Fascination with screen legend Rock Hudson’s private life is as much a part of his legacy as is all his great work during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
While deeply closeted, Hudson had relationships with several prominent male lovers including esteemed Tales of the City author and LGBTQ+ activist Armistead Maupin.
Unlike Hudson, Maupin was out and proud and working for the San Francisco Chronicle, where he began Tales of the City as a newspaper serial.
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In a new interview, Maupin detailed the first time he met Hudson in the mid-’70s after being invited to a Palm Springs party the movie star was supposed to attend.
“I ended up going home with a bunch of guys from the party who took me out to some house in the middle of the desert where we took some drug called TT1, which I’m told was a relaxant given to women in childbirth,” Maupin tells Interview magazine in a new sit-down. “It certainly relaxed me.”
But i wasn’t until Maupin went to see Hudson in a local theater performance that the pair wound up hooking up.
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“We went backstage afterwards to see him. The moment I had my hand in his, the lights went out. Just a blackout,” the 79-year-old recalled of the power failure. “I said, ‘Well, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.’ We got together on various occasions.”
However the sex “was not great” because Maupin, who was 19 years younger, found Hudson’s ’50s heartthrob fame hard to measure up to in the sack.
“It was massively intimidating,” Maupin added. “He said, very touchingly at one point, ‘You know I’m just another guy like you,’ which is all he wanted. I said, ‘No, you’re not, and I’m Doris Day,’ and he got it. But yeah, it was extremely intimidating.”
Maupin managed to get over his fears and soon learned Hudson had a penchant for enhancing the mood with the aid of poppers, which he carried around in the most luxurious way. Feel that bougie rush!
“He had the cutest little poppers case you’ve ever seen. A little leather case that said ‘RH’ on it. That partially was one of the things that intimidated me,” he said, before adding, “I’m killing myself that I didn’t buy it from his estate.”
Maupin previously talked about their romance in the 2023 documentary Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed, which examined the star’s life when the cameras weren’t rolling.
Filmmaker Stephen Kijak used archival footage, film clips, and interviews with Hudson’s confidantes to give a clearer picture of the man behind the film persona.
In the doc, Maupin discussed outing Hudson in a People magazine article after the actor disclosed his AIDS diagnosis in 1985. A decision he still stands by.
“I knew it was my responsibility to do that. I’ve never felt it was a betrayal of an old friend,” Maupin told Interview. “We were at a point in history where this had to be done. Somebody had to say he was a gay guy and the whole of Hollywood knew he was gay. And he has nothing to be ashamed of, so that’s what I did.”
Hudson tragically passed away on October 2, 1985 at the age of 59.
Maupin currently resides in London with his husband of more than 17 years, Christopher Turner.
Maupin recently released Mona of the Manor, the tenth novel in his beloved Tales of the City series. Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed is available to stream on Max.
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dbmcvey
I’ve known several guys who were, if not lover, certainly bedmates of Mr. Hudson. He was a more complex person than he’s often painted.
humble charlie
he was soooo deeep.
bachy
So, what is the meaning of a red hanky in the back pocket? And how did that affect Rock’s expectations of Armistead?
inbama
Fistee.
monty clift
He says he didn’t want to deprive Rock of a fun time, but then denied him the red Hanky-Panky. For shame, Maupin. For shame!
humble charlie
“what fist my sphincter has kissed…
i only know the fingers that twiddled within me
a little while, that stink no more “
morgan
Armistead Maupin is not known for telling the unvarnished truth. Anything he says about those not here to contradict him is highly suspect.
Mr.Gavin Elster
By the time Maupin “had” Hudson, his long, tortured “self-medicating” battle with alcoholism was causing him to not be selective, or discreet about who he was tricking. His boudoir skills, and memory were also severely diminished, after a booze-fueled bender. Armistead is starting to sound like Bette Davis dissin’ Clark Gable’s “denture breath” and phimosis problem, that ONE time she hooked-up with him.
humble charlie
maupin was an introverted twerp used mostly in place of a right hand.
aL2000
I totally agree. I doubt the encounter ever happened.
GayEGO
I was walking down the main street in my Navy uniform back in 1959 in Hollywood and Rock Hudson drove by in his convertible and waived at me!
Pietro D
And???????????
humble charlie
what did he “waive”. too bad he didn’t wave at you.
tjack47
And…that’s more than enough.
nm4047
Good example of ‘dead men can’t tell lies’. Always fascinates me how stories of a former now dead movie star (certainly wasn’t an actor) always surface when their fame has well and truly faded and someone needs to make a dollar of the past ‘encounters’.
Mr.Gavin Elster
And…….. on the other end of Poodle Springs, as Raymond Chandler called Palm Springs, in, belive it or not?, a former Catholic convent, Liberace, who was very religious, and spent a lot of time on his knees, was shacked-up with TWO hunky, hung, identical French twins. “Lee” enjoyed taking them from both ends. Now that’s “really” living! Champagne wishes and caviar dreams, honey! The campy pianist NEVER came-out, and according to his long-time agent/manager DID NOT have, or die from HIV/AIDS, but rather succumbed to the effects of a severe “watermelon diet.”
humble charlie
was the morgue attendant able to remove the watermelon?
linedrive
This kiss and tell sh** is so tacky. Yes, I read the article but I still despise the attention seeking. It’s self-serving and gross.
humble charlie
what a killjoy.
dman
Yes, very tacky. Maupin has been telling this story for years, as well as other details of Hudson’s sex life, solely for the purpose of bringing attention to himself. RH was a very private person and I don’t believe he would have approved. Also, the two never had a “romance” of any kind… they were always friends.
humble charlie
now that he looks like an obese wally cox, he wants to crow.
humble charlie
hudson’s dead; he doesn’t care about anything one way or another. he’s not in the spiritual world doing his best to avoid doris day’s advances.
mikenwh1
Why is t anyones business what people do concerning their private lives? I really don’t care who’s doing who and whats their preferred position
humble charlie
obviously, you’re not a writer.