"Once Upon A Time In America..."

Rock Hudson's Secret Gay Life Revealed By 'True Love'

'He said his mother and I were the only people he ever loved'

Darren Wee
April 16, 2015

The man Rock Hudson described as his 'true love' has opened up about their secret relationship nearly 30 years after the actor died of AIDS at the age 59.

Lee Garlington, 77, said he 'adored' the screen icon, whom he dated from from 1962 to 1965.

The retired stock broker was just a young film extra when they first met.

'He was the biggest movie star in the world and the rumors were that he was gay,' he told People magazine.

'So I thought, "Let me get an eye on him." I stood outside his cottage on the Universal lot, pretending to read Variety, which was probably upside down at the time. He walked down the street. He looked back once. That was it.'

A year later, he received a call from one of Hudson's friends, asking if he'd like to meet the actor.

'I was scared to death,' he said of their first meeting at Hudson's Beverly Hills mansion.

'Of course, he was 6-foot-4, a monster. He offered me a beer, but nothing happened. Literally. I was too scared. He said, "Well, let's get together," and we did.'

Garlington said he would sneak out of Hudson's home at 6am without turning on the engine so the neighbors wouldn't hear and they went to movie premieres together – but each with a female date.

'Nobody in their right mind came out,' he said 'It was career suicide.'

Rock Hudson and Lee Garlington.

Garlington has fond memories of hanging out at the house and taking car trips to county fairs and through the South with Hudson.

'Rock was always himself,' he adds. 'He would plant a kiss on a leading lady and I would say, "Geez, he does that to me the same way." That was always a giggle on my part.'

The two broke up in 1965, partly because Garlington wanted a father figure and 'he was not strong enough.'

'Rock wasn't a real strong personality,' he said 'He was a gentle giant.'

They gradually lost contact by the time the screen icon revealed he had AIDS in 1985.

Garlington said he was 'shocked' by the news.

'AIDS killed everybody in those days,' he said.

'I called up the people taking care of him, but they said he was so sick that he wouldn't know who I was and it was best to remember him how he had been before.'

In a biography published after his death, Hudson called Garlington his 'true love.'

'I broke down and cried,' he recalled. 'I just lost it. He said his mother and I were the only people he ever loved. I had no idea I meant that much to him.'

*********

Once upon a time in America, we lived in fear

"Fear Eats the Soul"