Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Wells dies of COVID-19 complication
Dawn Wells, the actress who played wholesome Mary Ann on the hit sitcom“Gilligan’s Island,”died Wednesday.
Dawn Wells , 82, the actor who radiated all-American wholesomeness, Midwestern practicality and a youthful naive charm as the character Mary Ann on the hit 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” died Wednesday in a nursing home in Los Angeles.
Her publicist, Harlan Boll, said the cause was related to COVID-19.
Premiering on CBS in 1964, “Gilligan’s Island” followed an unlikely septet of day trippers (on a “threehour tour,” as the theme song explained) who ended up stranded on a desert island.
There, shipwrecked alongside a movie star (who spent most of her time in evening gowns); a science professor; a pompous, older rich couple; and two wacky crew members was Mary Ann Summers (Wells), a farm girl from Kansas who had won the trip in a local radio contest.
The character had a relatively scant back story — it was said that she worked at the hardware store back home and had a boyfriend — but Mary Ann’s persona alone made her memorable. Gingham blouses, short shorts, double ponytails and perky hair bows were all parts of her signature look.
The first version of the show’s theme song mentioned five of the characters “and the rest,” but the lyrics were soon changed to name the professor (Russell Johnson) and Mary Ann as well. The others in the cast were Bob Denver (Gilligan), Alan Hale Jr. (the Skipper), Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer (as the couple Thurston Howell III and Lovey Howell), and Tina Louise (as the actor, Ginger), the last surviving member of the original cast.
That the premise of “Gilligan’s Island” was pretty much implausible and its humor simplistic made no difference to the show’s millions of fans.
Although “Gilligan’s Island” lasted only three seasons, it hardly slipped from the horizon. Endless reruns ensued, and the cast members had a series of encore performances. Wells, for one, reprised her role as Mary Ann in three reunion TV movies: “Rescue From Gilligan’s Island” (1978), “The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island” (1979) and “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island” (1981).
In 1982, she did the voices of both her character and Louise’s movie star for “Gilligan’s Planet,” an animated spinoff series. And she went on to play Mary Ann in “Gilligans”-themed episodes of at least four other (unrelated) shows: “Alf” (1986), “Baywatch” (1989), “Herman’s Head” (1991) and “Meego” (1997).
Dawn Elberta Wells was born in Reno, Nevada, on Oct. 18, 1938, the only child of Joe Wesley Wells, a real estate developer, and Evelyn (Steinbrenner) Wells. Dawn majored in chemistry at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, then became interested in drama and went to the University of Washington at Seattle. She graduated in 1960 with a degree in theater arts and design, having taken some time off to win a state beauty title and compete in the 1960 Miss America pageant.
A 1961 episode of “The Roaring Twenties” was her screen debut. When she was cast on “Gilligan’s Island,” she had appeared on-screen only about two dozen times, mostly in prime-time series, including “77 Sunset Strip” (multiple episodes), “Surfside Six,” “Hawaiian Eye,” “Bonanza” and “Maverick.”
Wells’ marriage to Larry Rosen, an agent, in 1962 ended in divorce in 1967, the same year “Gilligan’s Island” went off the air. She is survived by a stepsister, Weslee Wells.