Lee Garlington, 77, is a retired stockbroker who dated Rock Hudson at the height of the actor's fame from 1962 to 1965. Garlington, along with some of Hudson's closest friends, share their intimate memories of the actor published in this week's issue of People.

Garlington who was a young film extra, described Hudson as a  "sweetheart" whom he adored.  Hudson died at the age of 59 on Oct. 2, 1985 from AIDS-related illnesses.  Other friends who spoke fondly of the actor were Dr. Michael Gottlieb, Hudson's immunologist, Wallace Sheft, his business manager, and Doris Day, his costar in "Pillow Talk."

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According to Garlington, he was scared when he first met Hudson at his mansion on Beverly Crest Drive in Beverly Hills but soon after, they got together. "I'd come over after work, spend the night and leave the next morning," he says and he would sneak out at 6 a.m. afterwards without turning on the engine of his car so no one in the neighborhood would hear.

Whenever the two went out to the movies, they pretended to be straight and would both bring along female dates. At that time, no one came out. "It was career suicide," he said.

Garlington says that Hudson had no pretenses, someone who was always himself. Whenever the actor would kiss a leading lady, Garlington would say, "'Geez, he does that to me the same way.' That was always a giggle on my part."

Hudson and Garlington broke up in 1965 because according to Garlington, Hudson wasn't strong enough to be a father figure, which was what he was looking for in a lover. He says. "Rock was a gentle giant."

When Hudson announced he had AIDS in 1985, the two were no longer in contact with each other.  Hudson was the first well-known celebrity to die of AIDS.

When he heard the news about Hudson, Garlington says he was shocked. He tried to get in touch with Hudson but according to the people taking care of him, the actor was too sick and weak to see him and besides, he wouldn't be able to know who Garlington was.

Garlington says that he "broke down and cried" when he read in Hudson's 1986 biography,  "Rock Hudson: His Story" (written by Hudson himself and Sara Davidson), where that the actor had called him his "true love" and that the only people he ever loved were his mother and Garlington.  "I had no idea I meant that much to him," he says.

TagsRock Hudson, Lee Garlington, Gay, AIDS, true love