Trivia of Troy Donahue

 Trivia of Troy Donahue (27 January 1936 - 2 September 2001)

*Donahue was born in New York City under the name Merle Johnson. Influenced by his mother, (Edith Johnson who was a stage actress), little Merle Johnson desired to be an actor at a young age.His parents didn't want little Johnson to become an actor. They preferred something more stable such doctor, lawyer, or chef.

*Having migrated to Hollywood after dropping out of Columbia University, this sun-bleached blond guy was discovered and offered a Universal screen test by director William Asher while munching on a cheeseburger at a beachside diner.But the result was unsuccessful.He began his career after actress Fran Bennett introduced him to agent Henry Willson, who represented Rock Hudson. Willson signed him and changed his name to Troy Donahue.

*Reached his stardom when portraying Johnny Hunter in film A Summer Place (1959) along Sandra Dee.The release of ''A Summer Place (1959)'' made Donahue for a time the studio's top fan-mail draw. ''They'd ask me to light a cigarette, and when I did, they screamed and fell down,'' Donahue said of his fans in an interview a year after the film's release.

*Parrish (1961) was Donahue's favorite of his films.He play for male lead role after beat another candidate like Anthony Perkins. Parrish (1961) also final feature film for actress Claudette Colbert who play role as Donahue's mother.

*Dating actress Suzanne Pleshette on the set film Rome Adventure (1963).From on screen couple, Donahue and Pleshette were later married in real life, nine months after this film release.They appeared together again in film A Distant Trumpet (1964) before divorce in the same year.

*In 1968, Donahue declared bankruptcy and eventually lost his home. "I was living like a movie star but wasn't being paid like one", he says.By this time, Donahue's drug addiction and alcoholism had ruined him financially. One summer, he was homeless and lived in Central Park. "There was always somebody who could be amused by Troy Donahue.I'd meet them anywhere, in a park, street, party, in bed. I lived in a bush in Central Park for one summer. I kept everything I had in a backpack."He escape from bankruptcy after his old friend, producer Francis Ford Coppola cast him in a small part in The Godfather Part II as the fiancé of Connie Corleone.

*He was one of the inspirations for The Simpsons character Troy McClure along with Doug McClure.Mclure is an actor who is usually shown doing low-level work, most notably hosting manipulative infomercials and pointless, often questionable educational films.