Troy Donahue

Troy Donahue (born Merle Johnson Jr., January 27, 1936 – September 2, 2001) was an American film and television actor and singer. He was a popular sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s. His father was Merle Johnson, the manager of the motion-picture department of General Motors. His mother, Edith Johnson, was a retired stage actress. Donahue attended a New York military academy, where he met Francis Ford Coppola. When Donahue was 18, he moved to New York and got a job as a messenger in a film company founded by his father. He was fired, he says, because he was too young to join the union. He attended Columbia University and studied journalism. He trained briefly with Ezra Stone, and then moved to Hollywood. The big break of Donahue's career came when he was cast opposite Sandra Dee in A Summer Place, made by Warner Bros. in 1959. The director was Delmer Daves. Warner signed him to a long-term contract. They put him to work guest-starring in episodes of their Western TV series, such as Colt .45 (1959), Maverick (1959), Sugarfoot (1959), The Alaskans (1960), and Lawman (1960). In 1968, Donahue signed a long-term contract with Universal Studios for films and TV. This lasted a year and saw him get four roles: guest shots on Ironside (1968), The Name of the Game (1968), and The Virginian (1969), and an appearance in the TV movie The Lonely Profession (1969). Donahue declared bankruptcy in 1968 and eventually lost his home. In 1969, Donahue moved from Los Angeles to New York City. By this time, Donahue's drug addiction and alcoholism had ruined him financially. In May 1982, he joined Alcoholics Anonymous, which he credited for helping him achieve and maintain sobriety. Donahue continued to act in films throughout the 1980s and into the late 1990s. Donahue's final film role was in the 2000 comedy film The Boys Behind the Desk, directed by Sally Kirkland. On August 30, 2001, Donahue suffered a heart attack and was admitted to Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica. He died three days later, on September 2, at the age of 65.

Known For: Acting

Born: New York City, New York, U.S., 1936-01-27

Died: 2001-09-02

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1957	Man Afraid	Reporter (uncredited)	58
2	1957	Man of a Thousand Faces	Assistant Director (uncredited)	67
3	1957	The Tarnished Angels	Frank Burnham	67
4	1957	The Monolith Monsters	Hank Jackson	65
5	1958	Summer Love	Sax Lewis	50
6	1958	Live Fast, Die Young	Artie Sanders / Artie Smith	57
7	1958	This Happy Feeling	Tony Manza	38
8	1958	Wild Heritage	Jesse Bascomb	45
9	1958	Voice in the Mirror	Paul Cunningham	58
10	1958	The Perfect Furlough	Sgt. Nickles	67
11	1958	Monster on the Campus	Jimmy Flanders	61
12	1959	Imitation of Life	Frankie	74
13	1959	A Summer Place	Johnny Hunter	65
14	1960	The Crowded Sky	McVey	56
15	1961	Parrish	Parrish McLean	54
16	1961	Susan Slade	Hoyt Brecker	58
17	1962	Rome Adventure	Don Porter	55
18	1963	Palm Springs Weekend	Jim Munroe	50
19	1964	A Distant Trumpet	2nd Lt. Matthew 'Matt' Hazard	53
20	1965	My Blood Runs Cold	Ben Gunther	45
21	1967	Come Spy with Me	Jill Parsons	0
22	1967	Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon	Gaylord Sullivan	55
23	1968	Split Second to an Epitaph	Father Dugan	0
24	1969	The Lonely Profession	Julian Thatcher	0
25	1970	The Phantom Gunslinger	Bill	46
26	1971	Sweet Savior	Moon	35
27	1974	Cockfighter	Randall Mansfield	61
28	1974	South Seas	Steve	0
29	1974	Seizure	Mark Frost	50
30	1974	The Godfather Part II	Merle Johnson	86
31	1977	The Legend of Frank Woods	Sheriff John Baxom	0
32	1977	Outrage	Daniel	45
33	1981	The Godfather 1901–1959: The Complete Epic	Merle Johnson	94
34	1983	Tin Man	Lester	33
35	1983	Malibu	Clint Redman	30
36	1983	Lover, Come Back to Me		0
37	1984	Grandview, U.S.A.	Donny Vinton	58
38	1986	Low Blow	John Templeton	46
39	1987	Fight to Win	Rosenberg	53
40	1987	Cyclone	Bob Jenkins	40
41	1987	The Drifting Classroom	Taggart	50
42	1987	Hollywood Cop	Lt Maxwell	46
43	1987	Deadly Prey	Don Michaelson	48
44	1988	Hard Rock Nightmare	Uncle Gary	48
45	1988	Bad Blood	Jack Barnes	38
46	1988	Hawkeye	Mayor	45
47	1989	The Chilling	Dr. Miller	38
48	1989	Deadly Spygames	Python	13
49	1989	American Rampage	Police Psychiatrist	34
50	1989	Blood Nasty	Barry Hefna	25
51	1989	Sounds of Silence	Larry Haughton	44
52	1989	Terminal Force	Slim	32
53	1989	Assault of the Party Nerds	Sid Witherspoon	35
54	1989	Dr. Alien	Dr. Ackerman	51
55	1989	Hot Times at Montclair High	Mr. Nichols	36
56	1989	The Platinum Triangle	Harold Farber	53
57	1990	Click: The Calendar Girl Killer	Alan	33
58	1990	Cry-Baby	Hatchet's Father	65
59	1990	Omega Cop	Slim	28
60	1990	Sexpot	Phillip	10
61	1990	Nudity Required	Jack	37
62	1991	Shock 'Em Dead	Record Exec	43
63	1991	Deadly Diamonds	Matt Plimpton	10
64	1992	Double Trouble	Leonard	47
65	1992	The Pamela Principle	Troy	42
66	1993	Showdown	Police Captain	44
67	1997	Bimbo Movie Bash	Dr. Ackerman (archive footage)	30
68	1998	Merchants of Venus	FBI Agent	68
69	1998	Legion	Flemming	33
70	2000	The Boys Behind the Desk		0

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1944	Golden Globe Awards	Self - Winner	72
2	1948	The Ed Sullivan Show	Self	68
3	1950	The Bob Hope Show	Self	70
4	1957	Sugarfoot	Ken Savage	48
5	1957	Maverick	Dan Jamison	68
6	1958	Bronco		52
7	1958	77 Sunset Strip		67
8	1958	77 Sunset Strip	Sandy Winfield II	67
9	1959	Rawhide	Buzz Travis	72
10	1959	The Alaskans		55
11	1959	Bourbon Street Beat	Man on Phone (voice)	50
12	1959	Hawaiian Eye		52
13	1960	Surfside 6	Sandy Winfield II	50
14	1961	The Mike Douglas Show	Self	54
15	1963	The Patty Duke Show		58
16	1967	Ironside	Father Dugan	68
17	1968	The Name of the Game	Norman Hoak	68
18	1975	Ellery Queen	Gilbert Mallory	74
19	1976	Laverne & Shirley		73
20	1977	The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries		71
21	1977	CHiPs		68
22	1977	The Love Boat	Mr. Clark	63
23	1977	Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television	Merle Johnson	86
24	1978	The Eddie Capra Mysteries		50
25	1978	Vega$		70
26	1982	Matt Houston		62
27	1988	Monsters		71
28	1991	Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story	Rob Kamen	0

Troy Donahue

Film

Television