, p. 49.
“I spent my entire summer”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 10.
“I shouldn’t hire”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 20.
“Why don’t you and Phyllis” . . . “I enjoyed her company” . . . “I wasn’t even in town!”: Hudson and Davidson, Rock Hudson: His Story, p. 51.
“The studio is capable”: Hofler, The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson, p. 232.
“I gave Rock a nice background”: “Rock Hudson: Why He is No. 1,” by Eleanor Harris, Look magazine, March 18, 1958, p. 56.
“a movie that made me”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 22.
“I discovered that”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 42.
“I could understand why”: Hudson
and Davidson, Rock Hudson: His Story, p. 50.
“I finally gave up”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 45.
“Rock Hudson has been enjoying”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 51.
“He brought me home”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 47.
“the house of my dreams”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 53.
“I was thunderstruck”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 55.
“You can have it”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 72.
“I take full credit”: Julie Adams, interview with author, December 14, 2014.
“meticulous attention”: Universal-International Studio Operating Committee—Minutes of Meeting from December 13, 1954; Report by Gilbert Kurland, assistant production manager.
“One Desire is nothing more”: “Soap Opera Triangle Marks One Desire,” New York Times, September 3, 1955.
“Rock Hudson had requested”: Universal-International Studio Operating Committee—Minutes of Meeting from November 30, 1954; Report by John Baur.
“In spite of a poor story”: Douglas Sirk’s comments are taken from the documentary, Behind the Mirror: A Profile of Douglas Sirk, directed by Sue Mallinson and produced by Mark Shivas (BBC, 1979).
“I found it a rich experience”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“We still feel”: Letter from Geoffrey M. Shurlock, Motion Picture Association of America to Universal-International executive William Gordon, January 10, 1955.
“You know, when you’re”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“Rock had matured”: William Reynolds, interview with author, December 8, 2014.
“In All That Heaven Allows”: Illeana Douglas, interview with author, May 24, 2016.
“As laboriously predictable”: Review of All That Heaven Allows, The Monthly Film Bulletin (British Film Insitute), August 1956.
“produced with smartness”: “All That Heaven Allows Strong in Popular Appeal” by Jack Moffitt, The Hollywood Reporter, October 25, 1955, p. 3.
“Dear Universal Pictures”: Review of All That Heaven Allows by Hollis Alpert, Saturday Review, December 3, 1955, p. 39.
“the ingredients of misunderstanding”: Review of Never Say Goodbye, Variety, February 15, 1956.
