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 1959–1962, for a total of 91 episodes. 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 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