All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson

This biography of movie star Rock Hudson arrived quickly and in great shape. Definitely an exhaustive study of a complicated man. It must have taken years to do all the research that went into this book.

As a gay man and huge movie buff it took me a long time to get interested in Rock Hudson and I got the book because I want to know more about The actor being the first famous person losing his life to aids.It is very well written and clearly well researched not gossip as I am sure some other books about the star.I highly recommend this book not only for his research value but also for his humanity and great respect for it’s subject. Very well done Mr Griffin

Rock Hudson came along at one of the glory times of movies. He was a perfect specimen of male embodiment - tall, 6'5", handsome and the embodiment of what many women wanted. He was also fortunate in that the private lives of actors at the time were kept private by the press. And, like so many gay men, he had several female platonic friends, such as, Doris Day and Elizabeth Taylor. This book does a good job of giving us a picture of his early life, his relationship with his mother and his sexuality. If you want to know more about his life and the man who put a face on AIDS, this is the book for you. Remember, President Reagan couldn't say the word "AIDS" until he discovered his good friend was dying from it! This is a book well worth reading if your at all interested the movies of the 50's gay sex and beginning of the AIDS crises.

One of my favorite things to learn from this book was what a kind person a Rock Hudson was. All through the book there are stories of young actors and actresses (along with people not in “ the business “) who say things like “ he did so much for me”, “he guided me”, “he took me under his wing”, “ he came to my rescue”...on and on these testimonials keep coming up. He seemed to have such a loving side as well as a fun loving side. I sometimes feel from this book that he could have benefited from more of a balance of hardness. It seems from this book that he was not one of those stars who wielded his power and that may have not serviced him well in some aspects. He almost seems too nice for his own good which of course is beautiful in one way but leaves him in vulnerable situations often. Many have reviewed this book saying it was laboriously researched but they didn’t feel they knew the man after reading it. I didn’t feel that way. I felt I got to know a lot about this man. He was such a dichotomy in many ways. He seemed almost like a child in some ways. Yet in many ways he seemed quite wise and strong and resilient. It must have been quite a burden to have to worry about your “real self” being found out. There is so much pressure in life anyway, then add on top of that the pressure of the entertainment industry and “delivering the goods” and “bringing in the money to recoup the studios investment “. At the end of the day at least it would be nice not to have to worry that the person you came home to wouldn’t someday sell your stories to a tabloid. Bless Rock Hudson for his generosity, his kindness, his dedication to always working to become better and better at his craft. I came away from this book with much respect for Mr. Hudson. Certainly I came away with sadness for him too but mostly respect and admiration.

I have to agree with many of the other reviewers. Im not sorry I bought the book, I learned a few more details of Hudson s life but I didnt come away feeling like I really knew Rock Hudson much better than before I started reading. I have read 4 previous biographies of Hudson. Maybe a little of that not really knowing Hudson at the end of the book stems from the fact that Rock Hudson in real life was a different personality for each person he knew and wore many masks. The author eluded to the fact that Rocks greatest acting was in his personal life, and I feel this is true, but this wasnt gone into in the depth it should have been. His wife insisted that Rock go to a therapist and the therapist concluded that Rock had the emotional maturity of an 8 year old. I generally think Rock proved this to be the case. This I gleaned from another biography earlier.Rock Hudson was generally likeable but I have to say it was pretty apalling he cut his mother out of this life a year before she died, because he, Rock Hudson, couldnt stand to see her become frail and not the person her once knew. This is the attitude of a boy, an immature human being. Hudson displayed this behavior in many ways. The chain smoking, the alcoholism, the constant need for sexual gratification, the inability to form and maintain a lasting relationship. Not admirable qualities by any means.I often wondered why Hudson bought a house in Newport beach and an elaborate boat and within a year he sold the boat and deeded the house to his mom. He was basically verbally gay bashed and forced to move. Very sad. Newport at that time (1961) was way too conservative and small townish and his experience in that time period was probably predictable.When a book on a film star spends most of the pages reviewing in detail every film the actor was in you know that they are taking the easy way out and not really giving the reader an overall portrait. This book did that. 90 % of the book was rehashed material from previous publications but there was new info provided that was interesting. I was always curious about Hudson s first benefactor, Ken Hodges, and I learned a bit more about him. I also never knew Rock had a step sister and she was metioned but the author spent almost no time on her side of the story at all, I had to wonder if he ever even interviewed her?I sat next to Marc Christian once at a restaurant in LA. I recognized him, barely, It was prrobably 10 years or less before he died. He looked much different from earlier photos and when he was with Hudson. I am a pretty good immediate judge of character and there was something really kind of dark and creepy about his vibe. It looked like he had had facial plastic surgery, he was pale and thin and unhealthy looking. Consideriing he was something of a health nut this was surprising. He dropped his cigarettes, his keys, his cell phone, on the table and my overall impression was he was also more effeminate than I would have imagined from earlier accounts. He picked up on the fact I discretely recognized him and was kind of smug about it. Anyway I came away thinking Rock Hudson was far far from discriminating on who he let in his life and I pity him for allowing that to be a part of his life. Harsh, but a gut first reaction.I will give the author a ilttle slack in that most people in Hudsons life are dead, as Hudon would be 93 today, and the author did get some interviews with people that knew or were close to Hudson which hadnt ever been part of the story before which did add something to the book, but it was not a 100% effort on the authors part.

I always loved Rock in just about every film he made. So was interested in this book . YES I know he was gay .Who cares.. He was a good actor.... Even if the film was no good, he made made it great just to watch him. All that Heaven Allows I love Sirk films so i was happy with his work with this great director..This book keeps all the dirt about his sex undercover tells us about the actor and his feelings. I just he would told us more about Jane the other actors he work with... I would have like more information about... I give this A++++++ because of the good writing and the information that we would really like to know. Not just the dirt.... A++++again

Parue en 2018, cette biographie en anglais consacrée à Rock Hudson surpasse sensiblement l'autobiographie autorisée de l'acteur écrite en 1986 avec l'aide active de Sara Davidson. Dans une langue alerte et avec une empathie visible pour son sujet, Mark Griffin nous déroule le destin de Roy Fitzgerald, originaire du Nord de l'Illinois, dont la vie changea quand son destin fut pris en main par le redoutable et prédateur Henry Willson, agent à la réputation sulfureuse dont la majorité des clients était constituée de jeunes athlètes aux physiques avantageux. La suite on la connait : Rock devint star à la Universal non seulement, dans les années 50, via les somptueux mélodrames de Douglas Sirk mais conservant son titre jusque dans les années 60 notamment grâce aux comédies tournées avec Doris Day. Ce que l'on ignore peut-être un peu plus (et sur lequel revient largement le livre) se trouve dans la bataille sordide à laquelle se livra, par médias et procès interposés, de soit disant proches de l'acteur sur fond de chantage, de maladie et de manipulations alors que sa grande amie Elisabeth Taylor se révéla finalement la seule sur laquelle il put compter avant et après son décès (très émouvant passage où l'actrice se glisse dans le lit du mourant qu'entourent des bigots se tenant à bonne distance de peur de contracter sa maladie). Une très belle lecture que je ne saurais que conseiller à mes amis cinéphiles.

Excellent, insightful and informative biography well written by Mark Griffin on the fascinating life and work of Rock Hudson. The three films he.made with the world's number one box office star Doris Day is particularly interesting. The are one of Hollywood's most magical romantic comedy film teams. Their chemistry was extraordinary.

A juicy, provocative, well researched and full of gossip biography. A total delight!

Can Rock Husdon have been so nice? People seem to have queued up to tell the author what a gentleman he was. Not a great actor, but so amazingly popular at one stage! He was also so very conflicted and that makes his life so much more interesting. Sexually extremely active and yet forever playing a part. So amazing that in those days the closet was not blown apart. Yet to live in fear that it would be makes this a much more intriguing life than his actual character would suggest.A really fascinating read!

Since I was a child (and I'm forty five years old), I have been a great admirer of Rock Hudson. This book is all full of information about Rock's Hudson life and film career.I'm really enjoying very much its reading. Mark Griffin, its writer, really has made a great research.I recommend it strongly!