Troy Donahue

 Troy Donahue, born Merle Johnson Jr. (January 27, 1936 – September 2, 2001)

He was a popular male sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s. 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. 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), Tenderfoot (TV series) (1959), Sugarfoot (1959), The Alaskans (1960) and Lawman (1960). A Summer Place was a hit and made Donahue a name, especially among teenage audiences. In 1960 he was named by Film Daily as one of the five "finds" of the year. He had a support part in a disaster movie, The Crowded Sky (1960). He was reportedly going to be cast in Splendor in the Grass but missed out to Warren Beatty. Instead, Warner put him in a TV series, Surfside Six (1960-62), a spin-off of 77 Sunset Strip, announced in April 1960. Donahue starred with Van Williams, Lee Patterson, Diane McBain, and Margarita Sierra in the ABC/WB series, set in Miami Beach, Florida. Donahue also had a brief tenure as a recording artist at the height of his fame in the early 1960s, releasing a handful of singles for Warner Bros. records, including "Live Young" and "Somebody Loves Me". However, none of his recordings entered the Billboard Hot 100 list. In 1965, Donahue was cast as a psychopathic killer opposite Joey Heatherton in My Blood Runs Cold. While Donahue was happy to break type and play a different type of role, it was not well received by the public. His contract with Warner Bros. ended shortly thereafter—although it ran until early 1968, Donahue asked to be released from it in January 1966. Donahue later claimed: Jack Warner called every studio I used to work for and used his muscle to keep me busted. I was blackballed and everyone in the business knew it. Please print that. I made one film in Europe playing a Victorian astronaut but no one ever saw it. Then by the time I could get work again it was too late because my type was already out of fashion.

Donahue was married four times and had one child. His first marriage was to actress Suzanne Pleshette, with whom he had twice co-starred in films. On August 30, 2001, Donahue suffered a heart attack and was admitted to Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica. He died there three days later on September 2 at the age of 65.