Hudson joined United States Marine Corps immediately after high school but was discharged after only three months on medical grounds due to asthma. Having moved to Detroit, Michigan, he became the resident playwright at Concept East, the oldest black theatre company in the United States. He enrolled at Wayne State University to further develop his writing and acting skills, graduating in 1973. He established the Actors' Ensemble Theatre where he and other talented young black writers directed and appeared in their own works. He was briefly in a doctoral program at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities before leaving to appear in a stage production of "The Great White Hope". Later, he studied toward a Master of Fine Arts in acting at Yale School of Drama, but left after a year to appear in "Leadbelly".