Troy Donahue

Watched A Summer Place (1959) which made me want to know more about Troy Donahue, who I know was a heartthrob back in the day. First thing I discovered, he's dead! I assumed he was still alive for whatever reason. I used to get him confused with Tab Hunter, but now I know more about him so I needed to know more about Troy to separate them in my mind. Here's some interesting facts I've learned:

1) Along with actor Doug McClure, he was the co-inspiration for The Simpsons character, Troy McClure.

2) Became friends with military school classmate, Francis Ford Coppola, who later cast him in The Godfather Part II as "Merle Johnson" which was his real name before changing it to Troy Donahue.

3) Was nearly cast in Splendor in the Grass instead of Warren Beatty.

4) He was big in Japan!

5) Asked to be released from his contract with Warner Bros. early so Jack Warner had him blacklisted with every other studio.

6) He was married 4 times and divorced 4 times.

7) Started drinking heavily after leaving Warner Bros., became alcoholic and finally cleaned himself up in 1982 by joining Alcoholics Anonymous. He had also been addicted to cocaine, pain killers and amphetamines and used marijuana daily.

8) Acted on daytime soap opera The Secret Storm for 6 months, "the best part I ever had."

9) Appeared in Oliver Stone's directorial debut, Seizure (1974).

10) First wife was actress Suzanne Pleshette, their marriage lasted 9 months. They also acted together in two movies, Rome Adventure and A Distant Trumpet.

11) Acted with Dorothy Maguire twice, in A Summer Place and Susan Slade. Maguire died only 11 days after Donahue in 2001.

12) His character in A Summer Place lies to his mother about going to see King Kong (1933) so he can see his girlfriend in secret. Donahue acted opposite King Kong star Fay Wray in Summer Love (1958).

13) Gets a shoutout in the song from the musical Grease "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" ("As for you Troy Donahue...").

14) Had a brief singing career at the height of his movie fame in the early 60's but none of his songs really charted in any major way.

15) Taught acting classes on Holland America cruise ships. By this time, his fortunes were not so great.

16) Hollywood press agent Henry Willson gave him the name "Troy Donahue." He's the same person to give Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter their names.

17) No relation to talk show host Phil Donahue.

18) For a time, in the 80's, lived on a park bench in New York City.

19) He was good friends with Connie Stevens and Sandra Dee, but was never in a real relationship with either one.

20) Appeared with Connie Stevens in Parrish, Susan Slade, Palm Springs Weekend and Hawaiian Eye.