Former Miss Nevada, ‘Gilligan’s Island’ star Dawn Wells dies

Dawn Wells, a “Gilligan’s Island” star with deep ties to the Silver State, died peacefully at a Los Angeles living facility Wednesday of causes related to COVID-19, according to her publicist. She was 82.

“She was very special in her part and she will always be remembered and remembered fondly and thought about because she gave so much to the universe through the show,” Tina Louise, who co-starred on the show as Ginger Grant, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Wells played wholesome Mary Ann Summers in the 1960s sitcom that followed the adventures of a group of shipwrecked castaways. “Gilligan’s Island” ran for three seasons — from 1964 to 1967 — but Louise said she still gets letters every day from people expressing their love of the show.

“Dawn is a huge part of it,” said Louise, the show’s last surviving cast member. “She’s a girl with a smile on her face, and she did a great job and everybody loves her.”

But there was more to Wells than the character that made her famous, publicist Harlan Boll said in a statement.

Aside from TV, film and stage acting credits, her other real-life roles included teacher and motivational speaker, Boll said.

Silver State ties

And her connection to Nevada was strong.

Wells, a Reno native, was named Miss Nevada in 1959.

Her father, Joe Wells, was part-owner of the Thunderbird Casino, now the site of the Drew Las Vegas. He was also one of the founders of Wells Cargo construction company.

A trailhead near the eastern end of the Clark County Wetlands Park is named after Dawn Wells.

Wells was a founding trustee, president and chair of the board for a foundation formed in 1999 by her cousin and friend, Terry Lee Wells, she told Nevada Magazine in a 2016 interview. She told the magazine the Terry Lee Wells Foundation allowed her to be part of the Reno community.

The foundation was dissolved in 2018, but the legacy of the foundation carries on at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum in Reno.

In the magazine interview, Wells also reminisced about ice skating at Idlewild Park, located along the Truckee River in Reno.

Wells didn’t aspire to be an actress, she told the publication. Instead, she wanted to be a ballerina, but a knee injury ended that dream.

When asked if she would participate in the 1959 Miss Nevada pageant, Wells did not think she would win, but figured it would be a good platform for her, she told the magazine.

‘Blessing and a curse’

After then participating in the Miss America pageant, she pivoted to an acting career. Her early TV roles came on shows including “77 Sunset Strip,” “Maverick” and “Bonanza.”

Then came “Gilligan’s Island,” a goofy, good-natured show that became an unlikely but indelible part of popular culture.

Wells considered her role as Mary Ann a “blessing and a curse,” she told Nevada Magazine. In her 2014 book, Wells described Mary Ann as more than just a “silly and sweet ingenue,” according to an excerpt listed in an obituary on Legacy.com.

The character, according to Wells, was “bright, fair-minded and reasonable,” but “a little more of a Goody Two-shoes” than Wells herself.

The classic show eventually made its way to Las Vegas casino floors in a different form after IGT made a deal in 2003 to develop a “Gilligan’s Island” slot machine.

Cast members recorded custom speech for the game, Joe Kaminkow, the company’s former top game developer, said Wednesday. He said the cast came to the Global Gaming Expo for the introduction of the game.

“(Wells) was as sweet and kind and nice as we remember her from the series,” Kaminkow said. “She was ever-so-Mary Ann.”

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.