Second was Rock Hudson as a leading man. If I remember, the press was complicit in the perpetration of that hoax as well.
CC
Rock Hudson was just an actor.
What he did in private was his own business. He hurt no-one but himself.
Rock Hudson’s hoax was a tiny matter in the grand scheme of things.
The American people have been subjected to much more significant hoaxes. I would put the entire environmental movement in there, plus the current global warming business, as the greatest hoax ever. Bigger than Obama by far.