For years, it was essentially an open secret: Rock Hudson, one of the biggest movie stars in the world, was gay. However, this was the 1960s and no one came out, so Hudson and Lee Garlington, who dated from 1962 to 1965, were forced to keep their relationship a secret. Now Garlington, 77, opens up to People about their relationship.

"He was the biggest movie star in the world and the rumors were that he was gay," Garlington says of meeting Hudson, who was 13 years his senior. "So I thought 'Let me get an eye on him.' I stood outside his cottage on the Universal lot, pretending to read Variety, which was probably upside down at the time. He walked out and down the street. He looked back once. That was it."

View photos Rock Hudson in 1956's 'Never Say Goodbye' (Everett Collection) More

It was a year later before the two met up again. Though Garlington insists "nothing happened" the first time, they settled into a routine soon enough.

"I'd come over after work, spend the night and leave the next morning," he says. "I'd sneak out at 6 a.m. in my Chevy Nova and coast down the street without turning on the engine so the neighbors wouldn't hear. We thought we were being so clever."

"He was a sweetheart," Garlington says. "I adored him."

The two would attend movie premieres together, but each would bring his own female date, for appearances. "Nobody in their right mind came out. It was career suicide," Garlington tells People, echoing a sentiment that, unfortunately, still exists today.

"Rock had no pretense," he says of his larger-than-life boyfriend. "He was always casual. He liked to wear chinos and moccasins around the house and hang around and watch television. We'd go on road trips and sometimes he wouldn’t tell the studio where he was going."

However, the couple broke up in 1965. Garlington says it was Hudson's casual demeanor that was at least partially responsible. "One of the reasons we went our own ways because in a way I wanted a father figure and he was not strong enough," he says. "Rock wasn't a real strong personality. He was a gentle giant."

View photos Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor at the 1959 premiere of 'Suddenly Last Summer' (David Sutton/MPTV) More

Very few people knew that Rock Hudson was gay, but one of those who did was his close friend Elizabeth Taylor. It was Hudson's death in 1985 — of AIDS-related complications — that spurred Taylor's lifelong dedication to finding a cure for AIDS. Taylor was partially responsible for the creation of amfAR, and it was Hudson himself who made the first ever donation to the new charity.