Rock Hudson (November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1960s and 1970s, most notably in several sex comedies with his most famous co-star, Doris Day. Hudson was voted "Star of the Year," "Favorite Leading Man," and similar titles by numerous movie magazines and was unquestionably one of the most popular and well-known movie stars of the time. He completed nearly 70 motion pictures and starred in several television productions during a career that spanned over four decades. Hudson was also one of the first major Hollywood celebrities to die from an AIDS related illness.

Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., in Winnetka, Illinois, the only child of Katherine Wood (an English and Irish descendant), a telephone operator, and Roy Harold Scherer, Sr.,(a German and Swiss descendant) an auto mechanic who abandoned the family during the depths of the Great Depression. His mother remarried and his stepfather Wallace "Wally" Fitzgerald adopted him, changing his last name to Fitzgerald. Hudson's years at New Trier High School were unremarkable. He sang in the school's glee club and was remembered as a shy boy who delivered newspapers, ran errands and worked as a golf caddy.

After graduating from high school, he served in the Philippines as an aircraft mechanic for the United States Navy during World War II. In 1946, Hudson moved to the Los Angeles area to pursue an acting career and applied to the University of Southern California's dramatics program, but he was rejected owing to poor grades. Hudson worked for a time as a truck driver, longing to be an actor but with no success in breaking into the movies. A fortunate meeting with Hollywood talent scout Henry Willson in 1948 got Hudson his start in the business. Willson was responsible for bestowing the stage name upon the aspiring actor: Rock for the Rock of Gibraltar and Hudson for the Hudson River.