Tina Louise Says She ‘Wanted to Quit’ “Gilligan’s Island” When Ginger Became ‘Sarcastic.' Here’s How She Saved the Part

Gilligan’s Island became a major success — but it almost wasn’t to be.

Tina Louise, who starred in the series as movie star Ginger Grant, spoke to Forbes in an interview published March 7. The 91-year-old reflected on her time on the series, and how it almost all went wrong.

“I always enjoyed my work. I left a Broadway show to do it,” she explained of the series. At the time, she was appearing in the 1964 musical Fade Out - Fade In, which starred Carol Burnett.

“The CBS casting director Ethel Winant called me at the theater, ‘Do you think you could play this Lucille Ball/Marilyn Monroe-type of character?’ I said yes,” she remembered. But then, she explained, “I got there and the director wanted it to be a more sarcastic kind of character. And so, then I didn’t even want to work on it anymore. I told him I wanted to quit.”

The head of CBS called the actress in for a meeting. “I explained to him that I didn’t want to play it and I didn’t think the show would be successful, changing the original idea of the character,” the TV legend said. “You just can’t go into people’s homes and dress somebody up like a doll and then have her to be not nice.”

He agreed with her and the original director left after only a month. Richard Donner (who went on to direct movies like The Goonies and Scrooged) took over as the main director. “He had a great sense of humor and then the writers started writing for what I was supposed to be doing and the show became a hit, and I enjoyed the part,” Louise said.

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Speaking about fans’ enduring love for Ginger, she said, “My character was very colorful ... It was more like something they’d seen in a movie. I think that it was that they’d never seen a character like mine and the way I was and the way I was dressed, the way I looked. There, they can see me in their home and they liked that.” Louise also said the series — which ran from 1964 to 1967 — was an escape from the turmoil of the 1960s.

Louise continued to act after the series ended, but she did not reprise her role as Ginger in the Gilligan’s Island sequel TV films that aired in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. Other roles included parts in 1969’s The Wrecking Crew, 1975’s The Stepford Wives and a guest starring role on Dallas. Her most recent role was in the 2019 movie Tapestry.

After the death of Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann Summers, in 2020, Louise became the show’s last surviving cast member.

Louise told Forbes that while she’s open to more roles, she “doesn’t really have an agent.” She said, “I don’t think people come to find you, but if somebody asked me to do something that I wanted to do — that I found some reason to do — I would want to do it. I’m open to doing work. I just take one day at a time and I’m doing what I want to do.”

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