Dawn Wells, the real-life Mary Ann Summers of “Gilligan’s Island,” was just as sunny and down-to-earth off-screen as she was …
Dawn Wells, the real-life Mary Ann Summers of “Gilligan’s Island,” was just as sunny and down-to-earth off-screen as she was on-screen, her co-star Tina Louise, the show’s only surviving cast member, told The Post Wednesday. Louise, who played the indelible flame-haired Ginger Grant on the CBS show, spoke fondly of Wells, who died at age 82 Wednesday in Los Angeles after battling COVID-19. “I’m very sad,” said Louise, who infamously declined to appear in revivals and reboots or discuss the show over the decades since it ended in 1967. “Dawn was a very wonderful person. I want people to remember her as someone who always had a smile on her face,” said Louise, who lives on Manhattan’s East Side. “Nothing is more important than family and she was family. She will always be remembered.” Louise, an enduring beauty who asked that The Post not mention her age, was shocked to hear about her friend’s death during a phone call from a Hollywood friend. “Nobody wants to get that kind of news — especially that way, with this horrible disease,” she said, adding that the health-conscious actress is doing her part to fortify herself. “I’m doing my exercise and having a vegetarian lunch today,” she said, adding somberly, “Everything’s complicated now.
