Secrets You Never Knew About the Stars of Gilligan’s Island

You may have laughed along with Gilligan, Skipper, Lovey and all the gang for years, but you probably never knew these odd secrets about the actors who played them.

Not where director Sherwood Schwartz was concerned! He just dialed a random number in the phone book — and the name of the recipient was Gilligan. If Schwarz’s finger had dropped on Kowalczyk, we wonder if the program would have been a smash.

Now that the name of the series and plot of the series were defined, they needed a top-tier cast if they truly wanted to make the show memorable. Let’s look into some of the behind-the-scenes cast secrets next!

Surprisingly, the makers of Gilligan’s Island passed him up. Before the sitcom aired, a different composer was enlisted, and the theme song in the show’s premiere is completely different.

You might have played castaway yourself if you were lucky enough to visit the site. The set lasted almost 30 years before they paved over the paradise to put up a parking lot.

She reportedly didn’t think a sitcom with such a ridiculous premise would stay the course. But we couldn’t fathom anyone else playing Lovey, so we’re delighted she stayed.

The Professor and Mary Ann are merely referred to as “the rest” in the lyrics, while the remainder of the characters were given specific names. This was remedied in the second season, after Bob Denver stood up for them.

In the dark parody, Mary Ann has an affair, Lovey admits that her marriage was a ruse, and the Professor is involved in the atomic weapon development that dropped on Nagasaki. What about Gilligan? He spends time in a mental facility where he is subject to electroshock therapy. We’re glad that’s not what really happened!

The producers heard Wells’ original voice in an episode where Mary Ann’s caterwauling was part of the plot, and quickly realized they needed to dub her from then on. Whew!

Yes, this is true! The producers came up with the brilliant idea of giving Gilligan a pet dinosaur. Budget limitations, much to Schwartz’s relief, eventually put an end to that odd concept.

While the rest of the Gilligan’s Island ensemble used to laugh and joke together in between takes, Louise, according to Bob Denver, preferred to be alone.

In a press statement, Sherwood Schwartz, the show’s creator, referred to the hero as Willy, although this was not considered an “official” response. But wait a minute! The only characters that were called by their surnames were the super-rich Howells, according to Schwartz. So what’s really true?

After bringing the grumpy Archie Bunker to life, Carroll O’Connor became a household name. He came close to landing his big break some years prior when he auditioned for the role of The Skipper on Gilligan’s Island. 

Roseanne included several cast members in a scene. Oh, and for a McDonalds’ ad, Denver recreated his most famous part. Yes, that was Gilligan chomping on some French fries!

Whenever Lovey was diving into the mud or lagoon, Schafer was putting her own life on the line. Swimming and eating ice cream, according to the actress, helped her stay in shape.

Aubrey then commissioned another sitcom based on the same concept to support his argument. The Baileys of Balboa, on the other hand, was canceled after only one season. Aubrey lost his job as a result of that disaster.

In “They are Off and Running”, the single Gilligan may also be seen wearing Bob Denver’s wedding ring! 

When she discovered she had to share equal screen time with six other cast members, the actress was taken aback. What’s worse, Louise is alleged to have had several disagreements with producers regarding her role. Perhaps that’s why she didn’t appear in the movie?

Following the terrible incident, the US authorities shut down the Hawaii navy facility where the crew was shooting for 48 hours. 

During filming, the Lovey actress was a full 12 years older than Backus. Scandal! Schafer did everything she could to obscure this, even stipulating in her contract that the camera must not zoom in too close, so viewers would not see her wrinkles.

Jerry Van Dyke, Dick’s younger brother, was the original choice for the role, but he turned down the program because the pilot screenplay was “The worst thing [he had] ever read.” Van Dyke did, however, go on to be featured in the ludicrous My Mother the Car, so perhaps he did not make the wrong decision.

Schafer and her husband made their fortune in Beverly Hills’ postwar real estate market. (There was no news on whether the couple received an oil business as a wedding gift though!)

The producers contacted Jayne Mansfield to play the movie actress, but her third husband urged her to decline.

After graduating from high school, the star enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet. In a clever twist, he utilized the GI Bill money to pay for his acting courses — which led to him shooting to fame as the Professor.

According to one letter, “Why not send one US destroyer to rescue those unfortunate folks before they starve to death?” Well, maybe because it’s just a TV show?

Producers utilized real hollowed-out coconuts for the characters to sip from in the early episodes. However, these handcrafted props quickly became soiled, and eventually, they were replaced with fake ones.

Uncle Professor? It’s not exactly easy to pronounce. Fortunately, the executives laughed it off since they already had a large child in the cast in the form of Gilligan himself.

Unfortunately, the plan backfired. The New Yorker was forced to relocate to Los Angeles once the program was picked up for a full season, and she was not pleased. She sobbed so much that many around her assumed there had been a death in the family at the time.

So, in addition to the slothful Gilligan, the Howells’ avarice and gluttony, and lusty Ginger, there was jealous Mary Ann, haughty Professor, and wrathful Skipper. It makes a lot of sense.

And if the producers had stuck to their original ideas for Mary Ann and Ginger, we would have had a completely different program. Both of them were supposed to be secretaries, and Mary Ann was to be called Bunny.

Welch, on the other hand, had the final laugh. She won a huge deal with 20th Century Fox just a year before Gilligan’s Island was canceled, and the rest is film history.

Yes, the actress was the sole cast member who demanded more than a salary and short-term royalties, owing to her astute business sense. Every time an episode aired, the money kept rolling in for Wells.

The actors may not have been truly trapped, but it didn’t stop them from suffering from the occasional island-related injury. Such was the case with poor Hale.

However, the on-set trainer’s fast thinking saved Bob Denver’s bacon. Fortunately, the only damage was to a pair of ripped-apart twin beds.

The actor once asked that his name be deleted from the show’s opening credits unless the names of the Professor and Mary Ann were also included, even though they were simply acknowledged as “the rest” in the first season.

What is the moral of the story? Nothing is secure in the television industry. The network terminated Gilligan’s Island before season four was completed after being forced to give up its schedule to Gunsmoke.

He’d assured them that a fourth season was on the way, and a number of the cast members had bought houses near the California studio as a result of his promise.

After characterizing television programming as “a huge wasteland,” the former president of the Federal Communications Commission attracted Schwartz’s anger. We’re sure Minow was laughing once he recognized the name.

With his grumbles about needing to keep the characters on the island, Jim Aubrey didn’t help matters. However, Aubrey was finally won over when it was agreed that the castaways would be rescued if the show’s ratings dropped.

Enough to get away from the western he was shooting in Utah when he was told he couldn’t go to his audition. The actor was ultimately rewarded for his efforts after a horseback ride, hitchhiking, and a trip to Los Angeles.

Dawn Wells said that the actor took her and Natalie Schafer out to lunch regularly. However, Backus would discover, oh-so-conveniently, that he had forgotten his wallet when the check arrived, leaving the others to cover it.

In subsequent spin-offs and sequels, other actresses stepped in to play the role of Ginger. Initially, in that pilot, Kit Smythe filled the role, though the character was portrayed as a secretary. After Louise stepped away from the island forever, she was replaced in later TV movies (Rescue from Gilligan’s Island, The Castaways) by Judith Baldwin.

In the opening credits of the first season, as the Minnow pulls out of the harbor, the United States flag can be seen flying at half mast. 

The announcer heard on the radio is the voice of Maxwell, a veteran character actor who appeared on t.v. shows Bonanza,  Gunsmoke,  Lawman,  Rawhide and The Rifleman. Though he was never credited for his role, Gilligan’s Island was his longest recurring role.

Somewhere along the way in the creative process that itinerary was cut in half. We’re not quite sure why there was the sudden decision made to take away three hours.

The folk-rock act also performed “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” heard in the Disney miniseries Davy Crockett. The Gilligan’s theme would eventually be changed to include the Professor and Mary Ann as their characters grew in importance and fandom. The first version merely referred to them as “the rest.”

The band ended up washing up on the shore of the island as the parody bands The Mosquitoes. This was a kitschy play on popular band The Beatles.

David Ruprecht, who was the host of the game show Supermarket Sweep was also included in the cast. This was due to the poor health of Jim Backus, the original Thurston.

The end result was Dusty’s Trail, which also starred Bob Denver alongside Forrest Tucker of F Troop fame. The pitch included a rich couple, a brainiac, a farm girl and a stunning bombshell. Unfortunately the show tanked after one season, though four episodes were stitched together to make the theatrical release The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West.

In the series episode “Big Man on a Little Stick,” their position is stated as approximately 110º longitude by 10º latitude. These coordinates  would put the island a ways off Mexico’s Pacific coast. Finally, in “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane,” the U.S. Navy spots Gilligan flying over the island in a jet pack. They report the location as 250 miles south of Hawaii!

The two shows filmed on the same sound stage so in the episode “Sherwood Schwartz—A Loving Tribute” even had the castaways slipped into the roles of Roseanne characters. As seen in this still, Louise playing Roseanne, Dawn Wells as Darlene… and Bob Denver as Jackie!

The cook then comes out to take the police chief’s order (some viewers may have recognized the friendly face).  The chef is Alan Hale! The police chief then says to the chef, “Right, Gilligan, one large milk and a hot pastrami.”

Gilligan’s Planet, which lasted a mere 13 episodes, would end up being the final Saturday morning cartoon ever produced by the legendary studio, as the company shifted to producing content afterwards.