We knew that Marc Christian had died but his death was not confirmed until Friday by his sister who said he died back in early June, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Christian, who was 56, won a multimillion-dollar settlement in 1991 from Rock Hudson’s estate after convincing a jury that the actor had knowingly exposed him to AIDS. That was back in 1985, the same year Hudson died from the disease, a condition Christian said he learned Hudson had when he heard about it on television.

“I thought I was a dead man,” Christian recalled thinking at the time.

Christian tested negative for AIDS  several times after learning of Hudson’s diagnosis but contended in court that the star put him at risk of contracting the disease by concealing his illness and continuing to have sexual relations with him.

Christian late told People magazine that his purpose was “not to sleaze Rock. It was to say that if you have AIDS, you ought to tell your partner, whether you’re a movie star or a postman.”

But he also said of Hudson: “You can’t dismiss a man’s whole life with a single act. This thing about AIDS was totally out of character for him.”

Tammy Bruce, a former president of the National Organization for Women’s Los Angeles chapter and an openly gay conservative talk-show host told The Times of the case: “It was obviously a groundbreaking case… It was the first public acknowledgment that gay relationships are complicated, important, and that responsibility is attached to them. . . . A lot of people owe a great deal to that man and the way he handled it with particular grace, not only at the trial but in the years afterward.”

Comments

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3 Remarks

1. December 6th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
   John D'Ambra says:

   From the lack of comments it is apparent that many of you do not even know of Rock Hudson. Suffice it to say that he was a very good actor popular in the 60s-80s. He was a talented man who almost had to lie about his sexuality to survive in those days-Hollywood or not.

   Without trying to judge, having AIDS and having sex with someone without acknowledging it is wrong but I hope that both Rock and Marc are laughing together now and that the bad is forgiven…

2. December 7th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
   Paul says:

   I’m surprised at what little media coverage Marc Christian’s death has gotten. Granted, the news has only been made public recently, but this was a big deal in the 80s. Hudson’s death was the first celebrity death from AIDS made public.

   It’s kind of ironic that Mr. Christian didn’t live to be as old as Rock (age 59 when he died).

3. May 5th, 2017 at 1:27 pm
   Henry Page says:

   What is apparent is that Hudson and Christian were very much in love but each was a victim of the necessary secrecy to the point of lying to protect a gay star. Sad that in some measure it is still like it now.