Bob Denver had ''nothing to say'' about his rumored clash with Tina Louise

Denver was not a fan of gaining press from a negative situation. He said, "The best thing you can do is overlook someone's problems."

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When rumors start to go around, it's hard for actors to escape them. No matter where they are, the true or false statement is brought up — especially in interviews. Many might say it's the reporter or interviewer's job to attempt to get the truth from the interviewee, but actors like Bob Denver steered away from making matters worse.

He played Gilligan on Gilligan's Island and was the main character of the show, as his character's name is in the title. However, his castmates, like Tina Louise, were stars too, just not the series' focal point. The show ran from 1964 to 1967, which was longer than many expected, and rumors started that Denver and Louise were not fond of each other.

In 1965, during an interview with The San Bernardino County Sun, the interviewer tried to get Denver to talk about the situation but he refused to lean into the negative energy. The article in the newspaper stated, "I asked Bob about the rumbles on Gilligan's Island, especially Bob's problems with Tina Louise. It had been rumored for months that they were waging their own private Vietnam."

Denver replied, "Look, I don't want to talk about it. I have nothing to say. To me, the guys on Gilligan's Island are the greatest bunch of fellows I've ever worked with. We're always pulling gags on one another; we eat together and work together. That's professionalism."

Apparently, Tina Louise talked publicly about her disenchantment with her part and co-stars. Bob Denver didn't like when actors talked badly about their castmates or shows.

"If someone wants to knock me, let 'em. I get angry when I read about [actors] knocking either other actors or their show or just about anything," Denver added.

Although the interviewer sought an "exciting" response for a "good drama story," Denver didn't give in. He understood that sometimes there would be issues on set, but the main goal was not to get the press off of the negativity.

"When you've got a big cast like ours, there's bound to be personality clashes. After all, you can't like every human being you meet, even if you want to. The best thing you can do is overlook someone's problems. I don't believe in using someone's unprofessionalism to get my name in the papers."



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34 Comments

murgatroid45 17 months ago
Long after retiring from acting Denver wrote a book and included stuff about Louise.
CoreyC 17 months ago
Bob Denver went to bat for Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells to demand that if they were not included in the intro and demanded that he would be last in the intro.
CaptainDunsel 17 months ago
"She was told she would be the star..." (and variations thereof.)

Even if that were the case, remember that things change in movies and TV. Guy Williams was told he would be the star of "Lost in Space". That changed, and rather quickly. He still showed up, hit his marks, read his lines, and cashed his paychecks.
Mike 18 months ago
For The Record:
At least two BOOKS have been written about the making of Gilligan's Island:
Inside Gilligan's Island by Sherwood Schwartz
Here on Gilligan's Island by Russell Johnson (the Professor).
Additionally, Jim Backus, Bob Denver and Dawn Wells wrote reminiscences of their own over the years.
All of these worthies were at pains to fix the blame for Tina Louise's "misunderstandings" on her agents of that period.
Also, Tina Louise ultimately came to an accomodation with her Gilligan fame; this happened once she became a mother in real life (she even wrote a blurb for Sherwood Schwartz's book - but that's another story ...).
JHP 18 months ago
damm Gilligan wasn't a dolt after all:) - some more common sense needed this minute
19611313 18 months ago
Only characters i liked were Maryann and Ginger.
vinman63 18 months ago
To appreciate Bob Denver watch The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. He was a lot funnier than he was as Gilligan.
vinman63 17 months ago
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Deleted 18 months ago
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Pacificsun 18 months ago
"[she] was given the wrong impression about what the role involved,"

lays the blame (responsibility, whatever) on Schwartz or the Network. And which any actor is careful to avoid. I don't know what else the show could've turned out to be .... I mean a 3 hour tour, ending up on an obscure island, and 20 people visiting it, but never reporting back accurately enough to end in a rescue over 3 years!

My hunch is, that TL was trying to save face among her contemporary acting buddies. Implying that she never would've signed up for something so demeaning. Denver was probably the equivalent of a consulting "executive" producer, who preferred the fun of acting, rather than functional decision-making. But no doubt, he knew exactly what was going on. Since they couldn't very well have a show titled Gilligan's Island, without Gilligan. These are not dumb people inside the Industry.
madvincent 18 months ago
the only way she would have got the Lead was if it was a porno movie called "Ginger's Island Paradise" lol
Bapa1 18 months ago
I don't think she was even in the pilot. So why would she think the show was going to be about her character? She also did not do the reunion movies.
Wolfie 18 months ago
Bob Denver was
professional, courteous, intelligent, humane and we need to be reminded of this ♥️
JHP Wolfie 18 months ago
BULLSeye:)!
Pacificsun 18 months ago
𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅.

A good actor always has his mind on the next opportunity. And doesn't want a bad reputation to precede him. I can think of three who've set their reputation on bad-mouthing other people or a situation. And because it wasn't necessary to do so, that's what we remember. Bob Denver should've (and did) set the example for being in a fun show, that wasn't Shakespeare, and yet he made the best of it. Showed concern for his fellow workers.
Linda Pacificsun 18 months ago
Most of the episodes weren't Shakespeare, but they did a good job with the musical version of "Hamlet," with the help of guest star Phil Silvers. Bob Denver was a good actor, and a great human being.
Linda 18 months ago
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Beatseeker Linda 17 months ago
my favorite episode! phil silvers makes anything funny... even the bard ..
editorsnote 18 months ago
From reading this article, it sounds to me like he's telling the whole story without mentioning Tina's name. For not wanting to talk about it, he says a lot.

"If someone wants to knock me, let 'em. I get angry when I read about [actors] knocking either other actors or their show or just about anything,"

"don't believe in using someone's unprofessionalism"
Cougar90 18 months ago
From what I understand Tina Louise was told her character would be the lead and that caused a lot of problems.
Load previous comments
" I will have some good news from the August 8 1983 issue of
People Magazine "
-------------------------------------------------------------
Hopefully you find whatever it is you're looking for. I know the mail can sometimes be slow , but you first mentioned your "potential" discovery several weeks ago. Is it being delivered
Pony Express or even slower Snail Mail?
------------------------------------------------
" I already got the information "on the internet" what
Garry Marshall said about Chuck Cunningham."

Where might that be?, Hopefully not "The Midnight Globe" (tabloid), or "Quora" (discussion blog). If you read it on the internet, it has a "URL"- Uniform Resource Locator. Its own web address. When you search for anything it shows in your address bar "https://www." ( the rest varies), It's not a difficult concept, or you wish to portray it as such.
-------------------------------------------------
"STEVEN SUNDSTROM AND DAVID Sundstrom and Crazy Hank and
ALL CHUCK CUNNINGHAM FANS"

Those same individuals- May ask the same questions- "whats the "URL or even "Do you have an "ISBN" # ( International Standard Book Number) all information whether it be a book,magazine or trade publication, periodicals, ETC.. have an ISBN #, that information is stored in various databases. It might be worth your time to brush up on the terminology.
Or at a minimum at least be prepared for such questions, or at best provide the exact articles name.



LoveMETV22 17 months ago
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" Cheif Scheider another person with HAPPY Days videos and blogs might also have happy days with the Good News About 😀 Chuck Cunningham."
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Perhaps.... and not to burst your bubble, but they might ask for the "URL's" or"ISBN#'s" to confirm the authenticity of such information.
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Side Note: -Briefly- As you seem to "enjoy" posting full episodes of various series or full length animated cartoons. You may want to research that such material is "Public Domain" and not "Copyright Protected." Example Tennessee Tuxedo" ( what is published" is owned by "Dreamworks". Same for some of the "Fractured Fairytales." The big networks don't take to kindly to their "Intellectual Property", being posted on Youtube and later re-posted on other websites. Which you will sometimes see as :

---------------------------------------------------------------
Wouldn't be surprised if the major networks ( this being one), shares such information back and forth, and how they take to copyrighted material being posted on their servers.

Better safe than sorry. But that's "your choice" what you do in regards to full length material.
Coldnorth Adanor 17 months ago
What could Robert Reed have thought his role in BB would entail. The description of the show said it all. I really have never understood that. The BB didn’t sound like a Shakespeare show to me
Deleted 18 months ago
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Mblack 18 months ago
I hope that'sa promise.
Runeshaper 18 months ago
Sounds more dramatic than the show! LOL
Runeshaper 17 months ago
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Runeshaper 17 months ago
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Runeshaper 17 months ago
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wallyandbagfan 17 months ago
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