Born Roy Harold Scherer Jr., the actor would later change his name to Rock Hudson. In Doctor Who, The Doctor explained that the name came from the Rock of Gibraltar, as Belinda shared that she had learned about Rock in med school.
One thing Belinda and Fifteen didn’t go into was what actually happened to Rock. We get the sense that something bad happened, and it had to be medical if Belinda learned about it in her training to become a nurse. Doctor Who leaves us researching it ourselves.
Rock Hudson died in the 1980s
In Doctor Who, we’re taken to Miami, 1952. His movies are popular, and it will be another 33 years before his life comes to an abrupt end. Rock Hudson died in 1985, and it was a devastating death.
If you knew that he was gay and he died in the mid-1980s, you can probably guess what the cause of death was. Yes, he died of AIDS-related complications, so it makes sense for Belinda to learn about him. He would have been one of the most famous cases in the world due to his status as a celebrity.
Knowing that he was dying, he was able to set up some plans for his own aftercare. He didn’t want a funeral, and just days after his death, he was cremated.
Doctor Who failed to mentioned that Rock Hudson was outed
I can overlook Doctor Who assuming everyone knew or could quickly look up what happened to Rock Hudson. One thing I wish Belinda or Fifteen had mentioned was how Rock had been outed as gay just months before his death.
Within Hollywood, every knew that Rock was gay. He would have multiple pool parties for decades as he rose to fame, and his celebrity status protected him from being blacklisted in the industry. However, the public had no idea. The world of celebrity fame wasn’t what it is today. It was much harder to find out what celebrities were up to in their own homes. While it didn’t have a huge negative effect against him, it still wasn’t fair.
In the end, Rock’s death helped to boost the awareness of the AIDS epidemic at the time. However, Rock became an accidental activist. He wouldn’t speak out against the treatment of others out of the fear of damaging his own reputation and career. When it came to his death, his fight against AIDS is all that’s remembered, and it helped to bring a new look at the epidemic that was (and still somewhat is) heavily stigmatized.
Doctor Who airs on Saturdays on Disney+.
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