Russell Johnson Shared A Distinctive Bond With One Gilligan’s Island Co-Star

On “Gilligan’s Island,” romance all the time ran at a low ebb. Other than Mr. and Mrs. Howell (Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer), there have been no {couples} on the island, and none appeared to kind over the course of the present. Certainly, a number of of the characters appeared too foolish or infantile to kind something approaching a real-life affair. Gilligan (Bob Denver) was too harmless, and the Skipper (Alan Hale) was extra typically pondering of engineering and survival than being charming. Ginger (Tina Louise) was typically wearing fairly robes, and was definitely offered as a intercourse image, however was extra involved with fame and performing than flirting with any of the boys or girls round her. 

The 2 “regular” characters on the island have been Mary Ann (Daybreak Wells) and the Professor (Russell Johnson), who typically served because the present’s “straight man” characters; they not often bought to have slapstick moments or pratfalls of their very own. Due to their mutual perform, many “Gilligan’s Island” followers tended to ship the characters, if I could use trendy parlance. If there was to be a brand new romantic pairing on Gilligan’s Isle, it was to be between the Professor and Mary Ann. This notion was cemented by the truth that Wells’ and Johnson’s credit have been listed collectively within the present’s opening. 

Viewers could have additionally been keying into the truth that Wells and Johnson have been good pals off-camera. The 2 definitely had a whole lot of chemistry, and had quite a lot of respect for each other. Wells would later admit that she had an enormous crush on Johnson, though throughout their stint on “Gilligan’s Island,” they have been each married to different individuals, and needed to preserve their relationship distantly respectful. 

Johnson, whereas by no means admitting to a romantic attraction to Wells, did write in his autobiography “Right here on Gilligan’s Isle” (penned with Russell Cox), that he and his co-star did share what he known as “a mutual fondness.”

Johnson wrote that Wells introduced a whole lot of her personal character to Mary Ann. She, like her character, was sort and pleasant. He additionally famous that Mary Ann was offered as an “all-American farmgirl” archetype, and that Wells herself was the great-granddaughter of one of many earliest Gold Rush settlers within the 1840s. To Johnson, that made her American to the core. He additionally wrote that he and Wells possible bonded due to the above-mentioned similarity of their characters. The Professor and Mary Ann have been the affordable ones. 

Johnson posited that the “Gilligan’s Island” showrunners realized within the present’s second season that their characters have been simply as important to the ensemble as anybody else’s, inflicting their elements to be expanded. As he wrote it: 

“I assume if I needed to determine the one I used to be closest to within the solid, it could be Daybreak. We have all the time shared a mutual fondness for each other. It was all the time Platonic. On the outset, we have been each uncared for within the opening credit and known as ‘the remainder,’ and our roles have been about the identical proportion at first. As time glided by, I feel the producers and writers started to comprehend that the professor and Mary Ann have been the lone voices of logic. We have been essential to the present, and so they expanded our elements.”

The erstwhile Professor additionally recalled a dialog he had with Wells about fan mail. Wells, he mentioned, assumed that Tina Louise would get a the majority of the present’s fan mail, as she was “the glamorous one.” Because it seems, Wells bought at the least as a lot fan mail, citing how relatable she was, possessing a “lady nextdoor” high quality. 

Johnson, sadly, handed away in 2014 on the age of 89. Wells died of COVID-19 in 2020 on the age of 82. Each of them, nevertheless, will dwell on via the never-forgotten “Gilligan’s Island” reruns.