All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson Paperback – 23 Jan. 2020

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!

What a shame life can’t be lived openly. Nice man forced to live his truth privately. Glad he found so many good friends

Read the definitive biography of one of the greats - Rock Hudson.A sober, down to earth, meticulously researched work. Just love it!

Bought for my Mother, who was well chuffed!!

Great book

I was hoping for more of the personal stuff instead of all the movie information. More details about his personal life instead of the snippets that were inserted. Found it boring.

Great read

Very in depth

Es el libro en que se basaron para un documental. Muy completo. Recomendable

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.

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.

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.

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!