Troy Donahue was a journalism student at Columbia University when he began playing in stock productions. He made his film debut in Man Afraid and in 1959 signed as a contract player with Warner Bros., which promoted him to stardom with A Summer Place that year. He was soon a teenage heartthrob, his blond hair and blue eyes appearing frequently on the covers of movie magazines. His most successful film was Parrish, in which he played the title character. A few years after that his career went into a decline; he made only a few television movies between the mid-'60s and his small role in The Godfather: Part II (in which his character's name, Merle Johnson, was actually his real name). His later films were almost entirely for the low-budget home video market, e.g., Sexpot and Nudity Required.


Used his real name, Merle Johnson, for his character in The Godfather: Part II (1974). At the time of his death he lived with his fiancée, the mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao. 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. He toured in a producton of "Bye Bye Birdie" toward the end of his life. Former co-star and long-time friend Connie Stevens visited Donahue the day before he died. His admittedly limited talent was slightly chided in the smash Broadway musical "A Chorus Line." The lyric went: "If Troy Donahue could be a movie star, then I could be a movie star!" Along with Doug McClure, was the inspiration for "The Simpsons" (1989) character "Troy McClure". Died just eleven days before his A Summer Place (1959) costar, Dorothy McGuire. His name was used in the lyrics for the song, "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" in the musical, Grease. ("As for you Troy Donahue..."). Having migrated to Hollywood after dropping out of Columbia University, the sun-bleached blond was discovered and offered a Universal screen test by director William Asher while munching on a cheeseburger at a beachside diner. Talks about his early days at Universal, and the sci-fi movie "Monster on the Campus" (1958), in the book "A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde" (McFarland, 2010) by Tom Weaver.