Rock Hudson's lover Marc Christian: Dead again?

Anyone who thinks obit writers have it easy, here's a tale for you.

Several years ago, an e-mail was sent to my editor reporting the death of Marc Christian, the former lover of Rock Hudson, the 1950s and '60s romantic leading man and later star of TV's "McMillan and Wife." You might recall the tabloid frenzy that erupted when Hudson, who had maintained a resolutely heterosexual public image throughout his life, announced in 1985 that he had AIDS, which was sweeping the gay community. He died a few months later.

Christian, a former bartender and self-described musicologist, had been involved with Hudson for about three years, including a period of several months when Hudson knew of his illness but continued to have unprotected sex with Christian without telling him of his diagnosis.

Christian tested negative for AIDS after repeated tests. Nonetheless, he sued Hudson's estate for  damages and emotional distress. In 1989 he won a $21.7 million jury award, later reduced to $5.5 million. In 1991, he settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. The case made headlines around the world, which would make Christian's death newsworthy.

To verify his death, I started with the person who reported it to us to in an e-mail. Normally, people who volunteer such news are eager to share it, so it was unusual to get no response. Finally, a response came but the details were sparse: It said Christian had died somewhere in Europe and his ashes had been scattered abroad. The e-mailer offered no other information.

Lacking contact information for Christian's next of kin, I did the next best thing: I called Marvin Mitchelson, the famous palimony lawyer, who had represented Christian in the Hudson case. Mitchelson had not heard of his former client's death but promised to look into it. When I told him about the mysterious e-mailer, he expressed concern. "There could be foul play," he said, and urged me to take the matter to the authorities.

This was the first time an obit assignment gave me the creeps. Given the circumstances, foul play seemed plausible. Anyone who files a lawsuit makes enemies, and Christian had won a nice bundle of money from Hudson's estate, which could make him a target. But I wasn't convinced that something horrible had happened.

Then, a day or two later, Mitchelson called back with good news. He had spoken to Christian's sister, who told him she had just received a birthday phone message from her brother. So the report of Christian's death had been premature. Case closed.

Still, I puzzled over why someone wanted us to believe Marc Christian was dead.

Through a careful review of the e-mails and some Internet sleuthing, I found out who that someone was. 

It was, I believe, Marc Christian.

I found a phone number (another long story) and left a rather irate message on his answering machine. Then I threw the file away and hoped I wouldn't be on the obits desk when he did finally die.

I'm still here, but maybe he isn't.

Around June of this year, I received another e-mail saying Marc Christian was dead. (Again.) This time a credible name was attached: Pat Broeske, a former Times feature writer. But Broeske was passing along secondhand information and could offer no useful contacts for verifying Christian's demise. Alas, the gracious and helpful Mitchelson was unavailable, having died in 2004 of cancer at age 76. Christian's other trial lawyer, Harold Rhoden, was also dead.

News clips from the 1990s said Christian lived in Hollywood, so I called the Los Angeles County coroner's office to see if it had any record of his passing. Nothing. I put Marc Christian out of my mind. Until an official source materialized, I was determined not to waste another minute on it. Maybe he was just fooling with us again.

A few weeks ago, my editor handed me a printout from a Google news group citing a new report of Christian's passing. I groaned.

This time the "news" emanated from a blog by Michael Musto at villagevoice.com. Musto could not verify Christian's death, but that didn't stop him from publishing an item headlined "Marc Christian Has Passed?" It was picked up as fact by other bloggers and websites, including the Huffington Post.

So I called the L.A. coroner again. Again, they had no record of a Marc Christian. Because Christian had family ties down south, I called the Orange County coroner's office. Nothing again. This didn't mean he wasn't dead, only that the circumstances of his death were not unusual enough to require the coroner's services. I had real bodies to bury, so I consigned Marc Christian to the bottom of the pile. But he continued to gnaw at the edges of my consciousness. Was he dead, or wasn't he?

Some days later I went back to read the comments posted on Musto's blog. I had a good chuckle. Some were funny, some were extremely nasty, others were X-rated. None were useful.

Then I came upon one comment that made me sit up. The writer said that Christian's full name was Marc Christian MacGinnis and that he died on June 2, 2009, from complications caused by pneumonia. Another poster said he found a record of the death on the Social Security Death Index. I found the index on the Web, entered that name and there he was.

But was it the Marc Christian I've been chasing?

Another poster said Christian owned a house on Knoll Drive. I Googled Marc Christian and Knoll Drive and a Christian Marc Macginnis popped up as the owner of a house in the 3400 block of Knoll Drive in the Hollywood Hills. Further Googling showed that this Macginnis purchased the house for $545,000 in April 1992, about eight months after the lawsuit against Hudson's estate was settled. A realty website says a sale is pending on this house for more than $1.2 million.

Then our top-notch researcher, Kent, found a second blog entry by Musto that said Christian's sister's name was Susan Dahl. He searched public records and found a document linking Dahl and a Marc MacGinnis to the same address in Irvine. Christian said in various news stories that he grew up in Orange County. This felt like progress, but it still wasn't enough to hang a story on. Further Internet searching did not produce a good phone number for Susan Dahl. So, once again, I'm back to square one.

Although I hate to admit it, it drives me nuts that I don't know if Rock Hudson's litigious ex is dead.

Anyone out there with a solid lead? If so, drop me a line here or at elaine.woo@latimes.com.

-- Elaine Woo

Caption: Marc Christian, left, with attorney Marvin Mitchelson, announcing his lawsuit against Rock Hudson's estate in 1985. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Alonso]

Who in hell cares? If the man is dead, be it so. If he is still alive, may God bless him, after all, death is the way of all flesh. If he is alive,I wish him a blessed holiday.

[Lisa]

Caskets on Parade has Marc Christian MacGinnis's BD as 23 June 1953 in Villa Park, CA:

http://daggy.name/cop/2009/2009miss.htm

And, unless there was another Marc Christian MacGinnis born on 23 June 1953, according to the SSDI, the rumors are true, is IS dead:

http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=MacGinnis&firstname=Marc&nt=exact

[Lisa]

It took me less than 5 minutes to come up with a solid lead.

Caskets on Parade gives Marc Christian's aka Marc Christian MacGinnis's birthdate/place as 23 June 1953 in Villa Park, California:

http://daggy.name/cop/2009/2009miss.htm

Unless there was another Marc Christian MacGinnis born on 23 June 1953, then the rumors are true, as the SSDI doesn't lie:

http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=MacGinnis&firstname=Marc&nt=exact

You guys owe me a staff job!

[Robert Young]

He has indeed passed. I was interested in buying his house on Knoll Drive (sold to a Playboy centerfold instead).

You should reach out to the realtor... Tom Otero.

[julie Runco]

Just because you are bored, don't pawn this off on us as interesting, or journalism .

[Roberta]

...and we care because...?

[jrwSacto]

Good story. As a former newspaper reporter who has written my share of obits, I can say that it's not easy for an obit writer to come up with interesting stories. I liked this one.

[Arye Michael Bender]

Perhaps he's the real Magic Christian?

[Caroll Johnston]

Fascinating story.
Thank you for sharing this.
Now I am curious as to the outcome. Wish I could be helpful.

[Richard]

What a yawner. I suppose if I was journalist I might appreciate the deeper meaning of knowing the truth but for the average reader, I have to agree with others...who freaking cares?!

[mikeohara]

Interesting! Props to Elaine and Lisa for their determined sleuthing.

[JM]

Best (non?) obit I've ever read!

[Sleuthmeister]

did you try zabasearch.com? Or a real skiptrace resource, which must be available to sleuths such as Times staff writers? The aforementioned zabasearch.com gives at least two susan dahls, born in the '50s who reside or resided in Orange County along with phone numbers.

Zabasearch also gives the Knoll Drive address for Marc Christian MacGinnis.

Got to love the zaba!

[Barbara]

He doesn't deserve to be called litigious, he filed one lawsuit--and it had merit.

[elaine]

thanks for all the comments. i've been down with the flu but will be posting an update in the next day or so.
one of the problems was finding an official source (not caskets on parade --great name but i don't know what their verification procedure is) that would prove marc christian of rock hudson fame was the same person as the marc christian macginnis found in other documents. in my business, you don't take anything for granted! however, one of you may have provided the missing link. more soon.

[Joe]

Elaine - I enjoyed your story. I will rest assured that you will wring the truth out of this. Best ...

[Laura]

"He doesn't deserve to be called litigious, he filed one lawsuit--and it had merit.

Posted by: Barbara | 12/01/2009 at 03:39 PM"

I totally agree. Aren't people who do the same thing Rock Hudson did now indicted on some kind of murder charge?

[Steve]

Fascinating from beginning to end. That's rare these days from the mainstream media, so thanks for that.

And it was a far more interesting read than the comments from the whiny morons who took the time to read the article (knowing exactly what it was about from the title) but then whined that they didn't care about the topic.

[Mufon]

He's litigious, didn't deserve anything.

"Aren't people who do the same thing Rock Hudson did now indicted on some kind of murder charge?" Laura, usually someone has to be killed for a murder charge to be initiated.

[lbard]

Not that it sheds any light on the question of Marc's death, but I believe Elaine and Robert have been too quick to refer to a Knoll Drive in the Hollywood Hills. The accurate name is North Knoll Drive and it is alphabetized in the Thomas Guide under N, not K. That is, it is the drive on the north knoll, not the northern end of some "Knoll Drive." As I lived on North Knoll Drive in the '90s, when visitors DID rely on the Thomas Guide a lot, I've had a lot of practice at stressing the distinction --

[Jim W]

"He doesn't deserve to be called litigious, he filed one lawsuit--and it had merit."

Negative HIV tests? How could you say he wasn't litigious? He smelled a buck and went for it.

[El Guapo de la cuidad de Los Angeles]

Musto is always a great reliable source for news.

[Barbara]

Mufon, google "criminal transmission of HIV." In many jurisdictions, it is a crime to knowingly pass the virus.

[Guy Thompto]

If someone was live, then it is likely they would have recent income tax records. If you are serious about wanting to know whether this person still exists, check out the tax filings.

[Butch]

Isn't the big elephant in the room - that no one has mentioned - even 1 year later -

Did Marc Christian die of Aids Related pneumonia???????