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Tag: Dawn Wells

  • Dawn Wells, “Gilligan’s Island’s Mary Ann,” Talks Show Salaries–She Made Less Than Ginger

    Dawn Wells, “Gilligan’s Island’s Mary Ann,” Talks Show Salaries–She Made Less Than Ginger

    Dawn Wells isn’t–nor was she ever–rich from her role as Mary Ann on the beloved TV show Gilligan’s Island. In a recent interview with Forbes, the 77-year-old talked about her time on the show, on which seven castaways were stranded on a deserted island, after their ship–the S.S. Minnow–was lost in a storm. Each episode saw the castaways–including Dawn Wells–trying to find their way off the island.

    When asked to describe one big myth about Gilligan’s Island, Dawn Wells said the biggest is money related.

    “A misconception is that we must be wealthy, rolling in the dough, because we got residuals,” she explained. “We didn’t really get a dime. I think my salary–of course, I was low on the totem pole, Ginger [Tina Louise] and Thurston [Jim Backus] got more–was $750 a week. Sherwood Schwartz, our producer, reportedly made $90 million on the reruns alone!”

    Even though Gilligan’s Island ran from 1964 to 1967–more than four decades ago–the salary Dawn Wells received wasn’t much.

    She went on to explain, however, that it wasn’t necessarily all about the money.

    “The series was very good for me, for all of us who were there, because we’re known worldwide. And Mary Ann is loved all over the world. It’s amazing,” she said.

    A pop-culture question that has haunted (amused?) Gilligan’s Island fans for decades has yet to be answered. Dawn Wells doesn’t answer it here either.

    Mary Ann and Ginger? Or Ginger and Mary Ann?

    Were you a Gilligan’s Island fan? Who was your favorite of the two single ladies on the island–Mary Ann or Ginger?

    More importantly–can you believe Dawn Wells is 77?

  • Gilligan’s Island Star Russell Johnson Dies

    Gilligan’s Island star Russell Johnson, known for his role as the ‘Professor’ on the 1960s sitcom, died Thursday at the age of 89.

    “He died at 5:21 a.m. of natural causes at home in Washington state,” his agent, Michael Eisenstadt said. He also noted that Johnson passed in the company of his wife and daughter.

    Gilligan’s Island ran from 1964 to 1967. Johnson’s official role was that of Professor Roy Hinkley, but everyone on the show simply referred to him as Professor or The Professor.

    Dawn Wells played the role of Mary Ann on the TV show. Now one of only two of the surviving main characters (actor Tina Louise, who played the role of Ginger is now 79) she shared her sorrow about Russell Johnson’s passing via both Twitter and Facebook.

    Post by Dawn Wells.

    Gilligan’s Island featured four men and three women stranded on an uninhabited island after their boat–the S.S. Minnow became shipwrecked. Almost every show was dedicated to finding a way to get off the island and back to civilization. Whenever visitors managed to find their way on to the island, the pretty female ones always loved the Professor.

    “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip,” the opening line to the Gilligan’s Island theme song promised fans. The show ended after 99 episodes. Three TV movies came later–Rescue from Gilligan’s Island in 1978, The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island in 1979 and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island in 1981.

    Russell Johnson was survived by his third wife Constance. His son David died of AIDS in 1994 and Johnson became very active in fund-raising efforts to find a cure for the disease.

    Were you a Gilligan’s Island fan? Was the Professor one of your favorite characters on the show?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Amanda Bynes & Others Who’ve Been Busted For Pot

    With recreational marijuana use now being legal in Colorado, there’s been a lot of pot talk lately, and not just within the weed smoking subculture, but all over the place. And now that actress Amanda Bynes will possibly avoid additional trouble for being caught with a bong last year, we wanted to see what other famous people have been arrested for the controversial ganja leaf.

    Fiona Apple– In 2012 the famed singer and songwriter was arrested for having pot on her tour bus in Texas. Evidently, she didn’t realize that tour buses are the first things police tend to search at checkpoints. Apple was stopped in Sierra Blanca, Texas, where celebs like Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson have been stopped before.

    Robin Thicke– A couple of years ago, the “Blurred Lines” singer had a little blurry vision of his own when he was arrested for pot possession in New York City. As the story goes, Thick was sitting in a car parked car with a buddy, when police approached the vehicle and arrested him right on the spot. Recently, the 36-year old singer said he spent about $500,000 on weed in his lifetime.

    Macauley Culkin– I guess we now know what Culkin was doing when he was left home alone, as the former childhood star was busted for pot in 2004 in Oklahoma. But it just wasn’t the sticky-icky that police found on him, Culkin was also arrested for possessing Clonazepam and Xanax.

    Dawn Wells– Who would of thought that cute little Mary Ann would be put on six months probation for having pot, but that was the case when Dawn Wells was arrested back in 2008 for having it in her car. Afterwards, when Wells was making her TV rounds and talking about the incident, she said the pot wasn’t hers, and it must have belonged to a friend since she lent him his car. Which of course is one of the most common excuses ever.

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