Gardner - ProfilesArchive

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George Cadogan Gardner McKay (Manhattan, New York, USA, June 19, 1932 â€“ Hawaii Kai, Hawaii, USA, November 21, 2001) was an American actor and writer.McKay became a Hollywood heartthrob in the 1950s and 1960s. His rugged good looks, 6'5" (1.96 m) 200 pound (91 kg) frame, and his affinity for sailing helped him land him the leading role in the TV series Adventures in Paradise, based loosely on the writings of James Michener. His character, Adam Troy, was a Korean War veteran who purchased or gambled for a twin-masted 82 foot (25 m) schooner Tiki, set afloat on the South Pacific, and Gardner played his restlessly-romantic character with conviction. The dashing young actor and writer eventually abandoned Hollywood for his own adventures in the Amazon and Hawaii. While he appeared in the television series, he turned down the opportunity to star opposite Marilyn Monroe in Something's Got to Give, a film that was never produced.McKay was reading a book of poetry in a Hollywood coffee shop when he was spotted by Dominick Dunne, then a television producer for Twentieth Century Fox, who was searching for an actor to take the starring role in his planned series, Adventures in Paradise. Dunne left his Fox business card on the table and said, "If you're interested in discussing a television series, call me." McKay did. He competed in screen tests with 9 other candidates, and while he was far from the best actor, he possessed other assets: good looks, strong presence, and a useful (for the series) ability to tie knots. Although initially unknown to the public, he appeared on the July 6, 1959 cover of Life Magazine two months before the series premiered. The publicity launched the show and McKay's career.McKay was the great-great grandson of Donald McKay, a builder of clipper ships in Boston, and an accomplished sailor, with 8 Atlantic crossings by the age of 17. As well as becoming a writer, playwright, sculptor, photographer, drama critic, sea kayaker, and actor, he rode camels in North Africa and raised lions in the Hollywood Hills. After traveling for years, he returned to the U.S., settled in Honolulu, and began a writing career, something that had interested him since his days at Cornell, where he worked as as a movie critic for the Cornell Daily Sun. He was also an artist. One of his early sculptures was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.In 1956 he was on board the French liner SS Ile de France when she turned back to rescue many passengers from the Italian ship SS Andrea Doria, which sank after her tragic collision with the SS Stockholm (51 victims). The pictures he took of the rescue were published in The New York Times, Life, and throughout the world.In 1983, still a bachelor (in spite of the many fiancÃ©es the newspapers had attributed to him), he married Madeleine Madigan, a famous Irish model, who later became a great Irish cook and caterer by profession and a painter by passion, whom he had met in Rome three years earlier. She had a daughter, Liza, from a previous marriage. They traveled throughout the world and leased their Beverly Hills home. They lived a year in London and then in Los Angeles for a few years before settling, in 1987, in their final home in Hawaii Kai, Hawaii, about 5 miles (8 km) from Honolulu, on a hill with a magnificent view overlooking the mountains and the Pacific Ocean. There, McKay penned the play Sea Marks and the novel Toyer. From 1995 to 2000, McKay had his own Sunday radio show on HawaÃ¯i Radio called Stories on the Wind, on which he used to read short stories for the listeners. capitainetroy.free.fr/eng

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Capt TROY: Actor-author Gardner McKay dead at 69By Wayne HaradaAdvertiser Entertainment EditorGardner McKay, a former actor and prolific author of stories, novels, plays and radio shows, died in his Hawai'i Kai home today. He was was 69. Author/actor Gardner McKay, pictured with granddaughter Cheyenne Petrie, battled cancer.Olivier Konig â€¢ 1998 photo"He was a gem, in every way he lived his life, doing all the things the rest of us mortals aspired to do," said Michael Titterton, president and general manager of Hawai'i Public Radio, where McKay's weekly half-hour radio series, "Stories on the Wind," airs at 9 p.m. Sundays on KHPR (88.1) and at 7:30 p.m. Mondays on KIPO (89.3) on the FM dial.McKay had been battling prostate cancer for about two years. At the time of his death, he was putting the finishing touches on a series of biographical reflections, entitled "Journey Without a Map," taping a segment as recently at two weeks ago from his sick bed."I'm not sure what the final status of the work is, but we'll go ahead and premiere it in December on Hawai'i Public Radio," said Titterton.McKay was born June 19, 1932, in Manhattan. His full name was George Cadogan Gardner McKay and he lived in Manhattan, Paris, Ireland, Brazil, Egypt, Venezuela, the West Indies, Connecticut and Kentucky, before settling in the Islands about 25 years ago.To early television fans, McKay was Capt. Adam Troy, skipper of a schooner named Tiki that frequented the South Pacific in search of cargo, passengers and challenges, which was televised on ABC from October 1959, till April 1962.That TV role on "Adventures in Paradise" would mirror his later life somewhat, since McKay was a seasoned sailor and skipper who has never lived far from an ocean and also welcomed adventure and challenges to spice up his life.His acting career included 100 films for TV, between 1960 and 1963, and his passion for theatrics and literature enabled him to plunged into an active career as a novelist ("Toyer," "The Last American," "Trompe L'Oeil"), a playwright ("Toyer," "Masters of the Sea," "This Fortunate Island," "The People We Kill," "The Girl Next Door Is Screaming").He also was a drama critic and theater editor for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner from 1977 to 1982, taught at the University of California at Los Angeles and other colleges, before moving to Hawai'i. He also taught a playwriting class at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and was an artist of large oil paintings."And he did some pretty good radio programs, too," said Titterton."Besides being an actor, author and playwright, he was a raconteur, a tamer of wild animals and a perfect gentleman," he said. McKay raised and lived with dogs, Nubian goats, hens, roosters, African lions, cheetahs, cats, cougars and other species of wildlife."He fought (his cancer) till the end, with his wife Madeleine at his side, and he continued to write, as if 'Journey Without a Map' would be his last work, hanging on to finish it. And it's beautiful writing."Though McKay spent much time in the Islands, he and his wife maintained a Los Angeles home, too. When he was able to, McKay could often be seen kayaking between Koko Head and Diamond Head, one of his favorite morning rituals.Besides his wife, survivors include a brother, Hugh Dean McKay; a son, Tristan Gardner; a daughter, Liza McKay Petree; and a granddaughter, Cheyenne Petree.

Movies:

"It's not I was too good for Hollywood, only it was too bad for me. Hollywood wanted: - Change or fail - . I'll do neither."

Television:

ADVENTURES IN PARADISE:
Paul Mantee & Vic Lundin, episodic TV royalty among the many on this show. JULIE NEWMAR UH la LA

Heroes:

all the BLAME , half the Calories