The Life and Films of Rock Hudson Quiz

Answer: November 17, 1925

Rock Hudson was born as Roy Harold Scherer Jr. on November 17, 1925 in Winnetka, which is a village in Illinois. His parents were Katherine Wood and Roy Harold Scherer Sr. His father abandoned the family during the Great Depression, when he was small, and his mother married Wallace Fitzgerald shortly after that. Rock Hudson took his stepfather's surname after his mother married Wallace and became Roy Fitzgerald.

He shares his birthday with Danny DeVito, who was also born on the same day in 1944.

Answer: He worked as a truck driver.

Before he got into movies, Rock Hudson worked as a truck driver. After graduating from the New Trier High School in 1944, during the Second World War, he also became a navy aircraft mechanic. After the war was over, he became a truck driver for a moving company called Budget Pack, when he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. In addition, he also worked as a mailman.

Answer: He used the help and services of a talent agent.

Rock Hudson sent a photo of himself to Henry Willson, a talent agent who liked the photo and took him as a client. Henry Willson changed the name of his client from Roy Fitzgerald to Rock Hudson, who made his debut with a small role in 1948 in the film "Fighter Squadron" which was produced by Warner Brothers.

Answer: Magnificent Obsession

"Magnificent Obsession", released in 1954, was Rock Hudson's first leading role as an actor. In the film, he played the role of Bob Merrick, a spoiled, rich and reckless playboy who accidentally and unintentionally killed Dr. Phillips, a famous physician, when he had an accident with his speed boat.

He starred with Jane Wyman and Barbara Rush in the film, who played the role of Helen Phillips and Joyce Phillips respectively. Helen and Joyce began to dislike Bob when they realized that he was indirectly responsible for the death of Dr. Phillips. Bob soon understood this, and he decided to become a better person by helping people who were in need or were having problems.

He tried to help Helen also but caused her to have an accident in which she became blind.

He eventually became a doctor and conducted an operation to restore her eyesight, which proved successful and Helen was able to see again. The film was a romantic drama directed by Douglas Sirk. It was very successful and it made Rock Hudson a major star. Before "Magnificent Obsession", Rock Hudson was doing mostly supporting roles in films.

Answer: Giant

"Giant" was released in 1956. In this film Rock Hudson played the role of Jordan Bick Benedict, the head of a rich ranching family living in Texas. The film also starred Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean, who played the roles of Rock's wife, Leslie and Jett Rink respectively. Jett worked in Bick's household but wanted to become rich.

He became rich after he discovered oil and afterwards began to misbehave with the Benedict family. Later on, when the Benedict family went to a restaurant, Bick had a fight with the owner, who was a racist.

As a result, the Benedict family was thrown out from the restaurant by the racist owner. But Leslie felt satisfied that Bick stood for what he felt was fair and right. The film was very successful and Rock Hudson also received an Oscar nomination for his performance in the movie.

It proved to be a major landmark in his film career.

Answer: Pillow Talk

"Pillow Talk" was released in 1959 and it proved to be one of the biggest hits of its time. In the movie, Rock Hudson played the role of Brad Allen, a Broadway composer and Doris Day played Jan Morrow, an interior decorator. Brad and Jan shared a party line and Brad used to occupy the telephone by singing an original love song for all the women he used to flirt with on the phone.

This caused inconvenience for Jan, who needed to use the telephone for professional purposes. The two of them had many fights and arguments because of the way he was using the phone and wasting her time.

The film boosted the careers of both the stars tremendously. It was the first time Rock Hudson and Doris Day starred together. It was also the first time he did a romantic comedy film.

They did a total of three films together including "Pillow Talk". Tony Randall co-starred with Rock Hudson and Doris Day in all the three films.

Answer: Come September

"Come September" was released in 1961. In the film, Hudson acted with Gina Lollobrigida. He played the role of Robert L. Talbot, a rich and successful businessman in America who owned a huge villa in Italy, which he used to visit every year in the month of September for his annual vacation. Since he was able to visit the villa only once in a year, his major domo took advantage of his absence and turned his villa into a hotel.

He was earning extra money on the side by renting the rooms in the villa to guests and tourists who needed a place to stay during their visit to Italy. Robert didn't come to know about this until he suddenly came early that year. Gina Lollobrigida played the role of Lisa Helena Fellini, Robert's Italian girlfriend, who was about to marry someone else, since she was tired of waiting for Robert to ask her to marry him.

Answer: Lover Come Back

"Lover Come Back" was released in 1961. It was the last of Rock Hudson's releases that year. In the film, Rock and Doris played the roles of Jerry Webster and Carol Templeton respectively, who were two advertising executives working for rival agencies in Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York. Jerry used all types of unethical methods to win clients for his agency, such as setting his clients on dates with attractive women. On the other hand, Carol believed in working hard and doing her homework thoroughly, to win clients. Because of this, Jerry was able to win clients more easily for his agency. Carol disliked the methods Jerry used to achieve his goals.

Answer: Man's Favorite Sport

"Man's Favorite Sport" was released in 1964. It was directed by Howard Hawks, who wanted the film to be a tribute to an earlier film of his, "Bringing Up Baby", which starred Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn in the lead roles. He tried to get Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn to work in the film but he couldn't, so he cast Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss in the lead roles. Rock played Roger Willoughby, a well known fishing expert and salesman at a company which used to sell fishing equipment. Paula played Abigail Page, a PR person who forced him to take part in a fishing tournament.

She secured his participation by blackmailing him when she discovered that he was a phony, as he had never been fishing, but claimed that he was an expert in fishing.

As a result, Roger was forced to accept Abigail's request and agreed to participate in the fishing tournament, which lead to many comical situations in the movie.

Answer: Strange Bedfellows

"Strange Bedfellows" was released in 1965. It was the second movie to star Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida in the lead roles. In this film Rock played the role of Carter Harrison, an executive for an American company who was being considered for a promotion in London, if he was from a respectable background, meaning that he needed to be married. Gina played the role of Toni Vincente, a short-tempered Italian artist who was leading an unconventional life, taking part in various causes.

The two got married to each other without thinking.

After marriage they began to fight and argue with each other over everything and ended up separating from each other for many years. But they reconciled eventually after Toni realized that Carter really loved her even though she was very difficult to live with.