The Fairy Godfather of Hollywood.

His business card read: "If you're interested in getting into the movies, I can help you. Henry Wilson. Agent." And he could. Most famously, he took the gangly young Roy Scherer, got his teeth fixed, dubbed him "Rock Hudson," and used his clout to provoke a major studio build-up for the ex-mailman from Winnetka, Illinois. He steered actresses through Hollywood's career hoops too, like Lana Turner, Rhonda Fleming, and Gena Rowlands, but Wilson earned his sobriquet of "fairy godfather of Hollywood" through his single-minded focus on newly arrived young hunks on the Sunset Strip, with whispered enticements like, "You could be a star…. You're better looking than any movie actor here." Moving closer, to advance the intimacy, he would confide: "You are a star. Now it's up to me to let Hollywood know." What red-blooded college quarterback or figure skater or sailor on leave could resist such a pitch?      

Story Written by | Robert Keser.