Tina Louise is the last surviving member of the cast of ‘Gilligan’s Island’

The recent death of 84 year old Dawn Wells has stunned her fans. The actress was most well known for and beloved because of her role as Mary Anne on Gilligan’s Island. Now that Wells has passed on, Tina Louise is the sole surviving cast member of the hit television show. The actress was born Tina Blacker on February 11, 1934, to Jewish parents. She is best known for her role as the movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy which ran from 1964-1967. Tina began her career on stage in the 1950s and in 1958 landed her breakout role in the film God's Little Acre. The actress won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year.

She also had starring roles in For Those Who Think Young,(ALong with Bob Denver), The Hangman, The Trap, and Day of the Outlaw. She also appeared in The Happy Ending, The Stepford Wives, and The Wrecking Crew. In May of 1958 and April of 1959, Louise had photo's in Playboy. In 1962, she guest-starred on the sitcom The Real McCoys, in the episode Grandpa Pygmalion. Her character was a country girl from West Virginia. When Gilligan's Island ended in 1967, the actress found she was unable to resume her career in film. She was no longer being offered roles and it seemed as if portraying Ginger had ruined her movie star status.

Louise stated publicly her belief that her role on Gilligan's Island had negatively affected her career, although she did make appearances on several television shows. This may be why she chose not to appear in the 3 movies based on the television series which were Rescue from Gilligan's Island, The Castaways on Gilligan's Island, and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island. Like many celebrities who believe they have been typecast, the actress tried to change her image by taking roles that were darker in nature. She may have found out, however, that you cannot run from yourself.

To her many fans, Tina Louise will always be the sexy movie star, Ginger Grant, no matter how many other roles she has played. She played a heroin addict in a 1974 episode of Kojak and portrayed a corrections officer in the 1976 television movie Nightmare in Badham County. She also made a number of other television appearances which include Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby (1976), SST: Death Flight (1977), and Friendships, Secrets and Lies (1979). From 1978-1979 she had a role on the nighttime soap opera Dallas. In the fall of 1984, Louise replaced Jo Ann Pflug as Taylor Chapin on the syndicated soap drama Rituals.

The actress did appear with her former castmates in a reunion in 1988 on a late-night television talk show. In 1995 the entire Gilligan's Island crew, including Louise reunited again for an episode of Roseanne in 1995 when the cast of Rosanne re-enacted the television show. Gilligan's Island was at the top of the ratings during it's 3 year run. The show gained even more popularity during the 1970s and 1980s when it aired in syndication during the afternoons. The show can currently be seen on MeTV on Sunday afternoons. The network airs 6 half hour episodes between 2 and 5 PM.

The late Dawn Wells did a promo for MeTV where she invited viewers to tune in for a 3 hour tour. Wells embraced Mary Anne and did not seem to regret her role and this endeared her to the fans. During a recent interview, Tina Louise said that she and Dawn Wells had not spoken in a while but she considered her as a friend. Bob Denver,(Gilligan) died in 2005 at age 70. Russel Johnson, (The Professor) passed away at age 90 in 2014. Alan Haley Jr., (The Skipper) died at age 69 in 1990. Natalie Schaffer, (Mrs. Howell) died in April 1991 at age 90. Jim Backus (Mr. Howell) passed away at age 76 in July of 1989.