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Bob Denver and Tina Louise ignored one another on Gilligan's Island
Learn about the love lost between the castaways.
What's a workplace without some drama? True unanimous harmony just doesn't happen in spaces where everyone has opinions and egos and their own motivations. Couple that with the outsized personalities in Hollywood, and it's no wonder not every production ended on friendly terms.
The drama on Gilligan's Island is hard to verify, but sometimes what's unspoken is more powerful than what is. That show was a big deal, both in terms of its ratings and the merchandise empire that came out of it. So, like with many other media properties, any interview surrounding Gilligan's Island was pretty heavily monitored and controlled by the network. CBS was pretty diligent in what its stars could and couldn't say about one another in the press. They were, after all, the meal ticket. And if CBS wasn't happy, you could guarantee none of the involved actors would be either.
However, there are some clues within a January 1965 edition of TV Guide. These clues point to some serious acrimony between series star Bob Denver (Gilligan) and Tina Louise (Ginger Grant). If the island was paradise, then the TV Guide article pointed toward the trouble in it.
"[Bob] Denver will not say why he and the glamorous Tina [Louise] do not get along, nor will any of the castaways—they just ignore her, and she ignores them.
"Between scenes, while the other six principals chat and tell jokes together, she sits off by herself. And recently when Denver was asked to pose for pictures with her, he adamantly refused."
While much is left to speculation, it appears as though the hard feelings weren't just one-way. As it turns out, it may have been the production as a whole that left a bad taste in Tina Louise's mouth.
"Part of Louise's dissatisfaction with the series was that she had expected to be the star of the show."
While she wasn't given top billing for any of Gilligan's 98 episodes, Tina Louise was inarguably an important part of the show's success. But, because of the series' indelible mark on pop culture, Louise was mostly typecast as Ginger types for the rest of her career. That might sour anyone on a show and its crew.
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18 Comments
This does not surprise me that much Andy and the woman who played Aunt B did not really like each other.
It wasn't her show, but certainly was an integral part of most episodes.
Barabara Stanywyck defined egotism pretty much like this.. "Egotism: A case of mistaken non-entity".
Tina Louise certainly embodied that definition as far as I'm concerned. She's about as deep as a rain puddle...
