Doris Day Gushes About How Funny She And Late Friend Rock Hudson Were Together In New Biography

She made his day. Author Mark Griffin reached out to Doris Day when he was researching his new book, All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson. The Calamity Jane actress sang the praises of her frequent leading man and longtime close friend. “Between scenes, we’d walk and talk and laugh, and I guess our comedic timing grew out of our friendship and how naturally funny we were together,” Doris gushed to Mark.

Though Rock passed away in 1985 at the age of 59, Doris still remembers the special bond that they shared. Despite being considered an iconic screen legend, the 96-year-old said, “I honestly don’t think I taught him anything he didn’t already know after all his years in the business.”

The two were very close and were even frequent co-stars. Rock and Doris both played leading roles in 1964’s Send Me No Flowers, 1961’s Lover Come Back, and 1959’s Pillow Talk. And their chemistry both on and off the screen was undeniable.

“They just played off one another beautifully,” Mark said of Doris and Rock’s friendship. “What’interesting now, years after these movies have been released, is if you say Rock Hudson, the next thing people inevitably say is Doris Day. They’re synonymous with each other.”

The biography dives into a lot of interesting phases of Rock’s life. In the book, Mark reveals the pain that the actor dealt with living as a closeted gay man who publicly played the roles of a red-blooded, heterosexual male.

“Long before he landed in Hollywood, he understood that if he wanted to be accepted, the very essence of who he was would have to be edited out of the frame,” Mark wrote. Perhaps Rock felt his decision to cover up his life was acceptable considering the way he was raised. “From an early age, he learned that you could talk about pretty much anything,” the author stated of the lessons his mother and stepfather drilled into him. “Except what you truly felt and what you really wanted.”

In the biography, Mark explains every facet of Rock’s life in extreme detail. He touches on his life growing up, to making it onto the big screen, and everything in between.  How interesting!

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