Tina Louise Reveals How Little ‘Gilligan’s Island’ Stars Made From the Show — What’s She Doing Now?
Gilligan’s Island remains one of the most beloved and popular shows of all time, even though it only aired for three seasons in the 1960s. The show has stood the test of time in pop culture, so fans might think that the cast was set for life. Unfortunately, Tina Louise, who played Ginger Grant, revealed that this was not the case. The cast was not paid very well and did not receive any residuals over the years.
Louise, the only surviving member of the main cast, explained that she and her costars “made so little money, like $1,500 an episode.” She also confirmed that she has not received any money from reruns or syndication residuals over the years. Even so, she is grateful for the role that catapulted her into stardom.
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Louise opened up to Forbes about the start of the CBS series. “I always enjoyed my work. I left a Broadway show to do it. 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. 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 the [CBS] organization called me into his office and he said, ‘We hear you want to leave.'”
Everett Collection
She continued, “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. You just can’t go into people’s homes and dress somebody up like a doll and then have her to be not nice. So, he agreed with me and he got rid of the director after it was only a month, and he hired Richard Donner, who was fantastic. 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.”
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These days, Louise is enjoying being a grandmother but would love to continue to act. She most recently appeared in the 2019 film Tapestry with Stephen Baldwin and is open to new projects. She explained, “I don’t really have an agent. Yes, I would — but it’s like dreaming will not make it so. 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 just don’t have representation in that area, but I mean, I can be found. I think it’s pointless to have an agent. Why would they do that at this point? 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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September 2020
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