Gilligan’s Island Star Dawn Wells Who Played Mary Ann Dies at 82 of Coronavirus

Gilligan’s Island Star Dawn Wells Who Played Mary Ann Dies at 82 of Coronavirus

Dawn Wells, who starred as Mary Ann in the popular 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” died on Wednesday of causes related to the coronavirus in Los Angeles at age 82.

Variety describes her as the “Pig-tailed and attired in her ubiquitous dungarees or gingham dress, which is on display at the Hollywood Museum, the Mary Ann character was the girl-next-door to Tina Louise’s suggestive evening dress-clad Ginger, who was often subjected to leering comments from the male stars in the show’s dialogue.”

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She told Smashing Interviews magazine that she was happy to change her image with a role as a prostitute in “The Owl and the Pussycat” soon after the show ended, “Mary Ann was a good girl. She was polite. She was a hard worker. She would be your best friend. She cooked. She cleaned. She did all of those things, and she was a really good role model. But the first thing you want to do is break that character and go do something else,” Wells said.