Editing Rock Hudson (section)

=== 1943–1948: Military service to acting debut ===
Hudson graduated from high school in 1943, and the following year enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II.<ref name="Royce"/> After training at the [[Great Lakes Naval Training Station]], he departed San Francisco aboard the troop transport [[List of Liberty ships (Je–L)|SS ''Lew Wallace'']] with orders to report to Aviation Repair and Overhaul Unit 2, then located on [[Samar]], Philippines, as an aircraft mechanic.{{sfn|Wise|1997|p=178}}<ref name="autogenerated4">{{Cite web |last=Berger |first=Joseph |date=October 3, 1985 |title=Rock Hudson, Screen Idol, Dies at 59 |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/aids/100385sci-aids.html |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=July 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728124316/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/science/aids/100385sci-aids.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1946, he returned to San Francisco aboard an aircraft carrier,{{sfn|Wise|1997|p=180}} and was discharged the same year.<ref name="Royce"/>

Hudson then moved to Los Angeles to live with his biological father (who had remarried)<ref name=autogenerated4/> and to pursue an acting career. Initially he worked at odd jobs,<ref name="Royce"/> including as a truck driver.<ref name=autogenerated4/> He applied to the University of Southern California's dramatics program, but was rejected because of poor grades.<ref name="tcmdb"/> After he sent talent scout [[Henry Willson]] a picture of himself in 1947, Willson took him on as a client and changed the young actor's name to Rock Hudson; later in life, Hudson admitted that he hated the name.<ref name=autogenerated4/> The name was coined by combining the [[Rock of Gibraltar]] and the [[Hudson River]]. Hudson later named his independent film production company Gibraltar Productions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Evening Sun from Baltimore, Maryland on November 12, 1959 · 60|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/367544265/|access-date=June 2, 2021|via=Newspapers.com|date=November 12, 1959|language=en|archive-date=June 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602231913/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/367544265/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1948, Hudson made his acting debut with a small part in the [[Warner Bros.]] film ''[[Fighter Squadron]]'' directed by [[Raoul Walsh]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFI{{!}}Catalog |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/25536-FIGHTER-SQUADRON?cxt=filmography |access-date=June 30, 2024 |website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref> according to a 21st-century source, it took 38 takes for Hudson to successfully deliver his only line in the film.<ref>''The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson'' by Robert Hofler, Carroll & Graf, 2005, pp. 163–64; {{ISBN|0-7867-1607-X}}</ref>