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

by Robert Hofler

Henry Willson was one of the quintessential power brokers in Hollywood during the late 1940s and 1950s when he launched the careers of Rock Hudson, Lana Turner, Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood, and many others. He was also a true casting couch agent, brokering sex for opportunity on the silver screen. While this practice was rampant across Hollywood, for gay actors and film professionals the casting couch was a dangerous cliff: a public revelation could and would ruin a career. The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson is an incredible biography as well as a harrowing look into Hollywood at a time of great sexual oppression, roaming vice squads searching for gay and/or communist activity, and the impossibilities for gay actors of the era.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, LGBT, Film, Biography Memoir, Queer, History

472 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scandal, sex, classic Hollywood hunks and the man that kept their dirty laundry and secrets out of the press by any means necessary!!!

A well-researched and well-written book telling all (well most) of the secrets we kind of already knew.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I am suffering from a bad flu, the only book I can bare to look at my state is this gossip filled look at the Hollywood gay years of 1930's to early 1970's. Henry Willson was a manager who specialized in good looking men who may not have any real talent. Which to me, is the best talent to see on the big screen. Basically if he got a hard-on, Willson would approach these young men and asked them if they wanted to be a movie star. Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Mike Conners, John Smith, etc. Classic gossip and good when your head is not working.

[Mrs. Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title says it all. This book is DEFINITELY dishy and gossipy and I'm not sure that I trust everything the author writes, but it was a really interesting look at, as the title says, the goings on of Henry Willson, a Hollywood agent who kept a 'stable' of young, pretty male actors, and who renamed nearly all of them, particularly Rock Hudson.
Willson himself was gay, and the story delves into the challenges he faced as a gay man and how he helped shape the "beefcake" image of masculinity in Hollywood.
The format was a bit difficult to follow, as it seemed to jump back and forth in time, and it got very repetitive after a while (Willson was gay, but he also conservative, and he didn't talk about his conquests, etc, etc), and I think perhaps the author relied on a lot of stereotypes about gay men (Willson was well dressed and well mannered and effete, but not 'flaming') and he used the term "homosexual" a lot, which seems outdated to me? It just makes me want to learn more about the studio system and it makes me realize that when people think Hollywood today is corrupt and weird, it was just the same 50-70 years ago, only in a different way. Definitely not the good old days.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book about the selling and marketing of film stars eons before it became an expected practice. You don't need to be gay to appreciate this book, it transcends sexual preferences, it's about people getting bought and sold in the Hollywood marketplace.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Hollywood, post war America saw the rise of the beefcake. Henry Wilson was the man behind those celluloid images and 'invented' some of the more widely known actors (and a few actresses) of the period, many of which were gay. You get it all here - the scandals, the blackmail, the angry lovers, the orgies, the beard marriages, and more.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been wanting to read this for a while. Fascinating story, but really kind of sad. Lots of great Hollywood gossip, though.

[Althea · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are a lot of interesting stories in this book, but overall it's poorly organized, pretentiously written, and normalizes both sexual assault and the sexualization of minors.

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Willson was a Hollywood agent during the early forties into the sixties. He is credited with discovering Lana Turner, but his biggest fame comes from the stable of boys he handled, many, more than professionally, e.g. Rock Hudson, who was his mother lode, but included Guy Madison, Rory Calhoun, Troy Donahue, Robert Wagner, Dick and Dack Rambo, along with some lesser lights.

Henry represented the pretty boys. He taught them how to walk, how to talk, which fork to use and when, paid their bills (sometimes for a couple of years), and introduced them around. He got them small parts in other client’s films, just for film exposure.

Robert Hofler tells tales out of school, but only about those actors who are dead. The dead can’t sue for libel. Still, tidbits about Rory Calhoun and Guy Madison on a dark street stemming the rose (as it was so eloquently phrased in Brokeback Mountain) is so salaciously satisfying an image one only peripherally cares if the tales are really true.

Harry Willson has been defined as a predator on young, socially ignorant boys, trading their having sex with him, or allowing themselves to be pimped out to the powerful, for a chance at stardom. What the book eventually reveals is that he was as preyed upon as he preyed. Young men, hearing of him, offered him their bodies for the shot at fame. Even “straight” men bartered what virginity or scruples they had, to Harry, just to be STARS.

In the end, to protect their own careers from the growing understanding out side the industry that to be a Henry Willson client was suggestive of the client’s homosexuality, dumped him, even Rock Hudson. Stars like Robert Wagner, (Henry also handled his wife, Natalie Wood), begin to vehemently deny that they had ever been part of Willson’s stud stable.

Henry died old, broke and alone in the Motion Picture Retirement Home, a charity case. Of all for whom Henry had built careers, only Troy Donahue and Rory Calhoun came to the funeral, serving as pallbearers. Hudson, reportedly, sent flowers. Who used whom? I really can’t say. It seems like a fair exchange, to me, but then, given my own life experiences, my testimony is tainted.

Truthfully, the book is trash and will be forgotten tomorrow, but it's wonderful trash. Gay men of my generation are, and were, notoriously hungry for gay gossip(that is probably true, too, for today's generation). We delight in it, mostly because hearing it is a validation of self and we had so few validations. There were so few icons upon which we could model ourselves. Even to come to self-acceptance of who we were, let alone joy, was a devastating, take no prisoners, minute by minute inner battle. Often it was a public battle as well. We had to watch every thing we said, everything we did and be willing to defend what we said and did as well as we could.

[Michael Halfhill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert Hofler’s book is not about Rock Hudson. It’s not about Troy Donahue, Alain Delon, or Rory Calhoun although these and many other Hollywood stars (mostly male) feature heavily in the four hundred and twenty pages of The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson.
The story recounts the career of one of Hollywood’s most successful film agents—Henry Willson—and it’s not pretty at all.
Willson, while he lived, was a man of simple contradictions. Born on the East Coast of the US, he was socially an ultraconservative, politically a Republican, and as gay as a holiday table. If one defines a pederast as a person who prefers sex with those between the ages of seventeen and nineteen then Henry is your man. Willson hated effeminate men, often ridiculing them openly and loudly in the swank restaurants and clubs that make up so much of Hollywood legend, yet he loved young boys, and he made them famous. If any loved him in return none admitted it. He made them wealthy and immortal in films. They left him old, penniless, and forgotten in a charity home.
Artful seduction of naive ambition, career blackmail, and bodily assault all play a part in Willson’s wheeling and dealing in the Hollywood of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.
On reading The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson, I felt I was sitting in an easy chair while an old friend confided secrets long forgotten. Of course none of Robert Hofler’s stories about the young and famous men of Willson’s casting couch were secret—even when they occurred.
Hofler’s writing is witty and I love that, but I confess that I found his cutting from an event, say, in 1960, to another in 1940, eye stopping.
For those who love to read about the movie stars of yesteryear, this book is right up your alley. If however, you are looking for details on the sexual exploits of The Rock, save your money.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a story! Film Junkies who have a particular interest in this period in cinema will be surprised to discover this isn't just some gossip tome. Armed with an intelligence and wit similar to that of George Sanders' in 'All About Eve', Hofler offers up what seems a rather well-researched overview of what it really meant to be, um, represented by an agent...esp. the notorious Henry Willson.

The book illuminates why a lot of crappy movies got made (and, no doubt, continue to get made) when what goes on behind-the-scenes is money/sex-based. It becomes even more amazing realizing that good ones get made at all in such a haphazard environment. Apparently there are enough level-heads to keep things balanced-out, however precariously.

Ultimately, this is a sad, how-are-the-mighty-fallen tale indeed. Willson does not come off as very much of a person - even if he was very much of a salesman and excelled at the arts of shmoozing and deal-wheeling.

The atmosphere was, it seems, not just one in which Willson bedded boys and men - but said boys and men bedded each other, depending on the situation, and regardless of whether they were straight or gay.

We come away thinking that, although many in Hollywood were well-adapted to being surrounded by the wild and the eccentric, some (like Willson) took (and take) that to the extreme of being an industry joke. In other words, you can certainly be larger-than-life, and be applauded and awarded for it...but you can't be a clown...and then expect anything other than a slow, pathetic fade-out.

[Susannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Books about movies and popular music that are longer than 350 pages (with notes and bibliographies) are too long. I realize that is an obnoxious pronouncement to make, but after having read all of The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson (as well as a fair share of other movie and music biographies), I feel pretty confident making it.

420 pages of Henry Willson being skeevy with hopeful, often gay (no excuse for Willson taking advantage of them) young men was way too much, especially considering that with a few days' distance, I feel like I really didn't learn much about the actors whose careers Willson was responsible for. Mostly it was, Willson was a dude who loved pretty boys and when he loved them enough to do more than take advantage of their hopefulness, he occasionally saw that they attained some success as actors--no better than the casting couches female hopefuls in Hollywood have dealt with since men realized there was money to make in the film industry. (By the way, this book has a taste of that too; Willson worked for David O. Selznick, a cretin.)

All of this salaciousness would have been slightly less indulgent--don't get me wrong, I knew it would be salacious; I like my gossip as much as anyone who sneaks a peek at the latest on Hollywood celebs--if the book had been shorter. I suppose you could argue that the book's indulgence was a reflection of the time author Robert Hofler was writing about, but that's more generous than I'm feeling. Good for a skim.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

For sheer audacious gossip, good pictures and outrageous nerve, the book would warrant five stars. However, due to the unbelievably tacky and trashy way it's written and the obvious contempt the author has for his subject(s), I wanted to give it one star, thus the three. When the books sticks to the machinations of Mr. Willson and the thoroughness with with he approached his job, it is compelling. When it veers into salacious, lurid hearsay (which is often) it is, despite being tantalizing, rather difficult to swallow as fact in many instances and smacks of a) embellished info b) exploitation of people who aren't here to defend themselves and c) obvious skirting of those who are still with us in order to avoid slander lawsuits. Rock Hudson, who until his later, illness plagued years, was truly one of Hollywood's most beloved and admired stars (BY the people he knew and worked with) comes off in this tome as a bitchy, callow size queen. It doesn't seem possible that Hudson could have been as shallow, snotty and dismissive of people as he's presented here and still manage to keep so many friends in H-Town. The book seems the epitome of pandering to the "lowest common denominator" and I admit I devoured it.

[Dave]

The book is full of ‘dishy’ stories about the Golden Age of Hollywood as well as the entertainment industry’s transition at the end of the studio era and the rise of television.

What is difficult about the book is the author’s obvious contempt for his subject, and almost everyone else mentioned in the book. The ‘dirty deals’ caption in the title should have been a warning. I don’t think I was through the introduction before the author referred to Margaret Truman, the President’s daughter and a minor character in Willson’s life, as “bovine”. This is not humor. It is just harsh. The author rarely misses an opportunity to describe Willson as physically unattractive or ugly. He adopts a relatively neutral perspective in describing the ‘casting couches’ of the Hollywood moguls; even when the aspiring starlets involved might not have quite reached the age of consent. He rarely alludes to Willson’s activities of this type, however, without describing them as “notorious” or “infamous”.

I have no doubt the book is factually correct but it reads like the author has an agenda; possibly to make the book as salacious as possible, possibly just wanting to never miss an opportunity to cast the subject in the most negative possible light.

[Mediaman · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a long, boring book this is. Poorly written from the start, the author goes on and on about absolutely insignificant details regarding Hollywood agent Henry Willson, then repeats many of them throughout the book without telling many great stories. The agent was supposed to be the guy that groomed gay men into macho male screen icons, but there is very little sex mentioned and much of what's in the book is pure speculation. The author uses a lot of old magazine articles to prop up his points, and he wastes too much time trying to lecture the reader on Hollywood history. It's all very confusing because the theme of the book is a gay agent beds new talent and tries to make them stars, but many of the celebrities mentioned in the book aren't gay or were not bedded by him (Robert Wagner, Mike Connors). There's even very little specifics about who exactly Willson did sleep with.

At over 400 pages and 54 chapters, the book is twice as long as it needs be. A better writer would have told the Willson story concisely instead of including whole chapters that have nothing to do with the guy. Even the Rock Hudson aspects are disappointing, just rehash of previous material we knew. Skip this frustrating book.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this is making me yearn for a book series, "The Secret Gay History of.."

This book isn't written in my preferred dry nonfiction style, but almost like a tabloid article. And maybe that's standard for the Hollywood biography, a subgenre I don't have much experience with. But to me, it feels like a juicy tell-all, peppered with details that I'm not sure could have been verified(could the author really have been privy to the specifics of Henry Willson's masturbation methods?) and make me feel more than a little silly reading this on the bus. However, I am learning a lot from this book about the days and ways of old Hollywood, and I'll never really be able to watch a classic movie again without thinking of how the actors and actresses must have all slept with the men at the studios to get their parts.

I also picked this book to read as background for Tab Hunter Confidential, so I'm hoping I'm adequately prepared.

[Ubalstecha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating look at Henry Wilson, a mega-agent from the golden years of Hollywood. Henry, a republican and closeted homosexual had a knack for finding handsome, strapping men that the camera loved. Who cared if they could act? He got them roles, and frequently they rewarded him. The list of his discoveries is a veritable who's who of handsome actors from the time. Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Troy Donahue, Mike Conners.

The book is at time a fascinating look at the lengths Wilson and his clients went to hide their sexuality in a time and place that didn't want to know. At other times, it is a hundred pages too long, as the list of people and activities began to blur together.

Only for the real Hollywood aficionado.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a gossip driven expose' on a particular Hollywood scene/era, than a biography of Henry Willson. A less reputable aspect to the 40's - 60's Tinseltown star machine is covered in all of it's sordid "glory". The seamier side to many A-list and no-list figures of the day are exposed in frank detail. Once read, you likely won't be able to look at certain films, television shows, or celebrities in the same fashion as you once did. Yet, you also won't have much of an understanding of the man at the center of it all, aside from what he did and where those actions ultimately left him.

[Jen Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not particularly well written, but full of enough Hollywood gossip to keep my interest, this book is all about the agent who found farm boys and young soldiers, bedded them, fixed their teeth, taught them how to behave, gave them names like Rock Hudson, Troy Donahue and Tab Hunter, and, in some cases, turned them into stars. A must-read if you are interested in the hidden world of queer Hollywood in the 40s, 50s and 60s.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely salacious. Though I felt a little strange toting around a book with a shirtless dude on the cover, this was a good read about the nasty deals made in the early years of Hollywood. Some of it was a bit long, the author didn't need to cover ALL of Henry Willson's clients, but a fun summer book.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a tough book to read, not because of the subject matter, but because the author tended to drone on and repeat himself. I started to wonder if he was a lawyer, paid by the word. Anyway, the subject matter was sufficiently sleazy for my taste I have to wonder how people with highly conservative standards could possibly work in the movie industry at that time. (30s to early 60s)

[Matthew Steiger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A behind the scenes peek into the secrets, lies and dirty deeds of notorious agent Henry Willson. The book was a quick read. I brought it with me on a vacation and it helped past the time on the flights. The book is not written very well and I noticed some errors that should have been caught during proof-reading. Nothing really new or salacious. Just rehashing the same info.

[Pewterbreath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a pretty good trashy read. Henry Willson was a flesh-peddler for fifties movies and pretty much the inventor of beefcake. His rise and downfall almost run like a greek play--he once defined male beauty, and then the world moved on and he was left behind.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behind every success is a sleaze ball with a trust fund. I am a sucker for reading about old Hollywood haunts and business rituals. I could not put this book down.

[sharon spradlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hollywood Agent Sex Trade

This was an eye opening read. I knew about the infamous casting couch for actresses but this really shed a light on the debauchery of how agent's procured talent and what the young hopefuls had to do to get into films. I remember from my childhood, Tab Hunter, Troy Donahue and all the Chads, Vans, etc from movies and television shows of the time. Who would thought how many of them really got where the were and the dignity they gave away to get there. Sure, some like Rock Hudson were not innocent and knew the game. But how many others coming from fatherless backgrounds trusted Willson and allowed him to do what ever with them because fame is such an aphrodisiac. Arrogance in Hollywood still goes on today. How many still sell their soul to make it into the celebrity pool? Power and money doesn't make the famous happy. So many of them succumbed to alcohol and drug addiction, even today. Bad behavior and arrogance is maybe just more transparent, now days. Actors today are actually, in my opinion, less talented than actors of past decades. At least I went to the movies in the sixties. These days movies stink. But, I really don't feel sorry for Willson, Rock, Troy or any of these people who had everything and threw it away. I enjoyed this book.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

After watching Hollywood on Netflix and Jim Parsons' portrayal of Henry Willson, the closeted agent who discovered so many Hollywood stars, I wanted to check out the source material and this book by Robert Hofler does not disappoint. Written in a breezy, acerbic style it paints a picture of 40s and 50s Tinseltown most movie goers wouldn't recognize. It was a world where gay men stayed firmly in the closet and let people like Willson give them new names, new teeth, new wardrobes and a new life as long as occasional sexual services were met. Straight actors weren't free of harassment either. Moguls like David O Selznick are portrayed as absolute pigs from whom no star—not even a teenage Shirley Temple—were safe. Rock Hudson was Willson's biggest find, and he was the one star who stayed loyal to him even as alcohol and changing movie tastes eroded Willson's power and health. While #MeToo has changed the Hollywood scene, it wasn't that long ago that actors had to be wary (and likely still are) of sexist producers and agents and gay actors wanting to keep their options for good parts open, stayed firmly in the closet.

[Jeffrey Powanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gossipy, catty, shallow biography of notorious agent Henry Willson, who created many of the most celebrated Hollywood beefcake stars of the Fifties including Rock Hudson, Guy Madison, Troy Donohue, Tab Hunter, and Rory Calhoun, but whose life quickly fell into ruin due to business failures and alcoholism in the Seventies.

I've read many other Hollywood biographies, particularly the Tab Hunter book, so I was already familiar with Willson. This book fills in some of the gaps, such as Willson's connection to producer David O. Selznick, and the story of how he sold out Hunter and Calhoun to Confidential Magazine to prevent Hudson from being outed.

Hofler's writing never rises above tabloid quality. Still, there are numerous Hollywood stories and outrageous celebrity quotes that make the book entertaining.

Willson's sexual exploitation of his male stars evoke more recent #MeeToo villains, such as Harvey Weinstein. Hollywood has always been a cesspit.

[Lynne Norman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was inspired to read this one, which has languished on my book shelves for a while now, by the series 'Hollywood' on Netflix. Having read it I now have mixed feelings! It's not particularly well written, jumping all over the place with no notion of what a good narrative flow looks like. And I was shocked by the publication date as the implied misogyny and homophobia led me to believe this was published much, much earlier than 2005. As someone who absolutely loves a) Rock Hudson and b) the 'glory days of old Hollywood' I found the behind-the-scenes glimpse into that world fascinating but, at the same time, I felt a little dirty reading what was essentially a book full of salacious celebrity gossip (not my usual go-to). I can't help wondering if, the next time I watch an old movie, the enjoyment will be slightly tarnished by what I now can't un-know?

[Mark Latchford · Rating 3 out of 5]

The recent television series “Hollywood’ triggered me to look into the story behind the agents behind the stars of the late 20th century, especially Henry Willson. This book is extensive on who it covers, and has harvested pages and pages of tales which may or may not be true. I found the challenge was not knowing most of the actors referenced so had to have google/Wikipedia handy to sort out who the author was talking about. At the end of the 400 plus pages I get I had read a very long version of a weekly gossip magazine. Unlike most books I read it did not encourage we to read further on any of the subjects. Norm came across as particular interesting characters.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure I knew about Rock. I'm not THAT old. But I sure didn't know everything about him or his 'creator' who I never knew of before Netflix's HOLLYWOOD series (as played by Jim Parsons). This book is both super dishy and informative. Henry Willson seems like he could've practically run the entire industry if he wasn't gay. So many actors owe their first breaks (if not their entire careers) to the man. But all that sure doesn't add up to much by the time it's all over, does it? What a sad ending. Should Henry have been more out? Or more closeted? Would it have mattered either way? For a while there it was reading almost like Zelig he had so many connections.

[Jonée Shady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I gre up watching many of the stars who are mentioned in this book and as cruel or harsh as this man seems, I also find it incredibly sad that gay men had to hide their true self to keep a career. There are a lot of names mentioned but for the most part the book flows however I was surprised by the amount of words that were knew to my vocabulary and I had to keep looking up various words.