Troy Donahue was a famous actor and singer in the 1950s and 1960s, known for his good looks and charm.
However, the pressure from his fame and fans weighed heavily on him throughout most of his life.
In the end, his story took an unexpected turn that no one saw coming…
Whenever I hear the song “Summer Place,” I think of Troy Donahue. I remember watching the movie as a kid and thinking he was so handsome!
In the 1950s and 60s, Troy Donahue was seen as the ideal American heartthrob: young, blond, blue-eyed, and very good-looking. He had many young female fans because of his appearance.
Even though Troy was only a Hollywood star for a few years, many people still recognize his name, even if they might not remember him well.
Even though Troy Donahue was famous, he didn’t make much money from his career. His life started to fall apart, and things only began to improve when he reconnected with his teenage son.
Troy was born Merle Johnson in New York City. He was inspired by his mother, who was a stage actress, and wanted to be an actor from a young age. In a 1984 interview with People magazine, he said:
“I always grew up around Broadway and theater people. I remember sitting with Gertrude Lawrence while she read her reviews for ‘The King and I.’”
Troy Donahue went to Columbia University to study journalism, but he kept acting in local theater productions on the side. When he started appearing in movies, he had a new name, an agent, and was working with studio executives.
He said, “At first, they wanted to name me Paris, like the lover of Helen of Troy. But they changed it because there was already a Paris, France, and Paris, Illinois.”
Troy made his film debut in *Man Afraid*. Just two years later, he signed with Warner Bros, who saw his potential.
He recalled, “They asked me to light a cigarette, and when I did, they were so surprised, they fell down.”
In 1959, Troy starred in *A Summer Place*, which made him a big star and a popular teen heartthrob. He often played the good guy alongside a beautiful blonde actress. Despite his fame, he didn’t make much money.
Troy Donahue admitted that he was living like a movie star but not getting paid like one. He said, “I lived way over my head and got into a lot of trouble.”
In the late 1950s, Troy and Sandra Dee were known as a romantic movie couple. Over his life, Troy was married four times: first to Suzanne Pleshette, then to Valerie Allen, Alma Sharpe, and Vicky Taylor. All of these marriages ended in divorce.
As his love life fell apart, Troy began struggling with substance abuse. His unhealthy habits made things worse for his acting career.
By the end of the 1960s, his life was in a mess. He said, “I was loaded all the time. I’d wake up around 6:30 in the morning, take three aspirins with codeine, drink half a pint of vodka, and then do four lines of cocaine.”
Despite his struggles, Troy claimed that his addiction never affected his work. He insisted he was never drunk or impaired while working and that his drinking problems were not caused by his career.
Troy Donahue immediately believed the news when he learned he had a son, Sean. He saw a lot of himself in the boy and was relieved to find they got along well. Sean’s mother did not ask for child support, and they set up visitations so Sean could get to know his father. Donahue had been kept away from Sean earlier because of his struggles with drugs and alcohol.
His addiction problems also affected his career. By this time, he was no longer getting big roles and was working in smaller films like “Cry-Baby,” “Bad Blood,” and “Assault of the Party Nerds.”
In 1998, Donahue mentioned in an interview that he was not worried about his career shift to B-films. He felt his career was nearing its end but still considered himself a talented actor despite the critics.
Sadly, Donahue passed away from a heart attack in 2001 at age 65. By then, he had cleaned up his life and built a strong relationship with his son.
Troy was known for his good looks and charm on screen. Although he faced many struggles, he left behind many memorable performances.
White woman gave birth to a black baby from her white husband
Rachel, a new young mom from Tennessee, gave birth to a lovely baby boy on February 17.
Working as a cashier at the Celina 52 Truck Stop, the place posted on their Facebook congratulating on the new addition to the family. They shared a post along with a photo of the happy family with the caption, “Congratulations to our cashier Rachel and her fiancé Paul Buckman on their baby Cash Jamal Buckman being [born] on Saturday at 6:18pm.”
What caught the attention of many was that both Rachel and Paul are white while their baby is black.
As expected, people started posting mean comments under the post, accusing Rachel of cheating.
The store then added another post offering an explanation.
“Yes, Paul is the father. Rachel has African American DNA in her which can skip generations and cause a child to be born with darker skin,” they wrote.
Further, they stated that there might be possibility of jaundice, and ended their post with, “Please be kind.”
However, this didn’t put a stop on the jokes people continued making on the expense of the couple.
“Congratulations!!! I AM sure he looks just like his dad. Where is he?” one person commented.
“Definitely needs a DNA test; what if they accidentally mixed up the kiddos in the nursery?” another added.
“I feel sorry for Paul, being duped like this is a whole new level of creep. Hopefully he’ll wise up,” a third wrote.
Looking at the comments, Rachel decided to share a post that included her her own ancestry test results. She wrote, “For the haters saying that I [don’t] have black DNA maybe this will clear it up straight from my ancestry DNA results !!!! NOW STOP slandering mine and my [fiancé] Paul Buckman name. he IS the father of Lil Cash.”
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