Rock Hudson's wife secretly recorded her conversation with him when she confronted him about being gay. INSIDE EDITION has the details.
He's the Hollywood legend who lived a double life—he was a closeted gay man.
But now, another secret about Rock Hudson is being revealed.
His wife surreptitiously recorded a conversation in which she confronted the star of Pillow Talk and Giant about his homosexuality.
One of the biggest box-office stars of his day, Hudson married a movie studio secretary named Phyllis Gates in 1955. It was widely speculated that the marriage was a sham, designed to hide the fact that Hudson was actually gay. Suspecting the truth, Phyllis hired a detective to secretly record a private conversation she had with her husband.
"I'm not condemning you," Phyllis told Hudson, according to a transcript of the recording published for the first time in The Hollywood Reporter. "But it seems that as long as you recognize your problem, you would want to do something about it."
Phyllis went on to say, "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."
Hudson protested, "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."
Stephen Galloway of The Hollywood Reporter told INSIDE EDITION, "I'm astonished at how understanding she is, and feel terrible that he grew up as a star in an era where he had to lie about who he was."
The couple split up after just three years. Rock Hudson never remarried.
His secret life became public after a 1985 news conference with his old co-star Doris Day, at which he looked gaunt and ailing. The world soon found out he had AIDS.
Hudson died two months later.
