BBC 2 recently aired the Hollywood classic, Ice Station Zebra, featuring Rock Hudson as the macho spy thriller hero.

However, despite the image he presented on screen, Hudson lived in fear of his sexuality being revealed, and ultimately died because of it.

Although he had dabbled in relationships with women, one of these encounters came back to haunt him.

Hudson was a Hollywood star in every sense of the word.

He starred in over 60 movies across four decades, working with numerous leading ladies.

As a young man, he famously declared that he wanted to be a movie star and was willing to do whatever it took to achieve that goal.

According to Darwin Porter, co-author of the biography Rock Hudson: Erotic Fire, Hudson slept with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, including women, in order to further his career.

Porter revealed that Hudson was bisexual until late in life and loved sex and women.

Among Hudson’s raunchy escapades were encounters with Marilyn Monroe, whom he described as “not innocent at all,” and Judy Garland, who turned up at his doorstep wearing nothing but a coat, demanding he sleep with her.

Hudson was already using his sexuality as a tool to get ahead by the time he was a teenager.

At 19 years old, he made his biggest regret when he dropped his girlfriend off at her house in Winnetka, Illinois, and struck up a conversation with her mother.

Seduced by the 35-year-old woman, Martha Blair, he left the next morning without thinking anything else of it.

However, years later, Blair sent him a letter revealing that their one-night stand had resulted in a pregnancy. Hudson’s son, Richard, was the product of that night.

Hudson’s friend, Tom Clark, said that Hudson was dying to meet his son, but he didn’t think it would be wise to expose Blair and potentially ruin her life or Richard’s.

Hudson had been abandoned by his own father at the age of seven, making his decision even more difficult.

In 1984, Hudson was diagnosed with HIV but kept the illness a secret. He traveled to France throughout the year looking for a cure.

In 1985, he visited his friend, Doris Day, who said he looked extremely unwell.

He died on October 2, 1985, at his home in Beverly Crest, just six weeks before his 60th birthday.

In his final days, Hudson expressed regret about not meeting Richard.

He said, “I should have gone back home and looked up my son. Maybe brought him here to live with me. I always wanted to have a son, someone to carry on my legacy.”

Richard had already reached out to Hudson, sending a letter as a teenager asking to meet him for the first time.

However, Hudson never replied. Richard later confirmed, “The b*****d never answered.”

Hudson’s death had a significant impact on the way Hollywood and the world viewed the AIDS epidemic.

William M. Hoffman, the author of As Is, a 1985 Broadway play about AIDS, said that Hudson’s diagnosis demonstrated that “nice people can have it. It’s just a disease, not a moral affliction.”

Joan Rivers also remarked on Hudson’s admission of having AIDS, stating that it was a “horrendous way to bring AIDS to the attention of the American public, but by doing so, Rock, in his life, has helped millions in the process. What Rock has done takes true courage.”

Ice Station Zebra may have showcased Hudson as a Hollywood hero, but in reality, he was a complex and tormented individual who struggled with his sexuality and the consequences of his actions.

Despite his regrets, his legacy and impact on Hollywood and the world will endure.