On Dec. 30, Dawn Wells, star of Gilligan’s Island, died in Los Angeles of complications from the coronavirus, her representative confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. She was 82.
Wells portrayed the sweet, Kansas born-and-bred Mary Ann Summers on the iconic CBS sitcom. Mary Ann, along with several other passengers, was marooned on an island after a casual boat tour went south due to a storm. Hijinks ensued as the crew made their mark on their new island home.
The series ran for three seasons from 1964 to 1967, and made a major splash in pop culture. Several TV movies were made after the show ended, and the cast went on to make appearances on other shows like ALF and Roseanne in character.
“I don’t get tired of it because I’m greeted with love everywhere I go,” Wells told Penn Live of forever being known as the iconic sitcom character. “It’s been a difficult time breaking the image acting-wise. You know, to go and play a real nasty girl. They always say, ‘Mary Ann? Are you kidding?’ To get past that is so silly because I’m not that person and that person [is] going to be on [television] the rest of my lifetime, most likely, but I’m greeted with love.”
