R.I.P. Lil' Buddy
(Associated Press) - Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy first mate Gilligan on the 1960s television show "Gilligan's Island," made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died, his agent confirmed Tuesday. He was 70.Denver died Friday at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina of complications from treatment he was receiving for cancer, his agent, Mike Eisenstadt, told The Associated Press. Denver's death was first reported by "Entertainment Tonight."
Denver had also undergone quadruple heart bypass surgery earlier this year. Denver's wife, Dreama, and his children Patrick, Megan, Emily and Colin were with him when he died. "He was my everything and I will love him forever," Dreama Denver said in a statement.
Denver's signature role was Gilligan. But he was already known to TV audiences for another iconic character, that of Maynard G. Krebs, the bearded beatnik friend of Dwayne Hickman's Dobie in the "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," which aired from 1959 to 1963.
"Gilligan's Island" lasted on CBS from 1964 to 1967, and it was revived in later seasons with three high-rated TV movies. It was a Robinson Crusoe story about seven disparate travelers who are marooned on a deserted Pacific Island after their small boat was wrecked in a
storm.
The cast: Alan Hale Jr., as Skipper Jonas Grumby; Bob Denver, as his klutzy assistant Gilligan; Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer, as rich snobs Thurston and Lovey Howell; Tina Louise, as bosomy movie star Ginger Grant; Russell Johnson, as egghead science professor Roy Hinkley Jr.; and Dawn Wells, as sweet-natured farm girl Mary Ann Summers.
TV critics hooted at "Gilligan's Island" as gag-ridden corn. Audiences adored its far-out comedy. Writer-creator Sherwood Schwartz insisted that the show had social meaning along with the laughs: "I knew that by assembling seven different people and forcing them to live together, the show would have great philosophical implications."
Most people probably remember Bob Denver from Gilligan's Island, but I'll always remember him as Junior from the Sid & Marty Krofft's Far-Out Space Nuts.
posted by Kirkkitsch @ 3:05 PM
3 Comments:
Aw, I hadn't heard about this. What a shame. I loved Maynard G. Krebs and the rest of the Dobie Gillis cast. That was a far better show IMO than Gilligan's Island.
I watched Gilligan in a stoned, campy sort of way, but Maynard G. Krebs is the character that made me realize I wanted to be a beatnik. Of course, I was too young, and that's hard to believe.
Shelly-
Yeah, it's sad when a classic television/movie star/celebrity passes away. I never really got into Gilligan's Island, but remember having to watch it because that was what was playing in the afternoons when I was at daycare. I did think the Professor was hot, though.
And as for Dobie Gillis, I remember thinking Warren Beatty was friggin' H-O-T. God, he was gorgeous.
Princess Wild Cow-
That's great! I think the first time I ever saw a beatnik was Jack Lemmon in the movie Bell, Book and Candle. God, I remember thinking he was so cool. Just loved him.
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