George Cadogan Gardner McKay (June 10, 1932 â€" 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 1959-1962, for a total of 91 episodes.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, France, 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 also 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.
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 1959-1962, for a total of 91 episodes.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, France, 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 also 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.
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