Gilligan's Island Actor Dawn Wells Dies At 82 Due To COVID-19 Complications

Dawn Wells passed away on Wednesday at age 82. The late actor's publicist Harlan Boll said in a statement that she died peacefully at a living facility in Los Angeles.

Wells was best known for her wholesome farm-girl character Mary Ann Summers from Winfield, Kansas on the iconic show Gilligan's Island. The popular character appeared on the show throughout its 98-episode run from 1964 to 1967.

Other than Tina Louise, Wells was the last surviving member of the cast of the legendary series. It also starred Louise Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, and Russell Johnson.

Years later during an interview, she confessed that she didn't know how popular her character was. Wells said, "I didn't know until 1988 that I got the most fan mail. I assumed Gilligan would've, or the young men writing to Tina. I realize now that I was everybody's kind of girl next door, a fantasy but not a fantasy - that reality is that you could probably approach Mary Ann, and she might be the girl you take home to mother, or that you might tell your troubles to."

Gilligan's Island created by Sherwood Schwartz followed the comic adventures of seven castaways that attempted to survive on an island after being shipwrecked.

Coming back to Dawn Wells, before her debut she had also won the title of Miss Nevada in 1959 and competed in the Miss America contest. She made her Hollywood debut on ABC series The Roaring 20s and also appeared in shows like The Joey Bishop Show, The Cheyenne Show, Sunset Strip, Maverick, and Bonanza.

The actress in 1993 also released a cookbook titled Mary Ann's Gilligan's Island Cookbook.