RIP Mary Ann. Gilligan’s Island star Daybreak Wells lost her battle with coronavirus on Wednesday, December 30. She was 82 years outdated.
Publicist Harlan Boll introduced Wells’ loss of life on Wednesday, confirming she died of causes associated to COVID-19 in Los Angeles.
Per week earlier than her passing, Wells shared a Christmas video through Fb, writing, “I had enjoyable with mates from a secure distance being goofy and recording a Christmas greeting. Hold your coronary heart mild and share a number of laughs and dialog with somebody close to and much. Be nicely. Be secure. Have a Merry Christmas!”
Within the feedback part, she added that she would have a “new appreciation” for “easy gatherings” on the finish of the pandemic. “Please discover pleasure amidst the pandemic and be cognizant of our overwhelmed first responders,” Wells wrote. “Lets not let our actions make a much bigger burden for them. I’m grateful and in awe of the dedication of our well being care professionals.”
Daybreak Wells on the fifty fifth Anniversary of ‘Gilligan’s Island’ at Hollywood Museum on September 25, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. MediaPunch/Shutterstock
Gilligan’s Island starred Bob Denver (Gilligan), Alan Hale Jr. (Jonas “The Skipper” Grumby), Jim Backus (Thurston Howell III), Wells (Mary Ann Summers), Tina Louise (Ginger Grant), Natalie Schafer (Lovey Howell) and Russell Johnson (Professor Roy Hinkley). The Sherwood Schwartz sitcom initially aired for 3 seasons on CBS from 1964 to 1967. All 98 episodes have been additionally aired in syndication through the years.
Louise, 86, is the last surviving member of the regular cast.
Wells wrote about her time on the enduring collection in her 2014 e book, What Would Mary Ann Do?: A Information to Life.
“Each character on Gilligan’s Island was given a broad ‘inventory’ comedy function to fill — captain, mate, rich man, rich spouse, professor, film star — besides me,” she wrote. “She was given a reputation and placement — Kansas farm lady. I needed to fill within the blanks. So, from the get-go, the Mary Ann character was completely different. She wasn’t a Hollywood creation. She was molded by me, from me.”
Her former costar Johnson additionally gushed about her within the ahead.
Daybreak Wells in ‘Gilligan’s Island’. Mediapunch/Shutterstock
“We love Mary Ann as a result of she is the long run, the hope of our world,” he wrote. The youngest of the castaways, Mary Ann has her complete life in entrance of her. “Watching her unfailing good cheer, her optimism isn’t in query. We love her as a result of we’d like her emotional assist and her perception that every one will prove nicely … We love Mary Ann due to Daybreak Wells.”
Social media customers have been fast to pay tribute to Wells on Wednesday.
“When it got here all the way down to the immortal query, ‘Ginger or Mary Ann?’ the reply was at all times Mary Ann. All the time. #RIPDawnWells,” one particular person tweeted.
One other consumer wrote, “Simply heard about Daybreak Wells and discover myself wiping away tears. All through my childhood, GILLIGAN’S ISLAND was mocked for each its cartoonish simplicity and inescapable ubiquity, however I at all times appreciated how the previous defined the later. It was a piece of pure pleasure. And Wells efficiency as Mary Ann was a big cause for that.”
Actress Jane Lynch additionally reacted on the social media platform, tweeting, “Oh, this so unhappy. Bon voyage, Mary Ann.”
