Actress Dawn Wells, best known for her portrayal of Mary Ann in Gilligan's Island from 1964 to 1967, has died of COVID-19. She was 82.
Wells began adulthood as a beauty pageant winner claiming the title of Miss Nevada and competing in the 1960 Miss America pageant. Her acting career began the following year with appearances on shows like Maverick, Cheyenne, Wagon Train, 77 Sunset Strip, The Joey Bishop Show and Burke's Law before being cast on Gilligan's Island.
Mary Ann Summers would come to embody the girl next door and contrast to the sex symbol movie star Ginger Grant played by Tina Louise. With Wells' passing, Louise is now the last surviving cast member of Gilligan's Island.
Wells did attempt to break away from the Mary Ann persona. Her first post-Gilligan appearance was on an episode of The Invaders starring Roy Thinnes in which she plays something of a wild child (please see photo above).
After a few guest spots on The Wild, Wild West, Bonanza and The F.B.I., TV roles became harder to find and Wells spent much of the 1970's in musical theatre along with the obligatory appearance on The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.
By the end of the decade, Wells would reprise the Mary Ann character in a series of Gilligan's Island TV movies and cartoons even making an appearance as Mary Ann on A.L.F. and Baywatch.
In 2018, Wells was mired in financial trouble and launched a GoFundMe page in order to pay medical bills and Uncle Sam. She managed to raise nearly $200,000.
Sadly, whatever money she was able to raise could not help her overcome COVID-19. Now she is among more than 340,000 Americans who have succumbed to the virus. R.I.P.
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