Actor-author
Gardner McKay,
69, dies of cancer

The'Adventures in Paradise' star
appeared in more than 100 TV shows

SEE ALSO: OBITUARIES

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By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.com

Actor, author, and Hawaii Public Radio personality Gardner McKay died this morning at his Koko Head home following a lengthy bout with cancer.

He was 69.

Madeleine, McKay's wife, and brother-in-law, Brian Madigan, were at his bedside when he passed away at 6:50 a.m.

"He was a great author, a powerful man, a living hero," Madigan said.

In the last year while undergoing chemotherapy and other cancer treatments, McKay was trying to complete his autobiography "Journey Without A Map" from three decades of notes before his death. The tome is 90 percent done and will "definitely be completed," Madigan said.

Born George Cadogan Gardner McKay in Manhattan, New York, McKay starred from 1960-62 in the first television series featuring South Seas' travels, "Adventures in Paradise."

Between 1960-63 McKay appeared in more than 100 television shows and was featured on the covers of dozens of magazines including twice on Life.

But a disdain for Hollywood had McKay move to the Amazon jungle region after the show was canceled. He lived there for three years.

"He was sick of the idea of fame and glory of television which he found very shallow so he went to the jungle to search for meaning," Madigan said.

McKay performed a weekly radio show -- "Stories on the Wind" -- from 1995 until this year on Hawaii Public Radio in which he read a collection of his short stories.

He was an accomplished author writing the novels "Toyer", "The Last American", and "Trompe L'Oeil", and dozens of plays.

McKay graduated from Cornell University with a degree in art and later taught playwriting at UCLA, University of Hawaii, and University of Alaska.

An animal lover, McKay at one time or another raised dogs, Nubian goats, African lions, a cheetah and cougars.

He is survived by wife Madeleine, a painter of large oil paintings, one son, Tristan, 36, of Paris, France, and a granddaughter, Cheyenne.

Services are pending.