37 Facts About Troy Donahue

Troy Donahue was going to attend West Point, but suffered a knee injury at a track meet.

When Troy Donahue was 18, he moved to New York and got a job as a messenger in a film company founded by his father.

Troy Donahue was fired, he says, because he was too young to join the union.

Troy Donahue trained briefly with Ezra Stone, and then moved to Hollywood.

Some time later, Troy Donahue was in a car accident in which he drove off a road and plunged 40 feet down a canyon.

Troy Donahue began appearing on TV in a guest part in Man Without a Gun.

Troy Donahue often had better roles in TV, guest-starring in episodes of The Californians, Rawhide, Wagon Train, and Tales of Wells Fargo and The Virginian.

Troy Donahue achieved good reviews for a brief, but effective part in Imitation of Life, playing a young white man who beats up his new girlfriend after he discovers she is black.

The big break of Troy Donahue's career came when he was cast opposite Sandra Dee in A Summer Place, made by Warner Bros.

Troy Donahue had a support part in a disaster movie, The Crowded Sky.

Troy Donahue was reportedly going to be cast in Splendor in the Grass, but missed out to Warren Beatty.

On Surfside 6, Troy Donahue starred with Van Williams, Lee Patterson, Diane McBain, and Margarita Sierra in the ABC series, set in Miami Beach, Florida.

Troy Donahue's career got a big break when Joshua Logan dropped out as director of Parrish ; Logan was replaced by Delmer Daves, who brought in Troy Donahue as star, and the film was a hit.

Troy Donahue did appear in a nearly beach-party film, Palm Springs Weekend, alongside several other Warner Bros.

Troy Donahue 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.

In 1965, Troy Donahue was cast as a psychopathic killer opposite Joey Heatherton in My Blood Runs Cold.

In 1967, Troy Donahue walked out of a contract to appear in the play Poor Richard at the Pheasant Run Playhouse.

In 1968, Troy Donahue signed a long-term contract with Universal Studios for films and TV.

Troy Donahue declared bankruptcy in 1968 and eventually lost his home.

Troy Donahue later admitted that he began abusing drugs and alcohol at the peak of his career and increased use after his career began to wane:.

Troy Donahue was struggling to make his way in a changing Hollywood.

Troy Donahue wrote screenplays under a pseudonym and performed in The Owl and the Pussycat on stage in stock.

In 1969, Troy Donahue moved from Los Angeles to New York City.

Troy Donahue later called the role "the best part I ever had".

Troy Donahue had roles in low-budget films such as Sweet Savior, The Last Stop, and Seizure, Oliver Stone's directorial debut.

Troy Donahue's character was named Merle Johnson, a nod to Donahue's real name.

Troy Donahue was paid $10,000 for the role for one week's work.

Troy Donahue moved back to Los Angeles, where he married for a fourth time.

Troy Donahue appeared in Cockfighter for director Monte Hellman, and made South Seas in the Philippines.

Troy Donahue acted in occasional television guest spots and appeared in whiskey commercials for the Japanese television market.

Troy Donahue continued to act in films throughout the 1980s and into the late 1990s.

Troy Donahue appeared in the feature film Grandview, USA which was shot in Pontiac, Illinois.

Troy Donahue was married four times and had one child, Sean.

On October 21,1966, Troy Donahue married actress Valerie Allen in Dublin They separated in April 1967, and she filed for divorce in April 1968, charging him with cruelty, divorcing in November 1968.

Troy Donahue had a son, Sean, by a woman with whom he had a brief relationship in 1969.

Troy Donahue only found out about the son in the early 1980s when he encountered the woman again.

In 1958, Troy Donahue was jailed for 15 days for speeding.