Rock Hudson

Birth Name: Roy Harold Scherer, Jr.

Date of Birth: November 17, 1925

Place of Birth: Winnetka, New Trier Township, Cook, Illinois, U.S.

Date of Death: October 2, 1985

Place of Death: Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Ethnicity:
*father – German, Swiss-German
*mother – one half English, one half Irish

Rock Hudson was an American actor. He was a leading man in the 1950s and 1960s. He starred in the films Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, Giant, Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, Send Me No Flowers, Seconds, Tobruk, and Ice Station Zebra, and on television’s McMillan & Wife and Dynasty. He was one of the first prominent people to have disclosed their AIDS diagnosis. He was 6′5″.

Rock was the son of Katherine Marie “Kay” (Wood), a telephone operator, and Roy Harold Scherer, an auto mechanic. His mother re-married to Marine Corps officer Wallace E. “Wally” Fitzgerald, who legally adopted Rock, changing his name to Roy Harold Fitzgerald. He moved to Los Angeles, California, after WWII to live with his father, where he pursued acting.

Rock’s paternal grandfather was Theodore Thomas Scherer (the son of Johann Adam Scherer and Elizabeth Dietrich). Theodore was born in Olney, Richland County, Illinois. Adam was German, from Thaleischweiler, Landkreis Südwestpfalz, Rheinland-Pfalz, the son of John Adam Scherer and Louisa Kettenring. Rock’s great-grandmother Elizabeth was Swiss, of Swiss-German descent, the daughter of Johannes/John Dietrich and Elisabetha Dietrich.

Rock’s paternal grandmother was Lena M. Blatter (the daughter of John Henry Blatter and Anna Jaggi/Iaggi). Lena was born in Illinois. John was Swiss, of Swiss-German descent.

Rock’s maternal grandfather was James Wood (the son of Edwin Wood and Hannah Greatrex/Greatrix). James was born in Armitage with Handsacre, Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England. Hannah was born in Armitage with Handsacre, the daughter of James Greatrix/Greatrex and Maria Wood.

Rock’s maternal grandmother was Mary Ellen Enright (the daughter of Timothy Enright and Mary Healy). Rock’s grandmother Mary Ellen was born in Cook County, Illinois, to Irish parents, her father from County Limerick, and her mother from County Cork.

Sources: Genealogies of Rock Hudson – https://www.wikitree.com
https://www.findagrave.com