Lee Garlington, the man actor Rock Hudson called his “true love,” is sharing memories of the actor, who died in 1985 of AIDS-related causes.
"He was a sweetheart. I adored him," said Garlington, who was among several people
close to Hudson who shared memories of the actor with People magazine.
Garlington, now 77 and a retired stockbroker, met Hudson in 1962 when he was a film extra and the two began spending time together a year later, People said.
"I'd come over after work, spend the night and leave the next morning. I'd sneak out at 6 a.m. in my Chevy Nova and coast down the street without turning on the engine so the neighbors wouldn't hear. We thought we were being so clever," Garlington said, adding, "Nobody in their right mind came out. It was career suicide. We all pretended to be straight.”
They broke up in 1965. Hudson described Garlington as his “true love” in a biography published after his death.
"I broke down and cried," Garlington told People. "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."
Hudson never came out publicly about his sexual orientation, and was married to Phyllis Gates from 1955 to 1958. Another former lover, Marc Christian, won $5.5 million from Hudson’s estate in a lawsuit claiming the actor never informed him that he had AIDS, and continued to have sexual contact with him after he was diagnosed.