A former model and nightclub singer, red-haired beauty Tina Louise trained at the Actors Studio and the Neighborhood Playhouse. After her success in the Broadway musical "Li'l Abner", she went to Hollywood and played in a variety of films, but is best known for her comic turn as the sexy, Marilyn Monroe-ish stranded movie star Ginger in the long-running TV series Gilligan's Island.



Mother of Caprice Crane. Her Broadway debut was in "Li'l Abner," where she played Apassionata Von Climax. She shared her dressing room with another actress making her Broadway debut in the same play - Julie Newmar. Although she is most associated with playing Ginger in "Gilligan's Island" (1964), she detests the role and has not appeared in any of the series' various reunion specials. According to Russell Johnson, Tina was told she would be the main star of the show when she was initially approached about doing it, and when she arrived in Los Angeles after accepting the offer, she found out otherwise. Johnson also recalls that while Tina remained professional throughout the show's run without raising a fuss, she "divorced herself from the show as soon as it went off the air". Grew to resent her role on "Gilligan's Island" (1964) and refused to appear on any of the reunion shows following the series' cancellation (her character was played by Judith Baldwin). According to Sherwood Schwartz, however, she did offer to appear in the reunion show, Rescue from Gilligan's Island (1978) (TV); however, the salary she demanded was considered too high. She and fellow "Gilligan's Island" (1964) cast member Dawn Wells have both been asked to appear together in numerous television ad campaigns over the years. However, the two actresses have never liked each other and have not spoken in years. They have turned down many of these offers. The most notable one was a commercial for Old Navy clothing stores, which would feature them as Mary Ann and Ginger, still stuck on the island.