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. Taught acting classes on Holland America cruise ships. At the time of his death he lived with his fiancée, the mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao. Survived by daughter Janine & 3 grandchildren, as well as a son, Sean (born 1970). 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. Received his movie name of "Troy Donahue" from the same person who named Rock Hudson: Hollywood press agent Henry Wilson. He toured in a producton of "Bye Bye Birdie" toward the end of his life. Suffered a heart attack on Thursday, 30 August, 2001. He never recovered and died at St John's Hospital and Medical Centre in Santa Monica, California (Sunday, 2 September, 2001). Former co-star and long-time friend Connie Stevens visited Donahue the day before he died. Son of Merle Johnson Sr., a vice-president at General Motors, and Edith, a stage actress. 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!" After his father's death, at age 14 Troy was sent to military school. As a cadet, he became friends with a classmate, Francis Ford Coppola. This led to his being cast in The Godfather: Part II. Along with Doug McClure, was the inspiration for The Simpsons character "Troy McClure". During the early 1980s, his personal and professional fortunes had sunk so low that he was literally living on a bench in New York's Central Park. Died just eleven days before his A Summer Place costar, Dorothy McGuire. Ranked #10 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 25 Greatest Teen Idols" (23 January 2005 issue).