George Cadogan Gardner McKay (June 10, 1932 – November 21, 2001) was an American actor, artist, and author. 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 ABC from 1959 to 1962, for a total of 91 episodes.
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Early life
Born in New York City, McKay was the son of ad executive Hugh Deane McKay (born 1894) and socialite Catherine "Kitty" Gardner McKay (born 1904). He was the great-grandson of shipbuilder Donald McKay. The father's business took the family to Paris, where McKay attended private schools. The family returned to the United States shortly before the outbreak of World War II; McKay and his older brother, Hugh, lived with grandparents in Lexington, Kentucky. McKay later said that he fell in love with Kentucky and considered it paradise.
He attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York for two years, where he majored in art. He wrote for The Cornell Daily Sun and the campus magazine. He dropped out of school at the age of 19 following the death of his father and moved to Greenwich Village where he worked as a sculptor and writer. McKay also took up photography and saw some of his work published in The New York Times and Life magazine.
McKay's sculpting appeared in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and at an exhibit of his work McKay attracted the attention of photographer Richard Avedon. Avedon invited McKay to Paris to shoot a series of photographs with model Suzy Parker, which led to a modeling career. Town and Country magazine did a piece on McKay and his sculptures in its Man About Town section, which led to an offer from an agent.
Career
McKay had been a sailor and schooner captain, a basketball star, equestrian and diver, a fisherman, model, sculptor and photographer. McKay impressed Dore Schary, who signed him to a contract with MGM. For that studio he appeared in episodes of The Thin Man and appeared in the film Raintree County, with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. The movie was partly filmed in Kentucky.
McKay left MGM and had television guest roles on Death Valley Days, The Silent Service, and Jefferson Drum.
In 1957–1958, McKay 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.
McKay screen-tested at 20th Century Fox for a TV series based on The Gunslinger, but failed to get the role. The test did, however, net him a long-term contract at the studio.
Dominick Dunne was searching for an actor to star in his planned Adventures in Paradise when he spotted McKay at the studio coffee shop. Dunne later said, "I didn't know who he was. He was an extraordinarily handsome guy. I said, 'Are you an actor?' I gave him my card and said, 'If you're interested, call me.'" McKay called, and ten actors were tested for the role. Dunne said of McKay: "His (test) was the worst, but everybody reacted to him, I mean everybody – especially the women."
Although previously unknown to the public, McKay was featured on the cover of the July 6, 1959 issue of Life just two months before the series premiered. The article noted that he had been around boats since childhood and was an experienced seaman.
During the series' run, McKay had small roles in several Fox films, including Holiday for Lovers (1959) and The Right Approach (1961).
McKay returned to Hollywood in 1963, and had a supporting role in Fox's The Pleasure Seekers (1964).
Personal life
Gardner bought a wooded property in Beverly Hills and kept a menagerie of animals including lions, cheetahs, dogs, and a monkey which he brought back from his sojourn to South America.
Awards
McKay's awards included three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships for playwriting, the Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, and the Sidney Carrington Prize. He was a winner in the Canadian Regional Drama Festival, and runner-up in the Hemingway Short Story Contest.
Final years and death
McKay settled in Hawaii. He died from prostate cancer in 2001 at the age of 69. He was married to Irish painter Madeleine Madigan whom he met in his 40s.
In popular culture
Gardner McKay is mentioned in the 1983 song, "We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About", by Jimmy Buffett that appeared on his One Particular Harbour album.
Written works
Plays
Sea Marks (1972)
Masters of the Sea (1991)
This Fortunate Island
Toyer (1993)
In Order of Appearance (2003)
Untold Damage
Novels
Toyer (1999)
The Kinsman (2011)
Trompe L'Oeil (2015)
Ten, Bloomsbury Square (2015)
Memoir
Journey Without a Map (2013)
Short stories
Stories on the Wind: An Anthology of Short Stories (2017)
Stories on the Wind: Volume 2: An Anthology of Short Stories.