Dawn Wells

To an entire generation of viewers, actress Dawn Wells will forever be associated with her recurring portrayal of Mary Ann Summers, the sugar-sweet and open-faced country lass shipwrecked on a desert isle with one of the zaniest television ensembles of the '60s, on the sitcom Gilligan's Island (1964-1967). That part lasted for the entire three-season run of the program, and represented Wells' first career breakthrough (she had previously essayed a number of guest appearances on shows including 77 Sunset Strip, 87th Precinct, and Hawaiian Eye). Following Gilligan, Wells accepted parts in a string of B-movies such as Winterhawk (1975), The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976), and Return to Boggy Creek (1977), and joined most of the Gilligan series cast for several reunion movies and specials, but devoted much of her time to founding and running the Wishing Wells Collection, a clothing line designed especially for the elderly and disabled. - Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide