The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson

Robert Hofler's "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson" is a magnificently- written and searingly honest biography of actor's agent, Henry Willson. Mr. Willson, a Hollywood reporter turned agent during the golden age of Hollywood (when the so-called "Dream Factory" was literally in full swing) emerges as a larger than life tragic and sympathetic figure. Described as a homely homosexual man, with an expertly trained eye for spotting male beauty, he more than compensated for his paucity of good looks by elevating himself, by sheer will and talent alone, into one of the most powerful and influential starmakers in the motion picture industry. Thought of by many as being a predator who sexually preyed upon innocent, naive, and unsuspecting young men - the opposite, actually, was quite true in retrospect. While they might well have been naive in the ways of Hollywood, itself, these young men were certainly all well-enough versed in the ways of life to know exactly what it was they really wanted, and what they would be willing enough to submit to in order to achieve it. Nobody twisted their arm. Nobody forced them into doing anything that they, themselves, didn't voluntarily consent to do in the first place. The question then arises - if Mr. Willson stands guilty of unfairly taking advantage of all the young men that he so carefully nurtured and fashioned into celebrities - why would he so strongly have felt the compelling need to always travel that extra proverbial mile in their behalf, fighting tenaciously, with every fiber of his being, to secure for them the very best of everything in their career and personal lives. After he had used his very own money, invaluable amounts of time, and unique salesmanship skills in turning them into the successful commodity that they eventually became - they then proceeded to drop him like a hot potato when they no longer had any need for him. When the veritable truth of all these realizations come together, a disturbing, yet vitally important, thought is left to ponder. Who, indeed, appears to have been the most severely emotionally damaged victim (or victims) here? The stable of "pretty boys" he had groomed for stardom? Or the desperately lonely man who, in a futile effort to belong, spent a lifetime trying to fit in by surrounding himself with beautiful people. It was almost as if constantly being in their presence, managing their careers, and sometimes even their personal lives, compensated, somewhat, for the good looks he had been denied, and had the intoxicating power to elevate and place him on an equal playing field with all of them. As hard as he tried, never truly did he ever belong. He was an outsider who always remained on the outside. A physically unacceptable outcast in a self-contained world of superficial beauty, with only looking-in privileges. Yet, his is the character of main focus here, and the driving force that literally propels this mesmerizing biography and sends it crashing clear through t

Robert Hofler writes in strokes of bold lightning, like disco music mirrored on a spinning ball. What seems like disorganization is really only one facet appearing in a bright light, then another, then another, until an entire organization is exposed: in this case, the ways in which the major studios and the top talent agents of 1940s and 1950s Hollywood worked hand in glove to insure a Cold War gender balance that was fake from top to bottom. You won't be able to make up your mind whether or not Henry Willson, Hofler's hero, really did sell Tab Hunter and Rory Cochran down the river in order to protect the reputation of his greatest star, Rock Hudson--or was it the big boys at Universal who were behind this "dirty deal." Ironically, as Hofler demonstates, leaking to Confidential the facts behind Rory Cochran's juvenile delinquency made America warm up to the big bruiser a bit more--he became a "hero" after the facts came out and, like Robert Mitchum, his reputation as a colorful brawler was only accentuated by his prison record. And yet Tab Hunter, arrested for disorderly conduct at a pajama party for guys only, was shunned and demoted as soon as the studios found their use for him dimming. Willson made up a lot of cool names! He should have been a poet, and indeed his names have the touch of poetry, evem the failed names like Race Gentry. Imitators thought of Ty Hardin and Rip Torn, but they lacked the true Willson touch. Variety reporter Hofler notes that comedienne Kaye Ballard had a contemporary routine about those fabulous names, in which Willson would unveil his new lineup of beefcake--"Grid Iron, Cuff Links, Plate Glass, and Bran Muffin." He seems to have gotten so many to speak with him, some of them candidly, some sort of candidly, some you know are lying! It's odd that most of the former Willson boys deny ever having had sex with their boss, the voracious monster of sex harassment. I can't blame them in a way, but don't you love the story in which one fellow refuses to bend over for Willson, and the agent flings him into a car and drives to an apartment building in Hollywood, thrusts him into the elevator, up the stairs, banging down an apartment door, past a puzzled roommate, saying to the recalcitrant stud, "You're no prize, I'm going to show you something gorgeous." And they walk into a bedroom where Willson tears the bedsheets off the sleeping, 17 year old, John Saxon. Nice story! But the best story, as reviewer "Shinybear" points out, is about Connie Stevens and how Jack Warner led her to believe that she would be the one playing Eliza Doolittle in the MY FAIR LADY film and when she heard that Audrey Hepburn had landed the role, she led a 24 hour walkout on the set of her current project, PALM SPRINGS WEEKEND. Now I'm of the camp that likes PALM SPRINGS WEEKEND more than MY FAIR LADY, and so why had I never heard this Norma-Rae-like "strike" tale before? Maybe they're saving it for the DVD commentary on PALM SPRI

I was initially going to only give this book four stars because it is not a perfect book, but then I saw the negative reviews and became more than a little angry. First of all, this is one of the best written books I've yet to come across. In fact, the first thing that jumped out at me was the incredible urbane and sophisticated style of the writing. For that Robert Hofler gets an A+++++. Next, the content. He really did his homework and it shows. Also, this is not a "get even" type of book that tries to out those we didn't already know about, rather, it is a very honest, even-handed approach to not only Mr. Hudson's life, but those other clients of Henry Willson. My only complaint with the book has been echoed by a couple of other reviewers. I found that the author would mention a star in the beginning of a chapter, then move on. Okay, I thought that was it. Then later, more stories about that star would emerge and the dates he would be discussing were out of sinc. In that way, I would have liked for the book to be more chronological. The only other problem I had with the book was my own: I thought this was going to be more about Rock Hudson, when, in fact, and true to the title, the book was about the agent Henry Willson. This is not the author's fault, simply my own for mis-reading the title. Overall, fascinating reading about a man whom I didn't know even existed. Also a very sad tale of the intricate workings of Hollywood and what happens to Henry Willson in the end--or rather, what doesn't happen. Again, while this book was not perfect, I found it to be one of the most fascinating and well-written things I've ever read. I highly recommend it for those interested in Hollywood and its workings. Would also recommend the biography of Cary Grant for another great book.

Henry Willson (the David Gest of his time) knew that women would not accept gay men as romantic leads in films, and he was adept at butching up even the most femme actor so that he would pass the smell test over at RKO. The facade of heterosexuality he, um, erected around these actors was the seed of his eventual undoing. The schmaltzy names didn't help. Pretty soon, everyone knew that Henry Willson represented gay actors and even his own clients began to diss him in public (even while disrobing for him in private). No one knew the major players, or kept track of films in development, shooting schedules, last minute substitutions, etc., as well as Henry Willson did. It was only when Confidential Magazine, and a slew of imitators, started nipping at his (and his closeted clients') heels in the mid-50's that the spell was broken and Henry Willson found himself spending as much time extinquishing scandals as he did stoking the careers of his stars. That's why it seemed sad to me that when he died, he died completely alone and broke, forgotten by the actors who made a Faustian (sexual) bargain with him. Obviously, there had to be a double standard when it came to gay agents. Straight agents screwed their clients with impunity. But Henry got dragged over the coals for it, both by the powers that be, and his clients. After all was said and done, and Henry's boys became stars, they were ashamed of their affiliation with him. He sure knew how to pick 'em though. This book is beautifully written. It's a polished gem of gossip for the ages. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in that optimistic period of Hollywood history after WWII and before Vietnam.

A terrific story of how stars--and movies--used to be made, and unmade. It's hard to believe that it's taken so long for the true story of Henry Willson to be told. He was a fascinating, compelling and conniving creature whose genius was outdone only by his self-destructiveness. Yes, there are typos and the book could have been better edited--facts that are true of almost every book published these days--but most readers won't notice any of this once they get caught up in the wonderful and horrible tale of Willson, Hudson, and the rest.