Rock Hudson's Wife Secretly Recorded His Gay Confession — Revealed 55 Years Later
AP
Rock Hudson and Phyllis Gates on their wedding day in 1955 in Santa Barbara.
After three years of marriage, Phyllis Gates confronted her famous actor-husband Rock Hudson in 1958 finally asking — after years of rumors and reports — if he was gay.
A candid conversation ensued and what Hudson didn't know at the time was that his wife had hired private eye Fred Otash to tape-record the conversation.
The Hollywood Reporter has obtained Otash's secret files and released a transcript of his brief, alleged gay confession.
Gates opened the conversation with her Hollywood legend husband asking, "You're great speed with me, sexually. Are you that fast with boys?"
Hudson responded by telling her "Well, it's a physical conjunction. Boys don't fit. So, this is why it lasts longer."
Phyllis pressed further: "Everyone knows that you were picking up boys off the street shortly after we were married and have continued to do so, thinking that being married would cover up for you."
But that was it, Hudson was back to insisting he was straight and faithful to his wife: "I have never picked up any boys on the street. I have never picked up any boys in a bar, never. I have never picked up any boys, other than to give them a ride."
Gates filed for divorce in 1958, citing "mental cruelty."
Hudson, who died of AIDS in 1985 at the age of 59, never came out publicly despite incessant rumors about his sexuality.
Author Sarah Davidson, who wrote the Oscar nominated star's authorized biography, told the late Roger Ebert that while Hudson may have been secretive about his sexuality , he was "A very romantic man. He always believed there was one single right person for him, Mr. Right, and he was always looking for that person, and always finding him."
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