''Adventures in Paradise'' is an American one-hour television series created by

James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales ...

and starring

Gardner McKay 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 (TV series), Adventures in Paradise'', based loosely on t ...

, which ran on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

from 1959 until 1962.

Premise

Gardner McKay starred as Adam Troy, the captain of the

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''Tiki III'', which sailed the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

looking for passengers and adventure. The plots deal with the romantic and detective adventures of

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

veteran Troy. The supporting cast, varying from season to season, featured

George Tobias George Tobias (July 14, 1901 – February 27, 1980) was an American theater, film and television actor. He had character parts and supporting roles in several major films of Hollywood's Golden Age. He is also known for his role as Abner ...

Guy Stockwell Harry Guy Stockwell (November 16, 1933 – February 6, 2002) was an American actor who appeared in nearly 30 movies and 250 television series episodes. Life and career Stockwell was born in New York City, the son of singer/dancer Elizabeth "B ...

, and Linda Lawson.

Jacques Tourneur Jacques Tourneur (; ; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French-American filmmaker, active during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known as an auteur of stylish and atmospheric genre films, many of them for RKO Pictures, including ...

directed the 1962 episode "A Bride for the Captain"''.''

Cast

Main

as Captain Adam Troy *James Holden as Clay Baker (seasons 2–3) *

as Chris Parker (season 3)

Recurring

Linda Lawson as Renee Adventures in Paradise 1959

Weaver Levy Weaver Levy (January 14, 1925 – February 8, 2018) was a Chinese American character actor who had a long career in Hollywood that began in the 1940s and continued through the early 1980s. He was best known for his main role in the TV series ''A ...

as Oliver Lee (season 1) *

Henry Slate Henry Sonken (July 15, 1910 – August 11, 1996) was an American film, television and theatre actor. Often appearing as one of the Slate Bros, he was known for his appearances in the films ''Miss Sadie Thompson'', ''Loan Shark'', '' Hey Boy! Hey ...

as Bulldog Lovey (season 1) * Linda Lawson as Renee (seasons 1–2) *

as Trader Penrose (season 2) *Lani Kai as Kelly (seasons 2–3) *Marcel Hillaire as Inspector Bouchard (seasons 2–3) *

Sondi Sodsai Sodsai Pantoomkomol (; ; ) Vanijvadhana (; ;; born 18 March 1934) is a Thai actress, beauty pageant titleholder, and teacher of dramatic arts. Also known as Sondi Sodsai from her acting career in the United States during her studies, she retur ...

as Sondi (seasons 1–2)

Guest stars

Philip Ahn Philip Ahn (; March 29, 1905 – February 28, 1978) was an American actor and activist of Korean descent. With over 180 film and television credits between 1935 and 1978, he was one of the most recognizable and prolific Asian-American char ...

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * John Anderson (jazz trumpeter) (1921–1974), American musician * Jon Anderson (John Roy Anderson, born 1944), lead singer of the British band Yes * John Anderson (producer) (1948–2024 ...

Phyllis Avery Phyllis Avery (November 14, 1922 – May 19, 2011) was an American actress. Early life Phyllis Avery was born to screenwriter Stephen Morehouse Avery and his wife Evelyn Martine Avery.

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Joanna Barnes Joanna Barnes (November 15, 1934 – April 29, 2022) was an American actress and writer. Early life and education Barnes was born in Boston, to John Pindar Barnes and the former Alice Weston Mutch. She had two younger sisters, Alice and Judit ...

* Henry Brandon *

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* Bruce Gordon *

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* Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. *

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* J. Pat O'Malley *

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* Brian Roper *

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* Robert F. Simon *

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* Jesse White *

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Episodes

Season 1 (1959–60)

Season 2 (1960–61)

Season 3 (1961–62)

Musical theme

"Theme from Adventures in Paradise" was composed by

Lionel Newman Lionel Newman (January 4, 1916 – February 3, 1989) was an American conductor, pianist, and film and television composer. He won the Academy Award for Best Score of a Musical Picture for '' Hello Dolly!'' with Lennie Hayton in 1969. He ...

. It has been recorded by numerous artists, including

Arthur Lyman Arthur Hunt Lyman (February 2, 1932 – February 24, 2002) was a Hawaiian jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica. His albums ...

Santo & Johnny Santo & Johnny were an American rock and roll instrumental duo of Italian descent from Brooklyn, New York, composed of brothers Santo Farina (born October 24, 1937) and Johnny Farina (born April 30, 1941). They are known best for their instrum ...

Rob E. G. Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Republic of Belarus People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob (surname) * ''Rob.'', taxonomic author abbreviat ...

The Atlantics The Atlantics are an Australian surf band founded in 1961. Initially, the band line-up consisted of drummer Peter Hood, bassist Bosco Bosanac, Theo Penglis on lead and rhythm guitar, and guitarist Eddy Matzenik. Matzenik was replaced by Jim S ...

, and Johnnie Spence and his Orchestra. Newman was a senior music director for Twentieth Century Fox Films and was conductor and music supervisor for the ''Adventures in Paradise'' series. Lyrics to the theme were written by

Dorcas Cochran Dorcas Cochran (c. 1903 – July 6, 1991) was an American lyricist and screenwriter. She is also referenced by her married name, Dorcas Cochran Jewell. Biography As a lyricist, her best-known song was " Again," which had multiple recorded ver ...

, and are heard on the version recorded by

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

. Cochran is also credited as writer alongside Newman on some instrumental recordings. A

45 rpm single In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standal ...

of "Theme from Adventures in Paradise" by Jerry Byrd and his Steel Guitar charted in the United States, peaking in August 1960 at No. 97 in ''Billboard'' magazine and No. 80 in ''Cash Box''Cash Box chart for August 20, 1960
retrieved November 14, 2014.

Broadcast syndication

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

aired reruns of this series between 1984 and 1988.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1959 American television series debuts 1962 American television series endings American adventure television series American Broadcasting Company television dramas Black-and-white American television shows American English-language television shows Nautical television series Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in Oceania Works by James A. Michener