REMEMBERING ROCK'S FILMS - Los Angeles Times

He wasn’t a born actor. It took 38 takes before he could successfully recite one line in his first picture, “Fighter Squadron,” 1948, shown at right. But he learned on the job. By the

mid-’50s his handsome face, rich baritone voice and 6-foot-4 height made him one of the leading stars on the Universal lot. Through tearful melodramas, adventure films and glossy bedroom

comedies, Rock Hudson lived up to the vigorous image of his name. His movie career covered five decades and his 62nd and final film was “TheMirror Crack’d,” 1980, inset. Although he appeared

in plays and on TV, it was his film career that made him a Hollywood legacy. A remembrance of the actor, who died Wednesday: