Gilligan's Island
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One of the great debates in television history is “Mary Ann or Ginger?” Of course, when people are talking about that comparison, they’re referring to two of the characters on the series “Gilligan’s Island”. The former of those two ladies was played by Dawn Wells, who found her initial fame from the series. Though she hasn’t done much acting over the past 20 years or so, Wells is still a recognizable face and people have a longstanding memory of the show that developed a big following over the years.
Wells comes from the great state of Nevada, having been born in Reno on October 18, 1938. She spent her entire childhood in the city, finishing high school there. Afterward, Wells moved to Missouri to attend college, but finished out in Seattle, Washington. It was during this time that Wells developed an interest in acting, and switched her major to theater, wrapping up in 1960.
Not only did Wells show some talent on the stage, but she was also a sight to behold. Wells was a pageant queen during her college years, and combined with her experience helped land her acting work on screen for the first time. In 1961, Wells made her debut with several roles, including episodes of “Maverick”, “77 Sunset Strip” and “Wagon Train”.
Over the next couple of years, guest appearances would continue to be typical for Wells’s career. She popped up in shows that included “Bonanza” and “Laramie”. Then, in 1964, Wells landed the biggest role of her career. That’s when she became Mary Ann on “Gilligan’s Island”. Wells appeared in nearly 100 episodes during the show’s initial run. While ratings weren’t overly high at first, many people became introduced to “Gilligan’s Island” thanks to syndication in the decades that followed.
After “Gilligan’s Island” came to an end in the late 1960s, Wells went away from acting for a few years. It wasn’t until the mid 1970s that she returned, appearing in movies such as “Return to Boggy Creek” and several television movies that were based on the show that made her famous. A cartoon series in the “Gilligan’s Island” was also spawned, with Wells joining the voice cast.
During the 1980s, Wells continued to go back to her role, which included doing so on an episode of “ALF”, and there were multiple reunions for “Gilligan’s Island” along the way. For the most part, Wells has been appearing on television either as herself or as Mary Ann, seemingly unable to distance herself from the role. So far in this decade, Wells has been in an episode of the soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” as well as the film “Hotel Arthritis”.
In 2018, news came out that Wells had been struggling financially, as the pay that she received from “Gilligan’s Island” wasn’t as lucrative as many had thought. She ended up owing a lot of money to the IRS, to the tune of nearly $200,000. A crowdfunding page was set up to help Wells through her time of need, and the goal was easily met.
Wells called her situation “scary” and was appreciative of the money that was raised. However, she said that it wasn’t totally necessary. “I am not dead broke,” she said. “I can handle it. I can get a job and go to work…Thank you for caring…I’m appreciative.”
Wells hasn’t had many recent roles, but that doesn’t mean that she’s ready to call it quits for good. “Acting is my first love,” she said. “Just because a woman is over 50 does not mean she no longer has anything to offer. If anything, we have so much more to offer. We have lived life, we get better with age…Sure, I could retire; but what would I do? Play bingo? I think not.”
“I’m interested in current events and I like radio al lot,” Wells said of what her future plans are. “I’d really like to do that. I’m smart, and I don’t mean I’m bragging, but I’m smart. I’m not just an actress, you know. I’m interested in a lot of things.”
When it comes to Wells’s career, though, it always seems to come back to her Mary Ann role that everybody knows her for. In her words, what was it that made Mary Ann such a popular character? “You’d be happy to have her as your sister or daughter,” Wells said of Mary Ann.
“You’d be happy to go out with her. She was honest. Cute enough. For a young man, Mary Ann would have been your first crush. If a young boy fell for Mary Ann, he had good taste. He wanted the nice girl. She would have been your friend, too. Not high maintenance. I was raised a ‘Mary Ann.’ I know that girl. When we made the show, there was no real description for Mary Ann except that she was a farm girl from Kansas. She was the moral compass. She wanted to make sure everybody got along.”
“I consider myself to be very fortunate that I’ve been working so much and so long,” Wells has said of her career. “A pianist doesn’t play the piano once a year and think he’s wonderful - you’ve got to keep at it, you’ve got to keep growing and you’ve got to keep improving, but that’s the beauty and the joy of art to me, that’s the creative process. I can’t sit idle. There are a lot of aspects to me that need fulfilling…but I’m a very happy person. I’m very fortunate, and I’m real content with my life. I like where I am and who I am, and that’s a good sign.”
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