Don WellsMary Ann, who starred as “Good Girl” in the hit sitcom “Gilligan’s Island” in the 1960s, died Wednesday of COVID-19 related causes in Los Angeles. She was 82 years old.
The character, Mary Ann, dressed in a pig’s tail and dress in her ubiquitous coarse or gingham dress, which is on display at the Hollywood Museum, was the girl next door to the costume Ginger who wore a Tina Louise suggestive evening dress, who was often subjected to erotic comments. Of the male stars in the show’s dialogue.
I told Smashing interviews The magazine said she was happy to change her image through her role as a prostitute in “The Owl and the Pussycat” Shortly after the show ended, “Mary Ann was a good girl. She was polite. She was a serious worker. She would be your best friend. She cooks. She cleaned.” She did all of these things, and she was a really good example Wells said, “But the first thing you want to do is break this character and do something else.”
Welles represented Nevada in the Miss America contest in 1959 and appeared in several TV series before being cast on “Gilligan’s Island” in 1964. Welles also appeared in “77 Sunset Strip”, “Maverick” and “Bonanza” The Joey Bishop Show and Hawaiian Eye.
Publicist Harlan Paul declared her death.
After the series ended in 1967, she returned to several television films and sub-series. She has worked as a producer on the TV movies “Surviving Gilligan’s Island” and “Return to the Bat Cave” with Adam West.
She went on to appear in series including “Growing Pains”, “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “Baywatch” and voiced Gumbalina Toothington in the series “The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants”.
In the movies, Welles has appeared in “Winterhawk”, “The Town That Dreaded Sundown”, “Super Sucker”, “The New Interns”, “It’s Our Our” and “Silent But Deadly”.
Welles has had a long career on stage, appearing on national tours for “Chapter Two” and “They’re Playing Our Song” as well as in “Fatal Attraction” with Ken Howard and “The Weird Couple” with Marcia Wallace, Magnolias and “The Vagina Monologues” “.
Although she has appeared in many TV shows, movies, and plays, her role as Mary Ann has been the most enduring, leading to parties such as “Untouchable Reporter” for Australian Channel 9 and spokesperson for MeTV. She wrote the book “A Guide to Life: What Will Mary Ann do?” In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Gilligan Island.
Her philanthropic efforts included serving as chair of the Terry Lee Wells Foundation, focusing on women and children in Northern Nevada, and she was awarded the Elephant Sanctuary Trumpeting Award for her work with Elephant Sanctuary. She also ran a film actor training camp for seven years in Idaho.
Welles has survived her half-sister Wesley Welles. Donations can be submitted to Elephant SanctuaryTerry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum or Shambhala Reserve.