Actress Dawn Wells, who portrayed Mary Ann on the classic TV sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” died Wednesday at age 82, according to her publicist.
Wells died in Los Angeles due to complications of COVID-19, publicist Harlan Boll said in a Facebook post announcing her death.
Wells was one of the last surviving cast members of the show that featured three women and four men stranded on a desert island following the shipwreck of the S.S. Minnow.
Wells “passed peacefully (Wednesday) morning, in no pain, as a result of complications due to COVID,” Boll said in a Facebook post. In the post, Boll referred to her as America’s favorite castaway.
“With over 540,000 fans on her Facebook page and fan clubs across the U.S., her following has remained faithful,” Boll wrote. “Dawn would say that Mary Ann fits today just as she fit three generations ago, because she is timeless.
I am devastated today. Truly, at the top of the list of hardest things to do is announce the passing of a friend or…
Posted by B Harlan Boll on Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Tina Louise — who portrayed starlet Ginger — is the lone surviving original cast member. The sitcom also starred Bob Denver, as Gilligan, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer and Russell Johnson.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in name to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum or The Shambala Preserve, Boll said.
Wells will forever be in our hearts and minds
R.I.P.
