|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Sept 11, 2017 17:29:17 GMT
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.
|
|
|
|
Post by snsurone on Sept 11, 2017 17:36:49 GMT
He couldn't act to save his life, but he did have that blond "beach boy" look that was so popular in the late '50's-early '60's.
And, BTW, he wasn't related to Phil Donahue may just be because Troy's birth name was Merle Johnson, LOL.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Sept 11, 2017 17:43:44 GMT
He couldn't act to save his life, but he did have that blond "beach boy" look that was so popular in the late '50's-early '60's. And, BTW, he wasn't related to Phil Donahue may just be because Troy's birth name was Merle Johnson, LOL. I added that tidbit last minute, was desperate to make my list go to twenty!  |
|
|
|
Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 11, 2017 23:45:16 GMT
Lebowskidoo 🦞If you like westerns you might enjoy  It's no Shane or High Noon but it's got some really good scenes in it and some are pretty funny. Troy with Suzanne   I always thought that he did well in the films he was in.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Sept 12, 2017 1:22:58 GMT
So what did you think of A Summer Place? Is it now a guilty pleasure for you, too. At the very least, you must admit it has beautiful locations. And btw, Jack Warner tried to shove Donahue down Kazan's throat for Splendor in the Grass, but thankfully Kazan prevailed and cast Warren Beatty instead. I really enjoyed it, parts of it seemed a bit campy, but that's also what I like sometimes. Sandra Dee was better here than in Gidget, she surprised me. Northern California looks nothing like Maine, but folks were easier to fool back then. Takes itself too serious, but a must see for those who enjoy the 50's/60's beach movies. |
|
|
|
Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 12, 2017 17:50:40 GMT
Troy Donahue linkApparently someone thought that he could act, like the people who did the actual hiring. The man appeared in 64 feature films and 34 television programs in addition to videos and appearance as himself. He won a Golden Globe award for A Summer Place. For a guy who "couldn't act to save his life" not too shabby a career.(imo)
|
|
|
|
Post by Richard Kimble on Sept 12, 2017 20:53:14 GMT
First wife was actress Suzanne Pleshette, their marriage lasted 9 months. -- S.P. |
|
|
|
Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 12, 2017 21:02:39 GMT
"Being married to Troy Donahue was so boring even I don't remember it." -- S.P. Sounds like one of those tongue in cheek late night talkshow comments. Can almost hear her saying it in her wonderful husky voice that always seemed to have a smile in it. |
|
|
|
Post by outrider127 on Sept 12, 2017 21:26:42 GMT
"Being married to Troy Donahue was so boring even I don't remember it." -- S.P. Sounds like one of those tongue in cheek late night talkshow comments. Can almost hear her saying it in her wonderful husky voice that always seemed to have a smile in it. "wonderfully husky voice" think you mean that her voice was destroyed by cigarette addiction,which killed her at age 69--her cigarette smoking husband died a few years earlier--still think she was at her most beautiful in If its Tuesday This Must Be Belgium(1969) |
|
|
|
Post by outrider127 on Sept 12, 2017 21:33:55 GMT
Donahue and Dee were great in Summer Place,one of the all time great young love films,helped big time by the classic theme song--But Donahue became a hopeless alcoholic just a few years later, and booze and drugs eventually destroyed his looks--His final pics are painful to look at
|
|
|
|
Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 12, 2017 21:34:39 GMT
sigh. outrider127 She had that husky voice even early in her life and her career.. This from her IMDb biog : Blessed with beauty, a fine figure, and a husky voice that made her seem older than her years, she quickly achieved success on both the small and big screens..."
She was beautiful. She was funny. She had a nice way of talking and she seemed to be a lady who was not mean or unkind .... even when speaking of an ex.
FWIW RE: Donahue also from IMDb biog Starting drinking alcohol in seventh grade (age 13). After being dropped by Warner Brothers in 1966 (age 30) he became an alcoholic. Admitted that he was addicted to pain killers, amphetamines, & cocaine, and used marijuana daily. Joined AA in 1982 (age 46) and turned his life around with his sobriety.
|
|
|
|
Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 12, 2017 21:46:34 GMT
Older Sandra Dee and Troy   This one was labeled A Summer Place 40 years after  1959 |
|
|
|
Post by petrolino on Sept 12, 2017 22:59:18 GMT
Thanks so much for the fun facts about Troy Donahue, Lebowskidoo.
In the 1950s, the young Troy Donahue flitted effortlessly between making heavy Douglas Sirk prestige pictures and low budget sci-fi shockers, a harbinger of things to come. In his later years, he became much sought after by some of the directors I admire, working with Roger Corman graduates Francis Coppola and Monte Hellman in the 1970s, as well as Oliver Stone who also obtained his services. In subsequent decades he played character roles in Randal Kleiser's 'Grandview U.S.A' (1984), Fred Olen Ray's 'Cyclone' (1987) & 'Terminal Force' (1989), David Prior's 'Deadly Prey' (1987), Leo Fong's 'Fight To Win' (1987), Amir Shervan's 'Hollywood Cop' (1987), David DeCoteau's 'American Rampage' (1989) & 'Dr Alien' (1989), Jose Altonaga's 'Hot Times At Montclair High' (1989), Deland Nuse's 'The Chilling' (1989), Richard Gabai's 'Blood Nasty' (1989) & 'Assault Of The Party Nerds' (1989), Ross Hagen & John Stewart's 'Click : The Calendar Killer' (1990) and John Waters' 'Cry-Baby' (1990), cementing his position at the vanguard of American b-movies. Dudes a legend.
|
|
|
|
Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 13, 2017 0:06:01 GMT
Older Sandra Dee and Troy This one was labeled A Summer Place 40 years after 1959 I think it was Halloween night last year - or maybe the year before - I was walking a block to a local convenience store and encountered a rambunctious group of early-twenty-somethings apparently on their way to a costume party. One of the girls, wearing a blond wig and dressed in a long lavender shirt and dark tights, exuberantly exclaimed in my direction, "Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee!" I was a bit taken by surprise, and my blank stare led to her prompting, "Y'know: Grease. The song?" It had been decades since I'd seen either the film or the show, and it took a few seconds to register. "Oh, right, right...I didn't make the connection. I was thinking of the real Sandra Dee. I don't remember her ever dressing like that." It was now her turn to stare blankly: "The what?" "Sandra Dee, the actress," I explained. The girl was still mystified. "She was a real person: a perky young blond popular in movies of the late-'50s and early-'60s," I continued, "who played wholesome, innocent girls-next-door." After a second or two, she responded, "Oh," with a sort of why-are-you-telling-me-this inflection. "Never heard of her. I only know the song." The irony was head-spinning: a girl 40-odd years younger than I, referencing a song written 20 years before she was born - that she remembered better than I - that itself referenced an actress of whom she'd never heard. Generation gaps get pretty complicated when people a third your age can stump you with cultural references from your youth, yet be unaware of their origins. |
|
|
|
Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 13, 2017 0:18:08 GMT
Doghouse6Your wonderful Dee story reminded me somehow of that scene in Yankee Doodle Dandy where George M. translates the headline in Variety for the kids in the hot rod. I tried to find a picture but will post this one instead (even tho' it has nothing to do with Troy!  OP  You do have the most interesting encounters with people on the street !
|
|
|
|
Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 13, 2017 0:40:55 GMT
Doghouse6 Your wonderful Dee story reminded me somehow of that scene in Yankee Doodle Dandy where George M. translates the headline in Variety for the kids in the hot rod. I tried to find a picture but will post this one instead (even tho' it has nothing to do with Troy! OP You do have the most interesting encounters with people on the street ! Ah, yes: "Stix Nix Hix Pix." An I Love Lucy episode had similar fun with Variety headlines: "Parker Preps Pitts Preem." On the studio lots, the trades were delivered to our offices every morning, and were full of that kind of clique-y, esoteric jargon. It was the obits that really got me. Major credits of the deceased would be listed, along with those of the wife or husband if they were also in the industry. If not, this rather dismissive tag would conclude the item: "Spouse is non-pro." |
|
|
|
Post by snsurone on Sept 13, 2017 1:06:47 GMT
Troy Donahue linkApparently someone thought that he could act, like the people who did the actual hiring. The man appeared in 64 feature films and 34 television programs in addition to videos and appearance as himself. He won a Golden Globe award for A Summer Place. For a guy who "couldn't act to save his life" not too shabby a career.(imo) There was, and always will be a demographic that prefers looks and "sex appeal" over any actual ability. Mostly teen and tween girls. They were Donahue's fan base--until someone else came along. Satisfied, troll?? |
|
|
|
Post by divtal on Sept 13, 2017 17:58:59 GMT
When I was in high school, my father (jokingly) forbade me to date Troy Donahue, because in his roles, he got every actress in Hollywood pregnant.  I still haul out my DVD of A Summer Place, from time to time. |
|
|
|
Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 13, 2017 20:07:23 GMT
When I was in high school, my father (jokingly) forbade me to date Troy Donahue, because in his roles, he got every actress in Hollywood pregnant. I am not familiar with the details of his career but it sounds like the sort of information that someone or other probably has at their fingertips, pregnancy-wise and trivia-wise. I guess I missed most of the teeny-bopper films as I remember him from A Distant Trumpet more than anything else and never thought him particularly good or particularly bad. |
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Sept 13, 2017 23:39:43 GMT
When I was in high school, my father (jokingly) forbade me to date Troy Donahue, because in his roles, he got every actress in Hollywood pregnant. I am not familiar with the details of his career but it sounds like the sort of information that someone or other probably has at their fingertips, pregnancy-wise and trivia-wise. I guess I missed most of the teeny-bopper films as I remember him from A Distant Trumpet more than anything else and never thought him particularly good or particularly bad. The reason people think he was a bad actor might be because some of his films were so bad in later years. He was no Olivier but not so bad. |
|
