Gardner McKay

Gardner McKay
Gardner McKay on the cover of TV Week, 1959
Born	George Cadogan Gardner McKay June 10, 1932 New York City, U.S.
Died	November 21, 2001 (aged 69) Hawaii Kai, Hawaii, U.S.
Height	6 ft 5-in (1.96 m)
Spouse(s)	Madeleine Madigan

George Cadogan Gardner McKay (June 10, 1932 – November 21, 2001) was an American actor, artist, and author.

Born in New York City, McKay was the great-grandson of the shipbuilder Donald McKay. He attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York for two years, where he majored in art. He became a Hollywood heartthrob in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for the lead role in the TV series Adventures in Paradise, based loosely on the writings of James Michener. His character, Adam Troy, is a Korean War veteran who purchased the two-masted 82-foot (25 m) schooner Tiki III, and sailed the South Pacific. The show ran for three seasons on American ABC, from 1959 until 1962, for a total of 91 episodes.

McKay was 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 star in his planned Adventures in Paradise. Dunne put his business card on the table and said, "If you're interested in discussing a television series, call me." McKay competed in screen tests with nine other candidates, and won it because of his good looks and ability to sail. An accomplished sailor, he had made eight Atlantic crossings by the age of seventeen. Although previously unknown to the public, McKay appeared on the July 6, 1959, cover of Life Magazine just two months before the series premiered.

In the 1957–1958 season, McKay had played United States Army Lieutenant Dan Kelly in the 38-episode syndicated western series, Boots and Saddles, with co-stars Jack Pickard and Patrick McVey. Thereafter, he was cast in the episode "Showdown" of the NBC western, Jefferson Drum, with Jeff Richards.