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Birthday boy Troy Donahue in "A Summer Place"

Troy Donahue was born on this day. (Died 09/02/01). The teen idol of the early '60s made his big splash in 1959, with Sandra Dee, in the super soap romance, "A Summer Place." Troy & Sandra were the teen dream team of their era, supported here by a great supporting cast: Dorothy McGuire, Arthur Kennedy, Richard Egan, and scene stealer Constance Ford as Sandra's monster mother. Here's looking at Troy, when he was just 23.

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by Anonymousreply 65January 28, 2023 6:02 PM

Troy in another 1959 release Imitation of Life. Film wise his career went south after 1959

by Anonymousreply 1January 27, 2023 2:51 PM

Merry Christmas momma

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by Anonymousreply 2January 27, 2023 2:56 PM

I was just going to post the famous Christmas tree scene! Troy had just ONE scene in "Imitation of Life" but got so much fan mail (even though the one scene was beating up Susan Kohner!) that star parts were quickly forthcoming. "Parrish" and "Susan Slade" were also hits.

by Anonymousreply 3January 27, 2023 3:42 PM

" Tiny cock great cocksucker"... Rock Hudson on Merle Johnson Jr.

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by Anonymousreply 4January 27, 2023 3:49 PM

I knew what he wanted to do!

by Anonymousreply 5January 27, 2023 4:00 PM

Constance Ford's Mama gets a dressing down by hot Daddy Richard Egan over her bigoted behavior!

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by Anonymousreply 6January 27, 2023 4:42 PM

Troy in Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life (1959) which starred Lana Turner and Sandra Dee.

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by Anonymousreply 7January 27, 2023 5:34 PM

That beat down that Troy gives Susan Kohner is a shocker for a 1959 soap opera!

by Anonymousreply 8January 27, 2023 6:04 PM

Why did people in the early 20th century insist on giving their children such horrible first names as "Merle"?

by Anonymousreply 9January 27, 2023 6:07 PM

To me, he's always a hottie. Love to see his films, even if the plots suck.

by Anonymousreply 10January 27, 2023 6:08 PM

Some of those movies were fairly racy for their time. My grandmother wouldn't let my then teen-aged mother see Peyton Place. A Summer Place and Susan Slade were also naughty. Ah, innocence.

by Anonymousreply 11January 27, 2023 6:14 PM

That movie's theme is inseparable, for me, from the "we are experiencing operating difficulties" signal on local tv when I was a kid.

by Anonymousreply 12January 27, 2023 6:16 PM

From this to co-starring with Joey Heatherton in the awful MY BLOOD RUNS COLD.

by Anonymousreply 13January 27, 2023 6:47 PM

What was she thinking?

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by Anonymousreply 14January 27, 2023 6:58 PM

His bloated chin was gross. There are a couple of shots in A Summer Place where he looks like a pelican.

by Anonymousreply 15January 27, 2023 7:14 PM

He was beautiful.

by Anonymousreply 16January 27, 2023 7:39 PM

[quote] His bloated chin was gross.

Sometimes his loose lips made him look as though his dummy (or pacifier) just dropped out of his mouth.

by Anonymousreply 17January 27, 2023 8:23 PM

I don't like him on Hawaiian Eye.

by Anonymousreply 18January 27, 2023 8:26 PM

Theme from A summer Place is one of my favorite ... themes.

by Anonymousreply 19January 27, 2023 8:29 PM

OP- The same year he unknowingly dated a COLORED girl in Imitation Of Life (1959)- a far better movie than A Summer Place- Sandra Dee appeared in both movies too.

by Anonymousreply 20January 27, 2023 8:30 PM

R20 Everything about those "Ross Hunter" movies screams fake!

Fake teeth, fake boobs, fake names, fake skin complexion, fake emoting whilst standing in front of a camera.

by Anonymousreply 21January 27, 2023 8:45 PM

Johnny Carson and guest Suzanne Pleshette used to tease each other about their adventures in matrimony on "The Tonight Show." He had her laughing uproariously once about wedded bliss with Troy Donahue!

by Anonymousreply 22January 27, 2023 9:03 PM

Sandra Dee tells daddy Richard Egan those funny feelings she gets when boys look at her... like Troy Donahue! I'd like to talk dirty to 1959 Richard Egan, too!

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by Anonymousreply 23January 27, 2023 9:07 PM

I just never got him. There was so much better cock on that Warner Bros. lot at the same time who deserved more attention. I'd start with Van Williams, Ty Hardin or even that muscly midget Bob Conrad.

by Anonymousreply 24January 27, 2023 9:12 PM

[quote]She's not a wench! She's everything I've ever dreamed of in a girl.

Oh Troy, Troy, Troy.

by Anonymousreply 25January 27, 2023 9:12 PM

As has been said here before, [italic]Susan Slade[/italic] is worth sitting through all the soapy twaddle leading up to the burning baby.

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by Anonymousreply 26January 27, 2023 9:31 PM

[quote] and scene stealer Constance Ford as Sandra's monster mother.

Well, ain't that a kick in the cunt!

by Anonymousreply 27January 27, 2023 9:59 PM

Yes. Once when Johnny Carson brought him up, Suzanne said: "We were married for about 20 minutes."

On one of those Academy interviews she says that Troy gave her a call toward the end of 1964 and told her to divorce him......he was having a lot of financial and tax problems. He said to her that if she was married to him at the end of the year - she'd be left holding the bag, too.

She gives him a lot of credit for warning her and getting her out.

by Anonymousreply 28January 27, 2023 9:59 PM

Arthur Kennedy's a hoot as Troy's drunken, gross father. And yes, referring to Sandra Dee as a "succulent wench!"

by Anonymousreply 29January 27, 2023 10:06 PM

If Troy Donahue can be a movie star, then I can be a movie star ...

by Anonymousreply 30January 27, 2023 10:08 PM

Troy with Laverne & Shirley.

by Anonymousreply 31January 27, 2023 10:08 PM

Sorry ... forgot link.

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by Anonymousreply 32January 27, 2023 10:08 PM

No relation, thank God.

by Anonymousreply 33January 27, 2023 10:09 PM

He wasn't gay though, was he?

by Anonymousreply 34January 27, 2023 10:37 PM

No, R34.

He was just a non-talented puss whose "looks" left him and his troubled ways long before he dropped. You could smell the booze coming off him in "77 Sunset Strip."

by Anonymousreply 35January 27, 2023 10:40 PM

Troy wasn't on 77 Sunset Strip, r35, he was on the other one Surfside 6.

by Anonymousreply 36January 27, 2023 10:42 PM

...Tab was gay... dunno about Troy. Being a teen idol is a slippery enough slope, without going for "booze and DOPE!"

by Anonymousreply 37January 27, 2023 10:54 PM

I don't understand why he didn't just get some Kybella injections or even liposuction for that double chin.

by Anonymousreply 38January 27, 2023 10:58 PM

R37 Donahue said that he was so bloato on booze and drugs he "probably woke up in a pile " at one of his manager Henry Willson's notorious all boy pool parties.

by Anonymousreply 39January 27, 2023 11:49 PM

^ what an interesting idea!

by Anonymousreply 40January 27, 2023 11:57 PM

Dennis Cole used to be Troy’s stand in and he once said in an interview that he would get all the female groupies that Troy couldn’t handle.

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by Anonymousreply 41January 28, 2023 1:48 AM

I mix him up with Tab Hunter.

by Anonymousreply 42January 28, 2023 2:05 AM

[quote]I mix him up with Tab Hunter.

I never MARRIED Tab Hunter.

by Anonymousreply 43January 28, 2023 3:00 AM

I mix up Tab Hunter with Jeffrey Hunter.

by Anonymousreply 44January 28, 2023 3:11 AM

Joey sings My Blood Runs Cold

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by Anonymousreply 45January 28, 2023 3:30 AM

I see Troy Donahue often. He's buried right near my family's plot. My sister insists we look in on him.

by Anonymousreply 46January 28, 2023 3:37 AM

Troy was also on Hawaiian Eye, r36.

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by Anonymousreply 47January 28, 2023 3:37 AM

In a couple of blink and you miss them cameos, Francis Ford Coppola cast Donahue as "Merle", Connie's would-be-husband in The Godfather, Part II.

Connie tells Michael they're going to be married. Michael, exasperated, asks Connie then what do you need me for?

"Because I need money" she tells him, and then, the best acting moment Donahue ever put in, is the look of shame and embarrassment that he manages when Michael looks at him silent disgust.

Coppola had a flair for stunt casting.

He cast George Hamilton as Michael's attorney in Part III. People laughed about that, but I thought Hamilton was just fine in the role.

by Anonymousreply 48January 28, 2023 3:51 AM

R47 Loose slips dribbling.

by Anonymousreply 49January 28, 2023 4:14 AM

Merle Johnson.

by Anonymousreply 50January 28, 2023 4:26 AM

[quote]I mix him up with Tab Hunter.

Tab said in his autobiography that people would come up to him and ask him for Troy Donahue's autograph. He'd give it to them.

by Anonymousreply 51January 28, 2023 5:02 AM

[quote]r45 Joey sings My Blood Runs Cold

She’s good at overacting in songs.

by Anonymousreply 52January 28, 2023 5:12 AM

The mother in the Christmas tree clip is giving off proper dyke vibes. That jaw is full on Claire Balding - lezzer tv presenter in UK.

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by Anonymousreply 53January 28, 2023 6:01 AM

^ millionairess on taxpayer money.

by Anonymousreply 54January 28, 2023 6:02 AM

R53 here again. Those lezzer genes are strong! Constance Ford was indeed rumoured to be lesbian. Never married, no kids and reputed romance with another muff diver.

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by Anonymousreply 55January 28, 2023 6:08 AM

Constance Ford is a DL icon.

by Anonymousreply 56January 28, 2023 7:58 AM

Constance as Ada on the NBC soap "Another World" was a constant in my teen '70s life!

by Anonymousreply 57January 28, 2023 12:00 PM

Arthur Kennedy, so great at playing sleazes, is Troy's drunken dad in "A Summer Place." Here, he offers some really fine dinner repartee!

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by Anonymousreply 58January 28, 2023 2:52 PM

And here's my take on "Imitation of Life," where Troy Donahue had just one scene, beating down Susan Kohner, but generated so much fan mail for him, that he instantly graduated to starring roles...

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by Anonymousreply 59January 28, 2023 3:39 PM

I can see a remake of this film but really hammering home the race issues.

As OTT as the 1959 version is, it would be subtler than today's 'Hollywood does social commentary'

by Anonymousreply 60January 28, 2023 3:41 PM

The Marine brothers of "actress" Sally Todd gave Troy a beat down when he done their sister wrong.

John Gilmore said that one night he was at a party with Troy Donahue - who would now and then go to bed with a guy - and they both got a proposition from Anthony Perkins.....when Perkins showed them his large dick, Donahue begged off and left with a girl.

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by Anonymousreply 61January 28, 2023 4:29 PM

Warner Bros presents . . .

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by Anonymousreply 62January 28, 2023 4:36 PM

[quote]I mix up Tab Hunter with Jeffrey Hunter.

I always mix up Jeffrey Hunter and Jeff Chandler.

by Anonymousreply 63January 28, 2023 4:40 PM

I mix up Tab with Diet Coke.

by Anonymousreply 64January 28, 2023 5:56 PM

When Troy Donahue died, the old AMC channel showed a picture of Tab Hunter.

by Anonymousreply 65January 28, 2023 6:02 PM
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