Did Two Gilligan's Island Stars Hate Each Other? The Behind-The-Scenes Drama Explained

Most audiences, I feel, would describe Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" as an ensemble piece. All of the seven castaways were important to the overall comedic dynamic, and no single star was any more important than the other. Well, apart from Bob Denver, the title character, who might have been the central figure of the ensemble. When the show first began, actor Jim Backus — the millionaire Thurston Howell, III — might have been the most recognizable star on the cast, but he fell in with the ensemble easily. He was a professional.

Despite the ensemble nature of the show, however, there was an issue over its credits. Tina Louise, who played the movie star Ginger Grant, insisted that her name be listed last in the credits, feeling that she was to be one of the show's biggest draws. For the first season, the opening credits of "Gilligan's Island" listed Dawn Wells and Russell Johnson as "And the rest" as to not violate Louise's contract. It wasn't until Denver pulled rank and threatened to put his own credit after Louise's that the showrunners added the "The Professor and Mary Ann" to the show's famous theme song.

It's hard to say if the credits kerfuffle effected the working relationship of Denver and Louise, but rumors have been swirling for decades that the two hated each other on set and studiously avoided socialization when the cameras stopped rolling. The website MeTV uncovered a 1965 issue of TV Guide which implied that shooting "Gilligan's Island" was strained for the cast, mostly because of the bad blood that had seemingly formed between the bumbling First Mate and the glamorous Hollywood child.

If there was any animosity between Denver and Louise on set, it certainly never showed on camera. If Gilligan and Ginger had any scenes together, both actors played off of one another to maximum comedic effect. TV Guide found, however, that there was enough lingering resentment to cause the pair to stay studiously away from one another. According to MeTV: 

"Denver will not say why he and the glamorous Tina do not get along, nor will any of the castaways — they just ignore her, and she ignores them. [...] Between scenes, while the other six principals chat and tell jokes together, she sits off by herself. And recently when Denver was asked to pose for pictures with her, he adamantly refused."

The TV Guide article posits that Louise was generally upset with the direction of "Gilligan's Island," as she expected her role to be much larger. Denver, by dint of being the title character, became the central object of Louise's ire; it's likely that he didn't do anything to slight Louise other than have the temerity to be billed above her. In the years after "Gilligan's Island" finished its run, Louise refused to participate in any anniversary shows, and some of her co-stars would note that they might still communicate with Louise, but that they're not close. These words and action compounded all the rumors that Louise secretly hated "Gilligan's Island" and hated talking about it.

Whatever animosity there might have been on the set, though, didn't continue throughout Louise's life. Louise, now 90, is the only surviving member of the "Gilligan's Island" cast, and has set the record straight on several occasions on how she felt about playing Ginger. 

When Dawn Wells passed away in 2020, Louise was interviewed by the New York Post about her former co-star, and admitted that there were no hard feelings now, nor had there ever been. Louise may have avoided reprising Ginger because she was done with the role and merely didn't want to play her anymore; it had nothing to do with her co-workers. In her own words:

"Never true — I loved doing my part, especially after they really started writing for my character, originally billed as a 'Marilyn Monroe' type of character. [...] A different director took over and really started to write for my character. [...] I really loved my character."

Also, at age 90, it's likely Louise long ago came to peace with her place in the pop culture firmament and no longer worries about being typecast in roles because of the popularity of a 1964 sitcom. Louise's last role was in a 2019 film called "Tapestry," and she famously appeared in 1990s comedy films like "Johnny Suede" and "Welcome to Woop Woop." Her career speaks for itself, and her comments are edifying. She and Bob Denver certainly didn't have drinks after work, but it seems that they might not have hated each other. 

Also, Denver and Louise were old work buddies, as they both appeared in the 1964 Leslie Martinson feature film "For Those Who Think Young." At the very least, they were both professionals.