Posted on 01/16/2014 12:45:00 PM PST by Timber Rattler
Russell Johnson, the actor best known for playing the Professor on "Gilligan's Island," has died.
ABC News confirmed with the actor's wife, Constance, that the 89-year-old TV star died early this morning of kidney failure.
"He died at home, peaceful, in his sleep at 5:21 am today," she said. "[He was] a very brave guy who knew what he wanted, and he wanted to be at home."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Another little weird memory just came to mind. Around 1977, there was that “Gilligan” tv-movie, in which the cast gets rescued. I remember half-watching it when it was on that night, with my parents nearby. There was a scene in which Gilligan and the Skipper are tying the castaways to palm trees for their safety (maybe a big storm is coming? can’t recall the particulars). But anyway, Gilligan in tying up Ginger to the tree, but her pronounced bosom is there, and somewhat in the way of Gilligan’s tying her, and he’s acting a bit embarrassed and self-conscious about it for a brief moment.
Anyway, I remember my parents (who frankly hated Gilligan’s Island, for its silliness), noticed that scene, and grimaced “they would have to add something like that in nowadays, wouldn’t they?” Apparently that humor in that bit they deemed a bit too blue, and to be honest, I didn’t necessarily disagree! Probably because it was out-of-character with the series total innocence. Gosh, compared to the abject sleaze and debauchery that television has descended to nowadays, it just seems mind-boggling to think of that little scene as something so untoward as to be crossing a boundary.
The real news is that he died of kidney failure....I guess.
Didn’t they try to seal it with some homemade lacquer that made all the boards pop off?
Bob Denver (Gilligan) threatened to walk off the show if they didn't give Johnson and Wells billing in the opening credits.
Two episodes of Gilligan begin on ME TV at 7 central time. That is just a few minutes.
I wonder if they will mention the Professor?
LOL. I don’t remember. But that sounds like it would have been funny.
They did show a brief picture of “The Professor” along with the years of his birth and death.
I was just thinking...if the Professor had been able to fix the hole in the boat, the series wouldn’t have lasted as long as it did. The writers probably realized this and so they never bothered to write that part in.
You are correct; Johnson’s son was gay and served as the first policy adviser to then-LA Mayor Tom Bradley on AIDS. Mr. Johnson’s son died from the disease in 1994, when the “Blame Reagan for AIDS” was still a convenient smear in Hollywood.
Of course, the vast majority of AIDS cases were entirely preventable, but give the gay community credit: they turned the disease into a crusade and demonized anyone who opposed them or their lifestyle. I often wonder how much progress might have been made in the battles against diseases like ALS and various cancers, if researchers had only a fraction of the funding that was devoted to AIDS.
RIP, Mr. Johnson. I enjoyed his work, and everything I’ve read about him suggests he was a devoted friend, husband and father. And, if you watch your child die decades before they should, I suppose there is a temptation to blame someone else, particularly if it is in vogue in your profession and community. But Russell Johnson was wrong about Reagan, and history proves it.
Sproing!
Tina apparently had aspirations as a serious actor, and signed on with Gilligan’s Island after her movie career cooled. She was the only one of the original cast who never appeared in the made-for-TV reunion movies. Of course, I don’t recall seeing her in a lot of acting roles after “Gilligan” went off the air, either.
“Royalties” in the TV world are better known as “residuals.” From what I’ve read, none of the cast members on Gilligan’s Island received any residuals after the fifth airing of reruns, which means they didn’t make a dime off the series after 1970 (the show was cancelled in 1967). Since then, the only parties that have made money from foreign syndication sales, DVD collections, etc., have been Sherwood Schwartz, Paramount and CBS.
I stand corrected. It WAS for JFK. I checke IMDB.com.
You’re right. But in the old days people were not constantly reminded of how young and vibrant people who once were because of pictures and film, etc. That is what makes any death seem sad in this present earth age, imo.
Here is Tina and Catwomen
http://www.moviestore.com/tina-louise-603502/
Tina playing tennis
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/896/1T2.jpg
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