The topic of James Dean's true sexuality has been the source of endless gossip and theorizing over the decades, with friends, co-stars, Hollywood historians, and everyone else under the sun chiming in to add their own opinions to the mix. The years of speculation have only added to the legend.

Now comes news that Noreen Nash, Dean's co-star on what would be his final film, Giant, has offered up another tantalizing bit of gossip from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Apparently, while filming Giant, stars Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson had a bet over who would be the first to get Dean in the sack. And according to Ms. Nash, just days into the shoot, Hudson won.

Scandalous! Now, I've always had a soft spot of James Dean. He is, after all, the archetype for the troubled youth with brooding good looks. But stories of gay trysts occurring between Old Hollywood's leading men aren't quite as shocking as they once were (thanks to Hudson, Cary Grant, Tab Hunter, Farley Granger, etc.) so this bit of news got me to daydreaming about how often this sort of thing happens on todays movie sets... In another twenty or so years are we going to be reading about all the salacious activities going on behind the scenes of modern film shoots?

On a ::ahem:: completely unrelated note; when are Jake Gyllenhaal and Matt Damon finally going to make a movie together?

Today is the 22^nd anniversary of Rock Hudson’s death.

Hudson’s deterioration and demise was played out for the public back in 1985. First there was his appearance on Dynasty. He looked gaunt and prematurely old frolicking on on a picnic blanket with Linda Evans. And then a few months later he showed up on Doris Day’s syndicated show, Doris & Friends. If he had been gaunt on Dynasty, now he was downright skeletal. Clips of the appearance were replayed endlessly on news shows and there was public speculation about what exactly was wrong with Rock Hudson.

At first Hudson, through statements from his doctors and publicist, maintained that he had liver cancer. Finally, in July 1985, while in Paris for experimental medical treatment, the actor announced that he had AIDS. Even then, he did not publicly disclose his sexual orientation. He conjectured that he had been exposed to the virus via blood transfusions.

Hudson died on October 2^nd. In the space of a few months, he had become the public face of AIDS.

The unpleasant images of Rock Hudson’s passing have somewhat overshadowed his career as a Hollywood screen idol. Which is unfortunate, because in his prime Hudson was glorious.

Back in 2003, Larry King invited friends and colleagues of Rock Hudson onto his show to reminisce. The panel included Elaine Stritch, Tony Randall, Gina Lollabrigida, Liz Smith, and Hudson's friend and publicist, Dale Olson. For Rock Hudson fans the transcript is definitely worth a read.

Check out a Hudson video montage after the break.