Gardner McKay

Infobox actor
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name = Gardner McKay


imagesize =
caption = Gardner McKay on the cover of TV Week, 1959
birthname = George Cadogan Gardner McKay
birthdate = June 10, 1932
location = New York
deathdate = November 21, 2001
deathplace = Hawaii Kai, Hawaii
height = 6 ft 5 inch (1.96 m)
othername =
homepage =
notable role = Adam Troy in "Adventures in Paradise
academyawards =
spouse = Madeleine Madigan

George Cadogan Gardner McKay (Manhattan, New York, USA, June 10 1932 – 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 already under contract to MGM 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 sail. 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.

Gardner McKay (George Cadogan Gardner McKay)

Born: Manhattan. June 10th 1932

Raised: Manhattan, Paris, Connecticut, Kentucky.

Schooled: Cornell University. Arts. Crew, basketball. Editor, Cornell Widow (humor magazine). Column: Films in Review, Cornell Daily Sun.

Sculpture: Exhibited, Museum of Modern Art (NY), White Museum (Ithaca). Individual exhibitions (NY); F.A.R. Gallery, Ferargil Gallery, America House.

Photography: published; articles, travel, portraits.

Teaching: University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California, University of Alaska, University of Hawaii (Playwriting).

Sailing: Mate's papers, skipper. McKay was the great-great grandson of Donald McKay, a builder of clipper ships in Boston, Gardner was an accomplished sailor, with 8 Atlantic crossings by the age of 17.

Acting: One-hundred films for television, 1960-1963.

Story writing: Public Radio: Stories on the Wind, weekly story written and read, 1995-2001. Over 200 shows.

Poetry writing: performed on tour in cabaret by Roscoe Lee Browne, David Soul.

Novel writing: Toyer, The Last American, Trompe L'Oeil, The Kinsman, Journey Without a Map{ Autobiography}, Bloomsbury Square, {Novela}

Playwriting: Sea Marks (PBS, BBC), Masters of the Sea, This Fortunate Island, Landmarks, Me, Toyer, In Order of Appearance, Untold Damage (PBS). And: Island in a Dry Sea, Gala, Neverland, Rage Rage, Narcissa-Narcissus, The Suit, The Visitor, The Girl Next Door is Screaming, Alligators Have No Choice, Meeting, Tapes, Silver Eyes, Yeats/Millay, The Honeyman, The People We Kill, A Christmas Dinner. Plays produced in every state, several countries.

Theater writing: Drama Critic, Theater Editor, Los Angeles Herald Examiner 1977-1982.

He was lucky never to have lived far from an ocean or away from animals. For years he has raised and lived with dogs, Nubian goats, hens, roosters, African lions, cheetah, cats, cougars and has become familiar with dozens of species of wild animal.

His sculpture has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, the White Museum.

At sixteen spent a year in the West Indies aboard schooner as mate.

Later he skippered a 96-foot schooner.

His lifeboat rescue photographs of the Andrea Doria were published internationally,(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.

Been given, three National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships for playwriting, Drama Critics Circle Award Best Play, Sidney Carrington Prize. Winner, Canadian Regional Drama Festival, Runner-up, Hemingway Short Story Contest. Others.

Gardner spent two years in the South American jungle between Venezuela and Brazil. Crossed the Lybian Desert by camel, crossed Atlantic and Pacific by sail.

He has lived in New York, France, Los Angeles, Ireland, Brazil, Egypt, Venezuela, West Indies, finally settling down in Hawaii, where he lived with his wife, Madeleine Madigan McKay, a painter, until his death, November 21, 2001.

One of his closest friends in Honolulu was the well-known artist, Snowden Hodges.

McKay is mentioned several times in the song "We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About" by Jimmy Buffett.

External links

* [http://capitainetroy.free.fr/eng/home.html Francois Liot's fan site]
* [http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2001/Nov/21/br/br03p.html Honolulu Advertiser obituary]