Troy Donahue

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Troy Donahue (1961)

Troy Donahue (* 27. January 1936 in New York as Merle Johnson Jr. , † 2. September 2001 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American actor . He peaked as a popular teenage star from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s.

Life

Merle Johnson junior was the son of a vice president of General Motors and a stage actress. He first studied journalism at Columbia University . After being discovered by a talent scout, he decided to go to Hollywood in 1957 to become an actor. Henry Willson , who was also an agent of Rock Hudson , signed him and gave him the stage name "Troy Donahue", which he had previously unsuccessfully used briefly for Rory Calhoun and James Darren .

After a few unnamed supporting roles in B-Movies , he got an appearance on the side of George Nader in the film Man Afraid and in the Jack Arnold film The Monolith Monsters (" The Secret of the Stone Monsters ") . Soon after, he was cast in larger roles as a "blonde heartbreaker" in various beach movies. The producers finally found the ideal cast for Donahue at the side of the teenage idol Sandra Dee in Summer Island . The film success made Donahue and Sandra Dee the most popular teen idols of their time in the USA ( All-American-Darlings ). In 1960 he was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Young Actor . With the success, the Warner Bros. signed him. In the early 1960s he got the lead role in Surfside 6 , a television series produced by Warner in parallel with 77 Sunset Strip , and starred in films such as His Name Was Parrish and Adventure in Rome . With the completion of the film My Blood Runs Cold (1965), the contract with Warner Brothers also ended. Donahue hardly found new roles and had increasing problems with alcohol and other drugs , at times he lived as a homeless person.

In 1970 he appeared in the soap The Secret Storm . In 1974 he played Connie Corleone's fiancé in the opening scenes of The Godfather II ("The Godfather Part II") . The character was given Donahue's real name: "Merle Johnson". Donahue played in various television productions such as Vegas or Love Boat in the 1980s and 1990s , and he also played supporting roles in a few B-movies. Overall, however, he never regained the popularity he enjoyed as a teenage star in the 1950s and 1960s.

In the mid-1960s, he fell in love with his acting partner Suzanne Pleshette . The two married in 1964, but divorced again that year. In 1966 he married the actress Valerie Allen , and they divorced in 1968. From 1979 to 1981 he was married to Vicky Taylor. He spent his last years with his fiancée, mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao . Troy Donahue died of a heart attack on September 2, 2001 .

reception

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Donahue, Troy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johnson Jr., Merle
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH September 2, 2001
Place of death Santa Monica , California