Revisiting ‘Gilligan’s Island’ With Mary Ann Herself, Dawn Wells (Exclusive)

Looking Back at Where the Idea for the Show Came From

The concept for Gilligan’s Island actually began while Sherwood was attending New York University, and a class where the professor (no, not that Professor) posed the students with the question of the one thing they would bring with them on a desert island (excluding the all-male class from suggesting a way of escape or a woman). Most of the students suggested a radio, mostly to keep up with the news of the world. One, however, suggested a daily delivery of The New York Times, because he would learn the news of the day, but also be able to use the newspaper in a way he never could a radio (think about it). Sherwood admits that that response actually played a role in the creation of Gilligan’s Island.

When pitching the concept of Gilligan’s Island to CBS Chairman William Paley, he described it as a “social microcosm,” which confused the executive who had been under the impression that it was going to be a comedy. “It’s going to be a funny microcosm,” Sherwood quipped. Notes his son, producer Lloyd Schwartz, “There have been many term papers written about Gilligan’s Island, and there’s even a movie documentary out there called Gilligan’s Manifesto or something, which talks about the socialist attitude of the show and the exploration of wealth and all these different things. These term papers usually start by saying, ‘We’re positive that Sherwood Schwartz didn’t think about this,’ but the truth is, yes he did. That’s certainly a part of the show’s legacy and longevity.”

The Look of the Show Gave ‘Gilligan’s Island’ Something Unique

Dawn, whose character was the proverbial girl next door, reflects, “One of the appeals of the show is that it was beautiful to look at with palm trees all around. It was a sitcom that took place outside the living room. There’s no mom and dad and three kids in the Bronx. It was not that at all. It was very positive and the talent was good. The writing was silly, but, honestly, no sillier than any other sitcom in that generation. Again, though, nobody thought it would last 20 minutes.

“It was a fantasy,” she adds, “and Sherwood had kind of a childlike look on life himself anyway. He was always very positive and everyone on the show was very positive with a couple of exceptions. And the casting was brilliant — Alan and Bob especially were wonderful, and Bob was really a genius with comedy.”

Her Journey to the ‘Island’

Born Dawn Elberta Wells on October 18, 1938, in Reno, Nevada, Dawn would graduate from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1960 with a degree in theater arts and design. A year earlier, she was crowned Miss Nevada and represented the state when she competed in the 1960 Miss America Pageant. A year later, she began appearing on a number of different television series, among them Wagon Train, The Everglades, The Cheyenne Show, Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, Bonanza, Laramie and The New Interns before she was cast on Gilligan’s Island, which would have the biggest impact on both her life and career. While she would return to TV guest star status when it was over, it would be the audience’s passion for Classic TV in general and Gilligan in particular that has followed her for all these years.

“What’s interesting, is that Dawn Wells is very much a Mary Ann type,” she says. “I’m very positive and I always have a good outlook on everything. I mean, I always want to play the bitch and I always want to play the hooker, but I never get to. Actually, I shouldn’t say never. I’d performed on stage doing Owl and the Pussycat and a lot of pretty dramatic roles that allowed me to satisfy that need, but I’ve always had to play the ingenue and the good girl. Mary Ann was very much who I’ve done a lot of, so to speak, but I embraced it because I thought it was a good, positive show. Today, everything is so different. Moms and dads are both working, kids are on drugs and it’s a very different civilization. My mother knew where I was every single minute. I grew up in Nevada — gambling, divorce, prostitution was everywhere — and my parents were divorced, but, again, my mother knew everything I was doing. Today it’s a different world, and I think that Gilligan’s Island kind of brings the whole family together to say, ‘Right is right and good is good.’ Honestly, I think that’s the reason it’s lasted.”

The Money is the Most Frustrating Aspect of the Whole Thing

There is also a bit of frustration that comes along with the success of Gilligan’s Island. Today, actor contracts provide for residual payments for reruns, which can ultimately be pretty lucrative if you have a successful show with a passionate viewership. Back then, though, cast members for the most part did not own a piece of the show, and did not receive any sort of additional payments beyond the first five or so airings of each episode. When you consider that Gilligan’s Island has been on for the past 55 years — which at the time nobody could have imagined — those residuals ended a long time ago.

“It is hard to accept,” Dawn admits. “You just have to rationalize it and realize that that’s the way it was. Nobody came in at the beginning and said, ‘If it’s ever going to be run again, I want $10,000 a week!’ No one even knew to say that. I made a total of about $50,000, but you can’t say, ‘Well, dammit, it was always in black and white’ or ‘Dammit, there was no sound.’ You can’t go back. If you thought it was a silly show and didn’t want to do it, you turn it down. Those residuals and stuff weren’t happening then. Now, of course, you’d be making millions of dollars and I’d never have to work again. But you can’t be bitter in life, you know? That is truly my attitude.”

‘What Would Mary Ann Do?’

Four years ago, Dawn took her positive feelings towards Mary Ann and the show and turned it into the book What Would Mary Ann Do?, which was cowritten with Steve Stinson. Taylor Trade Publishing describes the book like this: “As the sweet, polite, and thoughtful Mary Ann Summers from Kansas in the hit series Gilligan’s Island, Dawn Wells created an unforgettable and beloved character that still connects with people fifty years from the show’s debut in 1964. As the ‘good girl’ among the group of castaways on a tiny island, she was often positioned against the glamorous and exotic Ginger Grant, played by Tina Louise, prompting many to ask: Are you a Ginger or a Mary Ann?

“This book,” they continue, “not only helps readers answer that question for themselves but also sends the inspirational and heartwarming message that yes, good girls do finish first. Part self-help, part memoir, and part humor — with a little classic TV nostalgia for good measure — What Would Mary Ann Do? contains twelve chapters on everything from how Mary Ann would respond to changes in today’s culture to addressing issues confronting single women and mothers. Wells brings along her fellow characters from Gilligan’s Island to illustrate certain principles, such as incorporating the miserly Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) in a discussion on money. Anecdotal sidebars also describe fascinating facts and compelling memories from the show, as well as some trivia questions to challenge fans and followers. Illustrated with photographs from Wells’s private collection, this book provides inspiring lessons from TV’s favorite good girl.”

The Message Behind the Book

When asked about the decision to write the book, Dawn responds, “Because I think Mary Ann’s a character that’s not on television very much. I think it’s that families don’t get along in everything, and Mary Ann had the values. She kept everybody on their toes. Now you couldn’t read the scripts that way, but I think at the time Mary Ann was the moral compass. She wanted to make sure the Howells weren’t fighting, she and Ginger got along. Nowadays you’d probably have them in competition. Look at the relationship between Alan and Bob: He would just him him on the head with his hat and they’d laugh; you knew those guys loved each other. And it all goes back to Sherwood Schwartz’s writing and his concept: everybody kind of clung to that, whether you were 12 years old or 40.”

There Was One Unhappy Camper on the Island

For the most part, when you look back at the cast over the years, you could sense a genuine love they had for the show. The one exception was Tina Louise, who did everything she could to separate herself from it.

“I don’t think she was told the truth about the show when she was hired,” muses Dawn. “I think maybe Sherwood said to her, ‘You’re going to be the movie star on an island,’ and in her mind she thought, ‘Oh, well I’m the movie star on the island, it doesn’t mean I have other leads with me.’ That’s my perception, but she also considered herself a star. She certainly looked beautiful and had as good a role as anyone else, but it always seemed to me that it was a situation where she was told, ‘I’ve got a show for you; you want to star in it?’ But I really don’t know. She was not temperamental to work with; she might have been with the directors, but not with us. She actually taught me a lot. I learned a lot about camera angles and things like that. You know, ‘No, I want it from this side; no, I want to do it this way.’ I didn’t pay much attention, so she taught me a great deal.”

The ‘Gilligan’s Island’ Reunion Movies

She, like the rest of the cast (with the exception of Tina Louise) reprised her character in three TV reunion movies: Rescue from Gilligan’s Island (1978), The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island (1979) and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island (1981). She even provided the voice for her animated self on the 1982-83 Saturday morning cartoon series The New Adventures of Gilligan and Gilligan’s Planet (where she also provided the voice of Ginger Grant).

“The TV movies were kind of fun,” Dawn says. “You did kind of think, ‘Where are we now?’ But it wasn’t the same humor, I don’t think. It was fun all getting together and seeing each other. It was the same chemistry with each other, which was kind of remarkable. All of it was just an escape for everyone.”

Inspiring Soldiers in Vietnam

One of the most gratifying memories Dawn has of the whole experience took place in the 1960s when she would receive letters from soldiers in Vietnam who would say that Mary Ann actually helped get them through tough times over there.

“In talking about the soldiers across the sea, I think they wanted to marry Mary Ann,” she smiles. “Or you wanted Mary Ann to be your sister, your wife, the mother of your children. All the things Mary Ann stood for were the good things. Sherwood was smart enough to put me in short shorts and make me sexy. She wasn’t just a little girl with a lollipop, she had balls, if you’ll pardon the expression. She stood up for what she believed in. She has as much say so as anybody else, but she did it nicely. I guess they found something appealing in that.”

Final Thoughts

She’s got a point there, because Mary Ann, just like Gilligan’s Island, manages to live on in the hearts of their fan.

“It really is kind of fun as an actor,” Dawn points out wistfully. “You always remember some of the shows you’ve done, but nothing has had the publicity and appeal that this show has had. People come up to me — they’re 40 now or something —and say, ‘I just loved you when I was 12,’ and that’s a very nice thing to hear. If it were a play on Broadway, they might not remember you the next year, you know? I just want to say that I enjoyed doing it. As an actress I would have liked to have been challenged much more, but I couldn’t have been happier doing anything more than that show. I’m very proud of it.”