Troy Donahue  

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Troy Donahue (January 27, 1936 – September 2, 2001) was an American actor and teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

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Life and career

Born Merle Johnson, Jr., Donahue was initially a journalism student at Columbia University in New York City before he decided to become an actor in Hollywood, where he was represented by Rock Hudson's agent, Henry Willson. According to Robert Hofler's 2005 biography, The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson, Willson tried out the name Troy on Rory Calhoun and James Darren, with no success before it finally stuck to Donahue. The blond heartthrob established himself with uncredited roles in The Monolith Monsters and Man Afraid in 1957, leading to larger parts in several films.

He starred in Monster on the Campus, Live Fast, Die Young, and The Tarnished Angels, all in 1958, and opposite fellow teen idol Sandra Dee in A Summer Place in 1959. The latter made him a star, especially among teenage audiences. He signed a contract with Warner Bros. and played several successive leading roles in films such as Rome Adventure and A Distant Trumpet. The two co-starred Suzanne Pleshette, whom he married in 1964, but divorced later that same year.

After the release of My Blood Runs Cold (1965), Donahue's contract with Warner Bros. ended. He later struggled to find new roles and had problems with drug addiction and alcoholism. He was married again in 1966 to actress Valerie Allen, but they divorced in 1968. In 1970 he appeared in the daytime drama The Secret Storm. In 1974 he was cast in his most high-profile role, a small part in The Godfather Part II as the fiancé of Connie Corleone. His character was called Merle Johnson, Donahue's real name.

Donahue starred with Van Williams from 1960 to 1962 in the ABC television series Surfside 6, set in Miami, Florida. After Surfside 6, Donahue joined the cast of Hawaiian Eye for its last season, 1962-1963, in the role of hotel director Philip Barton.

After the breakup of his brief second marriage to actress Suzanne Pleshette, Donahue married actress Valerie Pamela Allen (born 1940) on October 21, 1966, in Dublin, Ireland. The union ended two years later when Allen claimed in divorce proceedings that Donahue was constantly late for dinner and ignored her. No alimony was granted, but Donahue agreed to pay Allen $14,000 in monthly installments of $800 each.

Donahue spent his last few years with his fiancée, mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao. He died of a heart attack at the age of 65.

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In popular culture

  • Donahue is referenced in the line "As for you, Troy Donahue, I know what you wanna do" from the song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" in Grease.
  • He is also referenced in the Broadway musical A Chorus Line in the song "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love". In it the character Bobby sings the line: "If Troy Donahue could be a movie star, then I could be a movie star." A similarly scathing reference occurs in the movie The Life and Death of Peter Sellers when - after a furious row between Peter Sellers and director Blake Edwards - Edwards comments to the camera that all actors are difficult, with the exception of "Troy Donahue", the implication being only those with talent are trouble to a director.
  • In the Badly Drawn Boy song "One Last Dance" the line "I'll be your Troy Donahue, if you'll be my Sandra Dee" appears.
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Filmography


Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Troy Donahue" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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