In 1992, she reprised her Mary Ann character on an episode of Baywatch and three years later joined Denver and Louise on the original Roseanne in a scene spoofing Gilligan’s Island. That same year she graduated with a degree in theater arts from the University of Washington after initially studying chemistry.īefore she was Mary Ann, the 5-foot-4 Wells had a string of smaller roles on TV shows like Wagon Train, Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip and Bonanza and, after Gilligan’s Island was canceled, she appeared on The Wild Wild West, ALF and other series. She eventually blossomed into the role of a belle, culminating with her being crowned Miss Nevada in 1959 and competing in the 1960 Miss America pageant. Nevertheless, Wells noted that she was popular, proof “that the bell of the ball doesn’t have to be a belle.” She said that in middle school she was chubby with severe acne, braces on her teeth and bad knees, the result of ballet lessons. “I was raised by a very good mother and a great dad.” “My parents divorced when I was four, but I did not grow up in a broken home,” Wells wrote in her book. Her father was a real estate developer and her mom a homemaker. Gilligan, meanwhile, was happiest keeping both squarely in the “friend” camp.ĭawn Elberta Wells was born in Reno, Nevada, on Oct. A lot of guys would come up to me and say, ‘I married a Mary Ann.’ She had the values.”Īlthough the feminist movement, the pill and free love were all the rage during the comedy’s original run, Schwartz eschewed sexual tension, but it was clear the Professor was smitten by the pig-tailed Mary Ann while the Skipper preferred the statuesque Ginger. You had to be a real man to understand Ginger, and Mary Ann would’ve gone to the prom with you and been your best friend. “The Mary Ann-Ginger issue is always there. There hasn’t been a good girl over 14, and Mary Ann was very much that,” Wells said. “There hasn’t been a Mary Ann on the air for I don’t know how long. Wells added during a 2008 interview with the Television Academy Foundation. I mean, I built her from scratch … if you play a character long enough on stage or screen, I think your true self shows through.” Wells said the “values and principles” of Mary Ann mirrored her own and are timeless: “I know this because the core of Mary Ann is really me. She said she was flabbergasted when folks raised $197,000 for her in a month after a friend created a GoFundMe page. In August 2018, Wells took a fall and revealed that she was having difficulty paying for the two months of hospital rehabilitation that she needed. While some of the cast - most notably Louise, who declined to appear in three made-for-TV Gilligan’s Island movies from 1978-82 - expressed dismay over being “typecast,” the angelic Wells embraced the show’s enduring popularity and was grateful to the fans who, for years, sometimes obsessively, expressed their affinity for her and the character she played. I hope that people will remember her the way that I do - always with a smile on her face.” We shared in creating a cultural landmark that has continued to bring comfort and smiles to people during this difficult time. Louise paid tribute to Wells on Twitter following the news: “I will always remember Dawn’s kindness to me. The other castaways aboard the shipwrecked SS Minnow were Gilligan (Bob Denver) the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.) millionaire Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) and his wife, Lovey (Natalie Schafer) the Professor (Russell Johnson) and Hollywood starlet Ginger Grant (Louise). It earned solid ratings during its 98-episode run from 1964-67 and attracted new fans through decades of syndication. Other than Tina Louise, Wells was the last surviving member of the regular cast of the Sherwood Schwartz-created show, which featured three women and four men marooned on a desert island after their three-hour boat tour off the coast of Honolulu went inexplicably awry.Īiring amid the real-life tumult of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement and unrest on college campuses, viewers welcomed the corny sitcom as wholesome escapism. Wells died in Los Angeles of causes related to COVID-19, her publicist announced. Dawn Wells, the girl-next-door actress and former beauty queen who played the sweet Mary Ann Summers on the iconic CBS sitcom Gilligan’s Island, died Wednesday morning.
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