Notes for Pteranodon
...Troy Donahue
"My mother was an actress and she tried out for a part in an off-Broadway play. That's when she met my father. He was directing, so instead of giving her the part, he married her. That was the end of her acting career and the beginning of mine. It can take years to be successful as an actor, or it can happen right away. For me, it happened right away."
Troy said he though he might have had things a bit too easy; even after he left home at age 17 and studied acting at night and worked during the day delivering film rushes in New York City.
A year later, Troy went to California where he "knocked on a lot of doors" before he finally got a screen test.This landed him a contract with Universal. The following year, Troy signed a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers. His first movie role in "Man With A Thousand Faces," in 1957, made him an instant star.
From the start, Troy knew of the affect he had on teenage girls and women. "It felt great; it still does," he said, a boyish grin appearing on his face.
Troy said the minute he read the script he told himself: "I want to play that part.
"A lot of times, the good-guy roles are just goody-goody-two-shoe parts. I love playing Donny Vinton, even if he is a jerk. I love the working part of being a star."
Probably, the kids were sent by their mothers to get his autograph for them, Troy said.
During the making of the movie, Troy talked a lot about someday becoming a movie director. He agreed with screenwriter Ken Hixon that it is easier for a writer to become a director, though, than it is for an actor to become a director.
Writers make good movie directors, Troy said. "Because writers are used to words. They know what they have in mind for the actor to say."
It was a wee morning hour, with a bunch of people still standing behind the ropes, whenTroy was to again become Donny Vinton. He would enter the staged bungalow where he would be tied to a bed by his lover just minutes before her husband would demolish the house with a bulldozer.
"I consider it my ability to act that got me this part," he said, laughing as a piece of heavy equipment moved into the scene.
"This is great. I love being a star. I always get the script about a month early and memorize all my lines before we start shooting. I like to be comfortable with the script. I love playing a role that has some substance to it. This part is just wonderful," he said of the "polyester jerk" character, Donny Vinton..
The Troy Donahue story appeared in Pteranodon, June 1984. It was our last issue.
Patricia Lieb and Carol Schott Martino published the literary magazine Pteranodon, 1979-1984.
Photo by Don Druin