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Wells, who won the Miss Nevada title in 1959 and competed in the Miss America pageant, died of complications from Covid-19, publicist Harlan Boll said in a statement.
Born in Reno, the city of gambling, Wells played Kansas farmer Mary Ann Summers, one of seven castaways stranded after her ship, the SS Minnow, was hit by a storm during what was supposedly it was a three hour tour from Hawaii. Wells beat out actresses like Raquel Welch for her role.
“Gilligan’s Island” aired for three seasons (1964-1967) with a cast that also included Bob Denver as the crazy Gilligan, Alan Hale Jr. as “The Captain,” Jim Backus as the millionaire Thurston Howell III, Natalie Schafer as his stylish wife, Russell Johnson as “The Professor” and Tina Louise as the movie star Ginger.
Wells’s death leaves 86-year-old Louise the sole survivor of these cast members.
The 98 episodes invariably involved her futile efforts to get off the island, even when a parade of guest stars arrived and she had no trouble leaving. The show drew ire from critics, but its innocent amusement caught viewers at a time of tumult in America after the assassination of a president and during the rise of the civil rights movement and the escalation of the Vietnam War.
Wells, playing a cheerful brunette farmer from the Midwest, appeared on the show wearing shorts, blouses, and pigtails. Louise, portraying a plump redhead sensation similar to Marilyn Monroe, wore skintight, skintight dresses. The two inspired what became a permanent pop culture question for men: “Ginger or Mary Ann?”
Wells said that question was the most common topic that fans brought up to him. “Mostly they pick a favorite, Ginger or Mary Ann. For whatever reason, they feel like they have a choice to make,” Wells told Forbes magazine in 2016.
Wells profusely praised Denver and his other co-stars, but was not especially close to Louise, who distanced herself from the character of Ginger and refused to appear on multiple “Gilligan’s Island” reboots with her former co-stars.
“We had nothing against each other,” Wells told the Los Angeles Times in 2014. “We didn’t have much in common.”
In a statement Wednesday, Louise recalled Wells’s kindness, adding: “I hope people remember her as I do, always with a smile on her face.”
“Gilligan’s Island” was canceled by the network’s executives despite respectable ratings, then became ubiquitous in syndicated reruns.
“One misconception is that we should be rich, roll up in the dough, because we have waste. We really didn’t get a penny,” Wells told Forbes.
Wells said they paid him $ 750 a week, adding: “Sherwood Schwartz, our producer, reportedly made $ 90 million from the reruns alone.”
Like some of her co-stars, she suffered typecasting in Hollywood after the series ended, appearing in television commercials as a guest and in stage work before taking roles in B movies.
In light of the show’s continued popularity in the 1970s, three made-for-television movies with progressively implausible plots involving Soviet satellites and visiting basketball players were made: “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island” (1978), “The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island “. “(1979) and” The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island “(1981).
Wells also lent his voice for the animated film “Gilligan’s Planet” (1982) in which the castaways are stranded on a distant planet.
Wells also capitalized on her fame by writing, “Mary Ann’s Gilligan’s Island Cookbook,” and later, for the series’ 50th anniversary in 2014, the book “What Would Mary Ann Do? A Guide to Life.”
Wells was born on October 18, 1938, in Reno, studied theater at the University of Washington, and headed to Hollywood after her success in a beauty pageant.
She accepted her pop culture status, but said there was more to her than just being Mary Ann.
“I’m deeper, smarter, more ambitious, more fun. I think if you know me for 15 minutes, there’s nothing you won’t know: what you see is what you get,” she told Forbes.
