He achieved stardom with his role in Magnificent Obsession (1954),[1] followed by All That Heaven Allows (1955), and Giant (1956), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Hudson also found continued success with a string of romantic comedies co-starring Doris Day: Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961), and Send Me No Flowers (1964).

His last role was as a guest star on the fifth season (1984–1985) of the primetime ABC soap opera Dynasty, until an AIDS-related illness made it impossible for him to continue.

[3] He tried out for a number of school plays, but failed to win any roles because he could not remember his lines, a problem that continued to occur through his early acting career.

There he received coaching in acting, singing, dancing, fencing and horseback riding, and began to be featured in film magazines where, being photogenic, he was promoted.

What turned him into a star was the romantic drama Magnificent Obsession (1954), co-starring Jane Wyman, produced by Hunter and directed by Sirk.

Hudson returned to adventure films with Bengal Brigade (1954), set during the Indian Mutiny, and Captain Lightfoot (1955), produced by Hunter and directed by Sirk.

[citation needed] Hudson told the press that he wanted to co-star in Let's Make Love with Marilyn Monroe but Universal-International Pictures denied him permission; the role went to Yves Montand.

After the comedy A Fine Pair (1968) with Claudia Cardinale, he starred in the action thriller Ice Station Zebra (1968) at MGM, a role which remained his personal favorite.

[citation needed] In November 1969, Andrew V. McLaglen's The Undefeated, a western with Hudson starring opposite John Wayne, was released.

[36] He co-starred as a World War I flier opposite Julie Andrews in the Blake Edwards musical Darling Lili (1970), a film notorious for its bloated budget.

Hudson played police commissioner Stewart "Mac" McMillan, with Saint James as his wife Sally, and their on-screen chemistry helped make the show a hit.

While Hudson had long been known to have difficulty memorizing lines, resulting in his use of cue cards, his speech began to visibly deteriorate on Dynasty.

He was slated to appear for the duration of the second half of its fifth season; however because of his progressing ill health, his character was abruptly written out of the show and died off-screen.

[48] The LGBTQ news magazine The Advocate published an article by Hofler, who claimed that Gates was actually a lesbian who believed from the beginning of their relationship that Hudson was gay.

154), an article titled "When Watching Television, You Can be Sure of Seeing...," gossip columnist 'Rona Boring' states: "And there isn't a grain of truth to the vicious rumor that movie and TV star Rock Heman and singer Jim Nelly were secretly married!

Over the next several months, Hudson kept his illness a secret and continued to work while at the same time traveling to France and other countries seeking a cure, or at least treatment to slow the progression of the disease.

His emaciated appearance was such a shock that the reunion was broadcast repeatedly over national news shows that night and for days to come, with media outlets speculating on Hudson's health.

[62] He was released from the hospital in late August 1985 and returned to his home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles for private hospice care.

Maupin explains that he confirmed it to Randy Shilts of the San Francisco Chronicle and that he was annoyed that producer Ross Hunter, also gay, denied it.

The largely sympathetic article featured comments from show business colleagues, such as Angie Dickinson, Robert Stack, and Mamie Van Doren, who claimed they knew about Hudson's homosexuality and expressed their support for him.

"[72] Organizers of the Hollywood AIDS benefit Commitment to Life reported that it was necessary to move the event to a larger venue to accommodate the increased attendance following Hudson's announcement that he was suffering from the disease.

[73] Shortly before his death, Hudson made the first direct contribution, $250,000, to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, helping launch the non-profit organization dedicated to AIDS/HIV research and prevention; it was formed by the merger of a Los Angeles organization founded by: Michael S. Gottlieb, Hudson's physician, and Elizabeth Taylor, his friend and onetime co-star, and a New York-based group.

[40][77] After Hudson revealed his diagnosis, a controversy arose concerning his participation in a scene in the television drama Dynasty, in which he shared a long and repeated kiss with actress Linda Evans in one episode (first aired in February 1985).

[72] According to comments given in August 1985 by Ed Asner, then-president of the Screen Actors Guild, Hudson's revelation caused incipient "panic" within the film and television industry.

[82] Following his death, Elizabeth Taylor, his co-star in the film Giant, purchased a bronze plaque for Hudson on the West Hollywood Memorial Walk.

Although he repeatedly tested negative for HIV, Christian claimed that he suffered from "severe emotional distress" after learning from a July 25, 1985, newscast that Hudson had been diagnosed with AIDS.

Later, Christian defended Hudson's reputation in not telling him he was infected: "You can't dismiss a man's whole life with a single act.

In the book, Clark said he believed Hudson acquired HIV from blood transfusions during quintuple bypass open-heart surgery in 1981, never acknowledging that their relationship went beyond being roommates,[87] and characterized Christian as disreputable.

Christian filed a $22 million libel suit against the authors and publisher, charging that he had been labelled "a criminal, a thief, an unclean person, a blackmailer, a psychotic, an extortionist, a forger, a perjurer, a liar, a whore, an arsonist and a squatter".