Posted on 04/08/2025 2:29:14 PM PDT by DallasBiff
You would think a hit show like Gilligan's Island would rake in the dough. Across three seasons, they received a ton of prestige and audiences still love it. The show currently resides at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, impressive for a show that's over 60 years old. However, according to Tina Louise, the legacy of the show doesn't exactly reflect the kind of pay they were getting at the time.
Recently, she spoke with Forbes to go over her illustrious career, particularly her time on Gilligan's Island. There, Tina says that across all 98 episodes, she didn't bring in much money, "like $1,500 an episode," as she puts it. Moreover, the streaming availability and cable reruns doesn't do Louise any favors either. You would think residuals would hold her over once she settled down from an acting career. Instead, it's quite the opposite. ""Nothing! Not a cent," she exclaims
(Excerpt) Read more at wideopencountry.com ...
All the rest of the cast embraced their roles, anyway I was a Mary Anne guy.
Not surprising.
Well, sure.
Look at who she was competing against!
(Why pay for “a movie star” when you could go out with MaryAnn?)
Well now we know who sabotaged the SS Minnow.
I read somewhere that Mary Ann negotiated for lower pay but withresiduals and did well.
Her plastic surgeon needs to take an art class or two.. that’s not what people look like.
No money at all from residuals? She must have had the worst agent in the world, by a considerable margin.
+1
$1500 in 1965 amounts to $15,127.19 today, according to my search.
Pretty good money for basically dressing up and looking nice.
Guilty!!
Mary Anne was super hot! Her and Ellie May were my fantasy babes!
That is an urban legend. (I just looked it up because I was going to post it! :)
Residuals were not a “Thing” at that time. Actors, as well as musicians got royally (royalty) screwed.
Residuals were rare in those days.
X 98 thats almost 1.5M... not bad considering a journeyman in the trades was making about $7-8 an hour...
And back then a million WAS a million.
Tina actually had a career in movies, that literally screeched to a halt after Gilligan.
I know where she is coming from. Also, the earlier shows like this were notorious for cheating the people in them out of residuals.
$1500 an episode was really good money back then. A week of groceries was about $7 per person.
I read that Dawn Wells was the only one with enough foresight to ask for and receive royalties on reruns.
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