Tina Louise Changed Her Mind About Gilligan's Island After A Moving Fan Encounter

For many years, fans of "Gilligan's Island" heard the rumors that actress Tina Louise, who played the glamorous movie star Ginger on the series, openly hated the show. These rumors were founded mostly on the fact that Louise, after "Gilligan's Island" went off the air in 1967, refused to reunite with her old co-stars for any of the follow-up TV movies or animated spinoffs. Everyone else returned for those projects, but Louise stayed far away. 

Additionally, stories from the set detailed a strained working relationship between Louise and star Bob Denver. Some might know the story about how Louise signed a contract allowing her to be listed last in the credits, forcing the writers of the "Gilligan's Island" theme song to refer to the Professor and Mary Ann as "and the rest!" It wouldn't be until Bob Denver pulled rank and theatened to put his own starring credit last that Louise capitulated and let the theme song be changed to "The Professor and Mary Ann." Years later, Dawn Wells spoke with Forbes, saying that she and Louise weren't enemies, but also that they weren't close. 

When Wells passed away in 2020, Louise wanted to go on the record and clear some things up. It turns out she adored playing Ginger, and didn't return to any "Gilligan's Island" spinoffs merely because she was happier to work on new material. 

Show creator Sherwood Schwartz recalled a time, however, when Louise did indeed resent the role of Ginger, feeling it typecast her. In a 1997 interview with the Television Academy Foundation (quoted by EW in 2011), Schwartz related the shift Louise experienced in her attitudes toward Ginger following a particularly moving encounter with a fan. After that, Louise began to love the role openly. 

Schwartz recalled an interaction he had with Louise, years after "Gilligan's Island" had ended, that forced her to realize what a large impact the series had on the world. "Gilligan's Island" was disliked by critics when it was on the air, but it remained popular for its entire run, and remained popular for decades, thanks to endless reruns. Louise was happy to enjoy the popularity while the show was on the air, but didn't like looking back once it was over. 

According to Schwartz, that changed when Louise spoke to a woman whose husband was on his deathbed, facing the end of his life in terrible pain. The only thing that brought him comfort was re-watching "Gilligan's Island" reruns that heavy featured Ginger. Schwartz said that Louise had a catharsis that day, understanding that her work on "Gilligan's Island" brought a great deal of comfort to the world. 

Schwartz also took pride in this, happy that his goofy little series about seven stranded castaways could become comfort food for millions. He even began offering to decorate hospital waiting rooms in the decor of "Gilligan's Island" and his other hit series, "The Brady Bunch." He thought that if a sick child enters such a space emblazoned with familiar TV characters,they will be more relaxed be more relaxed. Schwartz said: 

"It was my theory, which I've discussed with doctors, [that] when the child comes to a hospital, it's an awesome sight, and it's sterile and it's unfriendly, and doctors and nurses, it's scary. [...] So I figured if I call the rooms ['The Gilligan's Island Waiting Room'], and we put pictures of the stars around the room ... they thought that was a terrific idea."

Tina Louise, now 90, is the only surviving member of the "Gilligan's Island" cast. And she's very happy to have been there.