Tina Louise Reveals That She Barely Made Any Money Working on 'Gilligan's Island'

WideOpenCountry ^ | 3/15/25 | Caleb Catlin

[packrat35]

DAYYYYUM

[DiogenesLamp]

All the rest of the cast embraced their roles, anyway I was a Mary Anne guy.

Mary Anne (Dawn Wells) got residuals written into her contract, so she was getting paid for the series every time it ran. If I recall correctly, she was the only cast member that thought to do that.

Sadly she passed away awhile back. Tina Louise is the last surviving main cast member.

Of course some guests are still around. Kurt Russel appeared in an episode.

[Apparatchik]

From Wiki: Louise campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.

So IDGAS what she thinks is right - she’s a dumba$$ and a mediocre talent.

[Seruzawa]

So was everybody else. Lol.

[DiogenesLamp]

No money at all from residuals? She must have had the worst agent in the world, by a considerable margin.

It is my understanding that nobody had heard of reruns back when they launched this thing, so few people had any ideas about residuals.

Dawn Wells had residuals written into her contract, so she made plenty of money from the reruns. I think she was the only one that did that.

[SaveFerris]

Met her in 1992

Looked great

Lost the picture of the two of us

Company event

[Fledermaus]

And the show was only 3 years. Not every cast member appeared in every episode.

98 is alot for 3 years. Standard was about 26 a year, less for hour long shows.

Was probably filmed in long periods and edited into 98 episodes.

Like game shows. They film for about 6 to 8 weeks, 10 hours a day then take the rest of the tear off.

[GingisK]

The Three Stooges weren’t paid very well; and, then got nothing for the syndicated showings.

[sjmjax]

I wouldn’t be so negative towards her. Looks wise, come on she’s 90 years old!
Complaints about compensation.
Kind of mixed there. Most cast members probably never imagined the program to have any significant audience or longevity.
Much of the cast probably just happy to have a job at the time considering all the competition in Hollywood.

I have regrets about decisions I made in the past regarding career choices and investments.
Had I known then what I know now, I would have made different decisions. Who wouldn’t? We sometimes forget the circumstances of the moment and the choices we willingly made at the time.

[Magnum44]

Hmmm, I met Jack Palance and Quinton Tarantino (not at the same time) in the 90’s. I’d swap them both for your Mary Anne! :)

[Sarah Barracuda]

Instead of money she got paid in coconuts

[SaveFerris]

Well, it was only a 3-hour tour...

[bankwalker]

Larry Fine died broke, crippled, and decrepit.

[SaveFerris]

She definitely looked great

She was raising money for

Children’s Miracle Network

[Fledermaus]

Touche

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

Reminds me a little of Leonard Nimoy, after Star Trek ended. Not regarding the royalties, because I have no idea what sort of deal he had. But he was concerned about being typecast by such an iconic and popular role, so he immediately got on the Mission:Impossible cast in a completely different kind of role.

TV history is filled with co-stars who struggled to emerge from a popular sitcom role. Just look at the entire cast of Happy Days, with the exception of Ron Howard.

Many people have made it work. Woody Harrelson and Kelsey Grammar from Cheers come to mind.

[UnwashedPeasant]

It is wild how movie stars can be super famous but not rich, and sometimes not even “comfortable.”

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

However, according to Tina Louise, the legacy of the show doesn't exactly reflect the kind of pay they were getting at the time.

At the time TV actors worked very hard and made very little money.

James Garner famously quit Maverick because he was going broke working on it. They were filming 27 episodes per season, which is pretty grueling schedule.

On shows like The Virginian, the schedule was even more grueling. Each episode was 90 minutes long and they filmed 30 per season.

[libertylover]

No money at all from residuals? She must have had the worst agent in the world, by a considerable margin.

That's what I was thinking too. Plus $1,500/week in the 1960s was one hell of a lot more than most people made.

[GingisK]

They all seemed to be decent people. Their history is interesting, but often sad.

My brothers and I never missed a showing.