KING: Is there such a thing as looking gay?
CHRISTIAN: No, but if look at him in "Pillow Talk," you've got the Tony Randall character, and Tony Randall seems gay, but he's absolutely hetero, and you've got Rock, who was extremely macho and he was gay,or bisexual, so...
KING: And he had been married?
CHRISTIAN: He had been married, and he liked women as well.
KING: Was he -- when he was with you, did he also see women?
CHRISTIAN: No, not a bit.
KING: But he liked women?
CHRISTIAN: Oh, yes, very much so.
KING: Did he every talk about it? Did he say to you -- when a relationship began, like I'm living a lie, this is -- I'm going to get caught?
CHRISTIAN: Not so much that. But he was aware that -- it's hard to believe it's only 19 years ago, how the world has changed -- you have got "Will and Grace" on TV now and gay actors everywhere. But for a leading man to come out at that time still would have been pretty career-killing.
KING: Unheard of.
CHRISTIAN: But he had a friend, Armisted Maupin, the writer, who nearly got him out of the closet, because...
KING: Wanted him to come out of the closet?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, because by this time, Rock was in his late 40s, early 50s, and he really was at a point where he wanted to become a character actor. He didn't want to just go on his looks any longer. And Burt Lancaster made that move from leading man to character actor.
KING: He wanted that.
CHRISTIAN: Rock wanted that.
KING:.When it began to be physical and serious, were you in love?
CHRISTIAN: Oh, yes.
KING: You moved into his house?
CHRISTIAN: Yes.
KING: Didn't that create any talk?
CHRISTIAN: Not really.
KING: No?
CHRISTIAN: You know, I didn't really even tell many of my friends when I first moved in. I just wanted it to be something that was just seen natural. Rock's friends knew. I met most of his friends, and his close friends knew that he was with me.
KING: Did his close friends know that he was gay?
CHRISTIAN: Oh, yes.
KING: The women too?
CHRISTIAN: Yes.
KING: Did actresses know?
CHRISTIAN: Oh, yes.
KING: Elizabeth Taylor said she didn't.
CHRISTIAN: Oh, she knew.
KING: No? Early on, maybe?
CHRISTIAN: Oh, not early on, perhaps, no.
KING: Not when they were working on "Giant."
CHRISTIAN: No, not on "Giant," no, but she knew, of course, later in his life.
KING: What was he like as a boyfriend?
CHRISTIAN: He was a lot of fun. He was a very intelligent man, although it didn't always come off on screen because he kind of played the hunk. He loved reading books, he had a great sense of humor. Practical joker, he just had a sardonic sense of humor. And he was fun to be with. He would be with people he'd never met and he'd make you feel at ease. He never came off like the movie star.
