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In the annuals of pop culture there have been three great debates: Coke or Pepsi?, Ford or Chevy?, and Ginger or Mary Ann? The answers to the first two questions may never be settled, but the third is a no-brainer.

The overwhelming majority of men and women everywhere prefer girl-next-door Mary Ann Summers, a fictional character from the ‘60’s comedy series, “Gilligan’s Island”, played expertly by Dawn Wells. Dawn was a stage and screen actress, a teacher, and author of “What Would Mary Ann Do?”. Dawn Wells passed away on December 30 from complications of COVID. She was 82.  

Dawn Wells was born October 18, 1938 in Reno, Nevada. Her father Joe was part owner in a Las Vegas hotel, and her mother Evelyn was a homemaker, and a bit over protective of her daughter.  “My Mother knew where I was every single second. My junior year in college, I’m driving from Reno to Seattle with my boyfriend, and the highway patrol pulls us over. I rolled down the window and the policeman said, ‘Is there a Dawn Wells in the car?’ ‘Yes’, I said. ‘Call your mother,’ he said (Dawn laughs)”. 

Dawn won the Miss Nevada contest in 1959, competed in the Miss America pageant, then caught the acting bug in college. Soon afterward, she found steady work on television, often guest starring in Westerns like Cheyenne, Maverick, Wagon Train, and many others.

She was a natural fit for Westerns because her great great grandfather was a stagecoach driver, and Dawn had ridden horses since she was a child. “I remember one of the first western episodes I did, they asked me, ‘Can you drive a buckboard?’. I hadn’t driven a buckboard in my life, but I said ‘Of course I can!’  My horse got away and they had to come get me (laughs).”

Dawn portrayed Mary Ann from 1964 until 1967, but thanks to syndication, “Gilligan’s Island” has been playing somewhere in the world ever since. As a result, Dawn became one of the most recognizable actresses on the planet, and was in constant demand at nostalgia conventions and on talk shows. 

I first met Dawn in 2013 when she attended the Western Film Festival in Winston-Salem.  We re-connected five years later when she performed at the High Point Theatre to promote her book.

JL:  Why did you write the book in the first place?

DW:  Because we don’t have a Mary Ann today, and I think it’s very difficult being a parent, or a best friend. There’s no guidelines. My generation was pretty black and white. There were no drugs, no sex before marriage. Now with all of the temptations and all of the permissiveness everywhere, it’s much harder to raise a child. But there still needs to be a guideline behind it, and I think that’s Mary Ann.  

JL:  Mary Ann herself had a pretty good upbringing because she never engaged in intimate relations with the Professor on Gilligan’s Island.

DW:  Back then there was never any romance. They couldn’t even show my navel. We’ve come a long way. If we were doing the show today, we’d all be living in the same hut (laughs)”

JL:  Your touring show is for the entire family, especially for fans of Gilligan’s Island, but what do you want the audience to take away from your presentation?

DW:  When you’re in the audience, I want you to know that I’m relating to you. I’m not talking to you, I’m one of you, and that’s what I feel Mary Ann is. And what do I want you to take away from it? Don’t lose the values you’ve been raised with.

That’s pretty good advice from America’s girl next door. Rest in peace, Dawn.

(Jim Longworth is a television talk show host and columnist based in Winston-Salem, NC.)             

1960's TV Seasons: 1961 / 1964 / ABC 1966 / 1967 / 1968 / 1969 / Fall Previews / Sharon Tate on The Beverly Hillbillies / Dark, Unseen Monkees Pilot / Pistols 'N' Petticoats / Best Episodes of Every 'Lucy Show' Season / How Lee Meriwether Became Catwoman / The Star Trek Spinoff That Didn't Happen / Why Ginger Was Almost Fired From Gilligan's Island / Every Batman (1966) Fight Scene / Whatever Happened to the Beverly Hillbillies' Mansion? / Remembering "Mary Ann" - Dawn Wells Interview / Catching Up With Lucy & Desi's 'Son' / Please Don't Eat The Daisies / The Ronny Howard Show?!? / Death of Bonanza's Dan Blocker / Broadside / The Tammy Grimes Show / David McCallum on the Legacy of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. / In Defense of Bewitched (and Jeannie) / Sad Ironic Death of Crazy Guggenheim / Larry Mathers (Beaver Cleaver) on the Rumor That He Was Killed in Vietnam / The Monkees / Jimi Hendrix 1967 Tour - The Only Night It Clicked Was In Greensboro! / William Shatner on the Origin of Star Trek / Brother Dave Garner / Remembering Newton Minow / The Nurses / / Glynis / The Debbie Reynolds Show / The Riddler Was Batman's First TV Super-Villain / Betty Lynn aka Thelma Lou / Remembering The Rifleman's Johnny Crawford / Clu Gulager Obituary / Leonard Nimoy on NBC Hating Spock / Sinatra Wanted To Play Joker on Batman? Yes! / Directing the Batman Pilot / Elinor Donahue on The Andy Griffith Show / Lucy After Ricky / Robert Clary on His Hogan's Heroes Co-stars / Jeopardy! in the 60s & 70s / Stunts Gone Wrong on The Wild Wild West / Whatever Happened To Lost In Space's Guy Williams? / Best of Julie Newmar Catwoman Season 2 / The New People / Dark Shadows Director Lela Swift / Pioneer Newswoman Lisa Howard / The Jim Nabors Hour / The UN Goes to the Movies / Stories About Filming Batman from Burt Ward / Life With Linkletter / The Green Hornet / Best of The Joker / Matt Weiner Interview / Lost in Space: Mark Goddard Interview / 1961 CBS Fall Season / Bette Davis TV show: The Decorator / The Hathaways / He & She / Eartha Kitt as Catwoman / The Good Guys / James Drury of The Virginian / The Ron Hicklin Singers / Man From U.N.C.L.E. on DVD / Behind the Scenes at The Andy Griffith Show / Pat Buttram & Green Acres / Remembering Clint Walker / Cheyenne / Camp Runamuck / Gilligan's Mary Ann - Dawn Wells / 1960's Nightclub Comic Rusty Warren / Johnny Carson Tonight Show 1964 / That Girl / The Amazing Randi / TV's Greatest Car Stars / Best of Batgirl 1967-68 / TV Shows to Movies / Batman Season 2 / Supermarionation / The Virginian's Clu Gulager / William Windom / New Bewitched Book / Court Martial / Cast Changes on Bewitched and Green Acres / Sammy Davis Jr. Show / Sunday Morning Cartoons / Naked City Sherwood Schwartz Interview / Walter Cronkite Moon Landing / The Farmer's Daughter / Petula-Clark /

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