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Natalie Schafer was the only real-life millionaire on Gilligan's Island
She raked in cash from real estate then donated it to a hospital… and a poodle?
You know how the theme song goes: "A millionaire and his wife!" Sorry, Thurston, it turns out that Lovey Howell should have gotten first credit as "the millionaire." The dirty little secret of Gilligan's Island — and much of Sixties television in general — is that actors hardly made any money off of reruns. Most Hollywood folks simply did not foresee these TV series aired repeatedly without stop for more than half a century.
Take it from Mary Ann herself, Dawn Wells, who said this in a 2016 interview with Forbes:
"A misconception is that we [Gilligan's Island stars] must be wealthy, rolling in the dough, because we got residuals. We didn’t really get a dime. I think my salary — of course, I was low on the totem pole, Ginger [Tina Louise] and Thurston [Jim Backus] got more — was $750 a week. Sherwood Schwartz, our producer, reportedly made $90 million on the reruns alone!"
Those small screen stars who were really "rolling in the dough" often found their money elsewhere. Take Denver Pyle, for example. He may have played country bumpkins like Briscoe Darling and Uncle Jesse Duke, but in reality, the Pyle was a true Jed Clampett, earning piles of cash from oil.
Similarly, Natalie Schafer, "Lovey Howell" herself, amassed millions. She and her husband, fellow actor Louis Calhern, invested in Beverly Hills real estate when the getting was cheap. The couple was married from 1933–42, but their holdings paid off handsomely.
Upon her death in 1991, Schafer bequeathed $2 million to the Motion Picture and Television Hospital, which renovated and renamed an outpatient wing in her honor. "She was a very generous, wonderful human being, and very loyal to her friends, and I think we can see that through her relationship to the fund," a spokesperson for the Motion Picture and Television Fund said at the time.
And here we come to a legend surrounding Schafer's death and wealth.
"Actress Natalie Schafer, who played Mrs. Howell on Gilligan's Island, reportedly left a fat chunk of her estate to her poodle," the Seattle Times wrote in 2007. Similarly, Mental Floss explained, "Schafer bequeathed a large chunk of her fortune to her favorite teacup poodle (she had no children), with instructions for that money to be donated to the Motion Picture and Television Hospital after the pooch’s passing."
It could just be an urban legend. But considering the eclectic Schafer once ate a diet of nothing but ice cream ("I think I've tried every diet there is, but my favorite I invented myself — the ice cream diet," she once said. "I eat a quart of ice cream a day.") we wouldn't doubt it.
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Bob Denver 20 million
Jim Backus 5 million
Alan Hale 6 million
Tina Louise 6 million
Russell Johnson 4 million
Natalie wasn't home that day, so I never met her, and the house seemed unremarkable by Beverly Hills standards of the day, but it's my brief brush with "Gilligan's Island."
Adjusting for inflation, $750 in 1964 is equivalent to about $5000 a week now. The show averaged just under 35 episodes for each of its three seasons, so Wells would've been making the equivalent of about $175,000 a year. it didn't make her rich, but it allowed for a pretty comfortable life. If she took, say, a third of that salary and invested it well, she could indeed have been quite well off by the mid-1980s or early '90s.
We’ve had this discussion here before. Particularly regarding Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle) who people seemed to begrudge for having earned his money the hard way.
You can’t take the relative comparison presented here as a financial “standard.” First of all it's about the entertainment industry. And as much even though these actors have become beloved classic figures now, they auditioned for (usually short-lived) contract jobs. The hope of seasonal renewal was only a luxury and never a given. Owning part of the residuals was never figured into the contract of base players.
In California, no matter the decade, cost of living has always been expensive. On top of that these “self-employed” actors were paying out more than an average worker in terms of maintenance fees. Keeping fit, looking well, wardrobe, holding down part time jobs to be available for auditions, manager, casting agencies, photo work. I could go on but these were self-employed workers covering their own medical care and planning retirement investments. As much fun as a “gig” on a now popular sitcom might seem, waiting around all day, just to be called for your part among an ensemble cast was the equivalent of offering theater worthy performances, for base pay. Just to get the exposure. Because that’s what got them their next job!
So no, within context, it wasn’t as much money as you’re guessing. Not for what was being expected of them as professions! Usually a career they chose just for the love of "acting" and glamor!
1. Lived in SoCal
2. Were self-employed
2. Got your job in your industry based on looks
3. Auditioned for jobs a couple times every year or more
4. Paid a manager to make financial decisions
5. Didn't get 401k benefits (cause they didn't exist)
6. Worked part time jobs just to eat and pay rent
I wasn't referring to people who were careless with money or being taken advantage of by crooks. Or the crybaby celebrities and athletes of today. Just a lot of genuine talent in the day who worked very hard to get to the point of where we (fans and audience) recognized them. And appreciated the enjoyment they provided.