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    All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson
    Unavailable
    All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson
    Unavailable
    All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson
    Ebook724 pages10 hours

    All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson

    By Mark Griffin

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    The inspiration for the HBO® Original Documentary, Rock Hudson: All that Heaven Allowed, airing June 28!

    The definitive biography of the deeply complex and widely misunderstood matinee idol of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

    “Mark Griffin paints a vivid portrait of a man who lived a double life in order to maintain his status as a movie star. Griffin’s sources are candid but credible, which makes the book a real page-turner. I came away admiring Hudson all the more, and feeling sad for the secret existence that Hollywood demanded of its leading men in the 1950s and 60s.”  — Leonard Maltin, author of Hooked on Hollywood: Discoveries from a Lifetime of Film Fandom

    Devastatingly handsome, broad-shouldered and clean-cut, Rock Hudson was the ultimate movie star. The embodiment of romantic masculinity in American film throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, he reigned supreme as the king of Hollywood.

    As an Oscar-nominated leading man, Hudson won acclaim for his performances in glossy melodramas (Magnificent Obsession), western epics (Giant) and blockbuster bedroom farces (Pillow Talk). In the ‘70s and ‘80s, Hudson successfully transitioned to television; his long-running series McMillan & Wife and a recurring role on Dynasty introduced him to a whole new generation of fans.

    The icon worshipped by moviegoers and beloved by his colleagues appeared to have it all. Yet beneath the suave and commanding star persona, there was an insecure, deeply conflicted, and all too vulnerable human being. Growing up poor in Winnetka, Illinois, Hudson was abandoned by his biological father, abused by an alcoholic stepfather, and controlled by his domineering mother.

    Despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Hudson was determined to become an actor at all costs. After signing with the powerful but predatory agent Henry Willson, the young hopeful was transformed from a clumsy, tongue-tied truck driver into Universal Studio’s resident Adonis. In a more conservative era, Hudson’s wholesome, straight arrow screen image was at odds with his closeted homosexuality.

    As a result of his gay relationships and clandestine affairs, Hudson was continually threatened with public exposure, not only by scandal sheets like Confidential but by a number of his own partners. For years, Hudson dodged questions concerning his private life, but in 1985 the public learned that the actor was battling AIDS. The disclosure that such a revered public figure had contracted the illness focused worldwide attention on the epidemic.

    Drawing on more than 100 interviews with co-stars, family members and former companions, All That Heaven Allows delivers a complete and nuanced portrait of one of the most fascinating stars in cinema history.

    Griffin provides new details concerning Hudson’s troubled relationships with wife Phyllis Gates and boyfriend Marc Christian. And here, for the first time, is an in-depth exploration of Hudson’s classic films, including Written on the Wind, A Farewell to Arms, and the cult favorite Seconds. With unprecedented access to private journals, personal correspondence, and production files, Griffin pays homage to the idol whose life and death had a lasting impact on American culture.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateDec 4, 2018
    ISBN9780062408877
    Author

    Mark Griffin

    Mark Griffin is the author of A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli.  Griffin, whose writing has appeared in scores of publications, including The Boston Globe, recently appeared in the documentary Gene Kelly: To Live and Dance.  He lives in Maine.

    Read more from Mark Griffin

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    Reviews for All That Heaven Allows

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    • 5/5
      Well researched and balanced bio of actor Rock Hudson. The author provided a good look at Hudson's acting career and his development and improvement as an actor over the years. Yet we also hear (thankfully not in too much detail) about the many different men who were part of Hudson's life. There are plenty of interviews with those who knew and worked with Hudson. There are extensive end notes and a bibliography but no filmography or list of tv or stage appearances. I also would have liked to have known what happened to the men in Hudson's life. Overall though this is the best of the biographies I have read on Hudson. I felt that the author respected his subject but yet did not whitewash his life.
    • 4/5
      Well written, somewhat sorrowful tale of a closeted gay man during the golden age of Hollywood - his loves, his losses, his interactions with agents and with Hollywood in general. The King of Hollywood during the 1950s and yet with all that, there is still the pain of a man abused in childhood and never really allowed to be himself.