24 —The Daily Collegian Monday, Aug. 27, 1984 Troy Donahue battles back from alcohol with optimism By YARDENA ARAR Associated Press Writer BURBANK, Calif. (AP) Troy Donahue, the pouty-faced teen heartthrob of the Kennedy era, has been down the comeback trail before. But this time he’s making the trip on the wagon. “This is the first thing I’ve done sober,” Donahue says matter-of factly about his role as a sleazy, salon-tanned salesman in “Grand view, U.S.A.” ‘This shows that I’m a versatile actor, so maybe people will take a chance on me.’ It’s also the first part of any consequence Donahue has played for some time now, and probably his biggest break since his cameo in 1974’s “The Godfather, Part II.” In that he appeared briefly as Talia Shire’s spineless boyfriend, a character who bore Donahue’s own'real name Merle Johnson. It’s been 25 years since “A Sum mer Place” made Donahue a hot commodity, a Warner Bros, con tract player who was the studio’s top fan-mail draw. At 49, he’s still tall, lean, blond and striking. But his hairline is receding, his tanned good looks are more rugged than smooth and he’s all but unrecognizable as the golden boy of “Parrish,” “Susan Slade," “Palm Springs Weekend” and the TV detective series, “Surf side 6.” Maybe it’s just as well, for Do nahue recalls those roles with dis taste. He still is bitter at Warner Bros, for using him as “fodder” in a string of vacuous, pretty boy parts a stereotype that left him high and dry when playboys went out and antiheros came in during the late ’6os. “I think that to have a reputa tion as an actor, you have to have some decent roles,” Donahue said over lunch at the Burbank Studios commissary. “I think I did a good job with what I had to do, but the roles to begin with were laughed at, so the person playing these roles sometimes is maligned.” ■ Donahue’s troubles didn’t end there. Although he never made a fortune as a contract player, he lived the expensive life of a Holly wood star “which is very easy to do, when you have a name.” He also was becoming an alco holic and drug user, habits that did not help his acting. We Cure Bored Rooms CALKER SQUARE IT, STATE COLLEGE 237-67! “When you work and you drink and you use, there is this terror, this underlying terror that exists and more or less suffocates your performance,” he said. “You may get through it, but it’s not to the level or the pitch that has‘any quality.” By the end of the ’6os, Donahue’s life was a shambles. He lost his fancy home, and two marriages one to actress Suzanne Pleshette had failed. Two more would later end in divorce. Troy Donahue He moved to New York and back again. There were periodic acting parts as a drug addict on “The Secret Storm” soap opera, a Charles Manson figure in “Sweet Saviour,” the “Godfather II” part. But his earnings went for drugs and alcohol, and in between he bummed off friends or movie buffs. Things came to a head after his fourth marriage ended in 1981. By then, pancreatitis stemming from his drinking was sending Donahue to hospitals an average of once a year. “I realized that I was going to die, and I was dying or worse than that, I might live the way I was living for the rest of my life,” Donahue said. “I guess there was that light that some of us feel that we see and I choose to think it’s God that said ‘You have a choice, you don’t have to live this way for the rest of your life.’” So he joined ah alcoholics’ self help group, and hasn’t had a drink for more than two years. He said he doesn’t find it hard to talk about his alcoholism “it’s part of the catharsis and it helps in the recov ery.” Donahue is cautiously optimistic that his work in “Grandview, U.S.A.” will spark a professional recovery. The film, about people involved with a demolition derby in the midwest, isn’t one of the summer’s blockbusters, but Dona hue plays his Supporting comic role with gusto. “This shows that I’m a versatile actor, so maybe people will take a chance on me,” he said. “I hope that this opens a lot of new doors for me. Possibly it will. There are no guarantees.” contempo ßa R DANCE COMPANY A PROFESSIONAL DANCE COMPANY This is just one ol the intricately detailed works by Robert Henri, whose paintings are on display until Sept. 2 at the Museum of Art. “Robert Henri: Retrospective” exhibits the colorful works the early 20th century painter created. isaaEfe ENTION fDY STUDENTS interested in the artists Series may for you! tositions available leral office assistant retary/receptionist. 'ertising/promotions issistant phics assistant information call the ies at 865-1871, 9am-4pm ,k r Ci; The Daily Collegian other publication comes close. radio. Not television. Not direct 89% 72% Those are the facts.* Nobody reaches Penn State like The Daily Collegi because nobody covers Penn State like The Daily Collegian. More than 200 students editors. Our reporters and photographers turn coverage than any other organization. For state, national and world news coverage, our News Staff uses the hi speed newswires of The Associated Press. Stories are beamed from the Wes 111 satellite to our computer systems 24 hours a day. No other area n organization has a better resource. the daily of the students read The Daily Collegian. (Have read or looked into during the “past seven days.”) of the students who read a newspaper “yesterday” read of the students rely most on The Daily Collegian for of the students depend most on The Daily Collegian Collegian * Source: 1982 College Newspaper Study, Belden Associates, Dallas, Tex. is still No, 1 The Daily Collegian shopping information. for information about leisure activities and entertainment. at Penn State’s main campus. No other medium comes close. Not mail. serve on our News Staff, which out more campus n The Daily Collegian Monday, Auj includes
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers