Entered Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida in September 1950. Also on campus during his first year were
Fred Rogers (of
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968)) who graduated in 1951 and
John Reardon, class of 1952. In 1953 he was offered a leading role in the movie
The Actress (1953). Almost immediately after returning to his studies he left to replace
John Kerr in "Tea and Sympathy" on Broadway. He never completed his degree but was given an honorary degree by the college some 20 years later.