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Gilligan's Island reruns gave Jim Backus a newfound sense of security
"I’ll be set for life," said the actor.
In the tumultuous world of Hollywood, a good actor must be prepared for everything. Consistency is a rarity, and even the best actors will know failure far more frequently than they will know success.
A television role offers an actor the unusual opportunity of playing the same character over and over again, providing a glimpse of regularity in their career. For Jim Backus, a regular television role on Gilligan’s Island was a saving grace.
“It’s nice to know that I am building up an annuity at long last,” Backus said during an interview with The Gazette. Backus became famous for playing Thurston Howell III, a millionaire. In real life, Backus was fairly business-savvy himself. He used the television series as an opportunity to gain some financial security.
“I figure Gilligan’s can go another two or three years, and then I’ll be set for life...Those residual payments are dandy.”
That being said, joining the cast of Gilligan’s Island was certainly a leap of faith. Backus acknowledged that the cast and crew were working to prove plenty of critics wrong.
“We succeeded against some of the worst reviews of all time,” said the actor. “They weren’t reviews, really; they were character assassinations...What the reviewers didn’t realize was that our show was a put-on. Critics were too accustomed to the Ozzie and Harriet-Donna Reed sort of thing. They took us literally.”
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