‘Gilligan’s Island’ star dies of Covid compilations in 82 – Deadline

Dawn Wells, best known for playing the girl outside Mary Ann in the iconic CBS comedy series Gilligan Island, died on Wednesday morning in Los Angeles from complications caused by Covid-19. She was 82 years old.

Wells, who went to Miss Nevada at the 1959 Miss America pageant, defeated 350 actresses for the role of Mary Ann Summers. She has also appeared in more than 150 series and several films during her career, as well as on Broadway.

Wells’ naive country character in Gilligan Island it was juxtaposed to that of Ginger, by Tina Louise, a sensual movie star. The highly stereotyped dueling characters fueled a debate that continues among fans today: Mary Ann or Ginger. They and three other passengers (Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer and Russell Johnson) set out on a “three-hour tour” on the USS Minnow, led by Skipper (Alan Hale) with his first mate Gilligan (Bob Denver). But the weather started to get tough and the seven became shipwrecked – albeit in fresh clothes every week.

“There hasn’t been a Mary Ann in the air for I don’t know how long,” she told the TV Academy Foundation at a 2008 meeting for the “The Interviews” video series. “There was no good girl over 14 years old, and Mary Ann was just that. The Mary Ann-Ginger question is always there. You had to be a real man to understand Ginger, and Mary Ann would have gone to the dance with you and be your best friend. Many guys came up to me and said that I married a Mary Ann. She had the values. “

Watch her talk about the half-century debate about Mary Ann-or-Ginger here:

Despite its longevity in distribution, Gilligan Island it was only a moderate success for CBS during its initial three-year season, 1964-67, aired on a different night and time each season. It opened on Saturdays in September 1964 after The Jackie Gleason Show and ended tied for 18th in the final ranking of the season of three stations.

In fact, it lost space in Season 2, airing on Thursdays between The Munsters and My three children and ranking 22nd in prime time assessments in 1965-66. His last season aired at 7:30 pm on Mondays.

But when your repetitions hit radio waves from local stations, Gilligan Island became one of the biggest distribution hits of the late 60s and 1970s, generating animated daytime series on ABC from 1974-77 and another called Gilligan’s Planet in the 1982-84 CBS. Wells reprized her role as Mary Ann for both, along with three reunion films in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Born on October 18, 1938, in Reno, NV, Wells began to participate in popular dramas and western series like Bonanza, Maverick, Cheyenne, 77 Sunset Strip and Train wagon in the early 1960s. She continued to work consistently on more than a dozen special roles before marking the role of Mary Ann. She appeared in a handful of smaller films in the mid-70s before making the Gilligan Island toon series and films then went on to be invited in hits like Columbus, Roseanne, Baywatch, ALF and others.

She continued to work sporadically on TV through the years 2010.

Wells leaves his half sister, Weslee Wells. No services are scheduled at this time.

Patrick Hipes contributed to this report.