Robert Parker Mills [ 1 h 09 min 46 s | 39.93 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (591)

Thirty years ago this summer, doctors told actor Rock Hudson that he had “AIDS.” A year later, he collapsed in a hotel room in Paris, igniting a public hysteria around a virus then said to threaten everyone. A little over a year later, Hudson was dead at 59, AIDS had gone mainstream, and a young drifter named Marc Christian, claiming to have been the Hollywood heartthrob’s lover, filed a lawsuit against the estate for “emotional distress” for fear of having caught a fatal virus. Attorney and author Robert Parker Mills chats with “How Positive Are You” co-host Elizabeth (Beth) Ely about defending the estate — and the posthumous reputation — of one of the most beloved stars of movies and television, in 1988-89.

Despite decades of rumors, Hudson had carried off an image as a handsome, crew-cut symbol of American manhood. In 1985, he became the symbol of the heretofore “gay” disease that, suddenly, anyone could get. In the fantasy world of AIDS, the fictional characters Hudson had played became more important than the real person.

Soon, the world’s first “fear of AIDS” lawsuit was creating titillating headlines and talkshow opportunities for the young man who claimed to have been his lover. The trial proceeded meanwhile under gag order, bringing impossible stories of trysts in unnamed motels, love letters and friends of questionable loyalty. Attorney Mills learned the surprisingly low valuation of the estate of the man who not only produced and acted in the popular 1970s television series Macmillan and Wife but owned it. The lawsuit was looking more and more like the final blackmail, even after death, of a public figure who had endured threats for decades. Nearly two decades before recent “HIV criminalization” cases, Mills was astonished at the overwhelming hysteria that has by now become all too familiar.

In this historic interview, Beth adds background from her recent article on Hudson, co-written with Australian bio-researcher Cal Crilly. Was Hudson even “HIV positive”? Were there other possible causes for the actor’s health problems and untimely death?

Robert Parker Mills, an attorney based near Los Angeles, has represented many celebrity clients. His book, Between Rock and a Hard Place: In Defense of Rock Hudson: From the Ashes of Trial to the Light of Truth, presents the trial testimony and evidence to readers as jurors, to decide for themselves whether justice was served. Write to us! Do you think the judge and jury were biased in this case? How and why? Please deposit your comments on the blog at the bottom of this page, and we’ll read them on the air in a future Episode.

Plaintiff Christian died of causes unrelated to AIDS in 2009.

Correction: Christian’s classic car, refurbished at Hudson’s expense, wasn’t a 1959 Chevy “Nova” (as it sounds on this audio file) but a Nomad, as reported in the book.