Dawn Wells, aka Mary Ann, dies

LOS ANGELES — Dawn Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann among a misfit band of shipwrecked castaways on the 1960s sitcom “Gilligan's Island,” died Wednesday of causes related to COVID-19, her publicist said. She was 82.

Wells died at a residential facility in Los Angeles, publicist Harlan Boll said. “There is so much more to Dawn Wells” than the “Gilligan's Island” character that brought her fame, Boll said.

Besides TV, film and stage acting credits, she was a teacher and motivational speaker, Boll said.

Tina Louise, 86, who played Ginger the movie star, is the last surviving member of a cast that included Bob Denver as the title character; Alan Hale Jr. as the Skipper; Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer as Thurston and Lovey Howell, and Russell Johnson, known as the Professor.