Who Inherited Rock Hudson's Estate? The Old Hollywood Star Didn't Give His Family A Cent

Rock Hudson was one of the big Hollywood movie stars of the 1950s and 1960s, and he worked with stars like Doris Day on several popular romantic comedies. His star was such that he was one of the real-life characters in Ryan Murphy's Netflix show "Hollywood." 

Despite his public success, Hudson had a troubled personal life, and the drama continued after his death with his will. He was gay at a time when that wasn't acceptable, particularly for a romantic leading man in Hollywood. He even went so far as to marry a woman to help protect his secret. Even though Hudson was married briefly, he never had kids. However, he did still have family at the time of his death in 1985 — 12 cousins. But he left none of those cousins any money in his will, instead putting it all in a trust with the interest going to a friend.

This was no accident or oversight on Hudson's part. His will read, "I have intentionally and with full knowledge and not by accident or mistake omitted to provide herein for any of my heirs living at the time of my death," according to UPI Archives. Hudson also said that if there were any challenges to his will, whoever did so would only get $1. The esteemed actor was estimated to be worth around $8.6 million at the time of his death. The interest from his estate trust went to George Nader. Nader was Hudson's long-time friend and a fellow closeted actor.

Rock Hudson didn't just leave family out of his will — not long before he died, he specifically cut someone out who'd previously been included. Hudson added a codicil in 1984 that stated Tom H. Clark would not receive anything. Previously, Clark was set to receive "household furnishings, automobiles, film collection and other tangible effects," per the Los Angeles Times. Clark and Hudson were friends and romantically involved for a time, even living together from 1973 to 1983. However, it seems that their relationship soured to the point that Clark was cut out of the will.

Hudson had been entangled in some Old Hollywood scandals, and one played out after his death. Hudson had been diagnosed with HIV in 1984, and he told the world that he had AIDS in 1985. At the time, he was the most famous person to ever confirm they had the disease, which had been escalating since the early 1980s.

One of the people who reportedly found out from news reports that Hudson had AIDS was Marc Christian, who had been sleeping with Hudson in 1984. After Hudson died, Christian filed a lawsuit against his estate. It stated that Hudson had continued sleeping with Christian even after the actor knew that he had HIV, and Hudson didn't ever tell him directly that he had the disease — which put Christian at risk of getting sick. Christian was eventually awarded millions in damages in a jury trial. The decision was appealed, and Christian later settled before it could play out in the courts.