{"id":4331,"date":"2024-08-23T12:43:45","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T12:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/?p=4331"},"modified":"2024-08-23T12:43:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T12:43:46","slug":"take-a-deep-breath-before-seeing-tina-louise-at-90-this-is-ginger-from-gilligans-island-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/take-a-deep-breath-before-seeing-tina-louise-at-90-this-is-ginger-from-gilligans-island-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Take a deep breath before seeing Tina Louise at 90 \u2013 this is Ginger from \u2018Gilligan\u2019s Island\u2019 today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tina Louise became a superstar overnight as she starred as Ginger in the hit television show Gilligan\u2019s Island. The New York native became a great actress, singer, and model. Though, she was often praised for her looks and not necessarily for her work on screen.\n\n\n\n

Today, Louise is the only cast member of Gilligan\u2019s Island who still is alive. The show changed her life forever, but her career didn\u2019t only consist of acting. The now 90-year-old is still going strong \u2013 and when you see her today, you\u2019ll have a hard time believing she isn\u2019t a few decades younger!\n\n\n\n

Tina Louise was born Tina Blacker on February 11, 1934, in New York City. Her father owned a candy store, and her mother worked as a\u00a0fashion model.\n\n\n\n

Tina Louise \u2013 early life & career\n\n\n\n

When Tina was only four years old, her parents divorced, which made her childhood rather complicated.\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy path was very unusual. I lived with a lot of different cousins and aunts and strangers and so forth and so on, sort of a gypsy kind of a childhood,\u201d she told Authority Magazine in 2019.\n\n\n\n

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When growing up, Tina didn\u2019t have any big dreams of working in the entertainment industry. Though, just weeks before she was to attend Miami University, everything changed.\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw a friend of mine who had gotten a part in a play on Broadway and he was the same age as me and I was very impressed,\u201d Tina Louise told Authority Magazine.\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mother took me backstage and I just really enjoyed it,\u201d she continued. \u201cAnd the very fact that my friend was in it gave me a little push to just proceed. I told my mother that I wanted to leave the University because the drama department wasn\u2019t sufficient for me.\u201d\n\n\n\n

Tina\u2019s mother knew her daughter wanted to pursue a career in the drama department and honored her request. She began attending the Neighborhood Playhouse in Manhattan, New York, which she said \u201cwas, and still is, a wonderful school. \u201c\n\n\n\n

\"Tina
Richard C. Miller\/Donaldson Collection\/Getty Images\n\n\n\n

While Tina Louise studied and perfected her craft at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, she also began modeling. Moreover, she was working as a nightclub singer. In 1952, she made her Broadway debut in the Bette Davis musical Two\u2019s Company. At that point, her looks fascinated people, and she even appeared in Playboy Magazine.\n\n\n\n

In 1957, Tina Louise released her first music album, It\u2019s Time for Tina. She continued working in theater and got some smaller parts in movies. However, in 1958, her life changed.\n\n\n\n

Breakthrough role in \u2018God\u2019s Little Acre\n\n\n\n

Her role as Griselda Walden in the drama film God\u2019s Little Acre made her a Hollywood star. The movie received excellent reviews \u2013 and Tina Louise ended up taking home the Golden Globe Award for the New Star of the Year.\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was incredible,\u201d she told Forbes. \u201cThe movie ended up in the Venice Film Festival. I went abroad. There were all these people around taking care of me. I didn\u2019t have to worry about anything. We sat in the theater, and I got bright red roses [laughs]. I\u2019m saying, \u2018Why did you give me roses? You should give them to the writer, the director \u2013 somebody else.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n\n

Instead of accepting Hollywood roles, Tina Louise went her own way. After God\u2019s Little Acre, she focused on her Broadway work and also starred in some Italian films. In 1962, when returning from Europe, Louise started studying with Lee Strasberg at the Actor\u2019s Studio.\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything Lee Strasberg said was important. He\u2019d pick up your arm and see if\u2014and how \u2014 it would drop to determine the level of relaxation in your body and spirit,\u201d Louise told Esquire. \u201cHe\u2019d say, \u2018Make a sound.\u2019 Some people would start to laugh and that would sometimes turn to tears. You didn\u2019t have to be sad \u2014 it all came from deep relaxation.\u201d\n\n\n\n

She continued, \u201cI learned a lot from Lee about deep relaxation to get at something you were working toward. And then I found myself on Gilligan\u2019s Island, where somebody\u2019s telling you, \u2018Go to the right.\u2019 \u2018Go to the left.\u2019 That was an adjustment.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\"Tina
Youtube\/DoYouRemember\n\n\n\n

Gilligan\u2019s Island would make Tina Louise into somewhat of a Hollywood legend. Before landing the role, she was performing with Carol Burnett in the Broadway musical comedy Fade Out-Fade In. However, when Louise read the script, she wasn\u2019t convinced it was a role for her.\n\n\n\n

Tina Louise as Ginger in \u2018Gilligan\u2019s Island\u2019\n\n\n\n

Initially, in the pilot, her role as Ginger was played by Kit Smythe. But when they decided to make her quit the bombshell character, Tina Louise was the answer.\n\n\n\n

The stress explained that Ginger was \u201cpart Marilyn [Monroe], part Lucille [Ball]..\u201d In the beginning, she felt the scripts were \u201csnarky.\u201d But after a while, she realized it was \u201clight and funny and charming.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always had fun with the show. Ginger flirted. Flirting is fun! Flirting is good;\u201d Louise told the NY Post.\n\n\n\n

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Tina Louise stayed on the CBS sitcom for all three seasons and a total of 98 episodes. Although her role was adored, she never reprised it on any reunion for television or movies over the years.\n\n\n\n

For decades, and still to this day, fans have approached her and sent letters, thanking her for her incredible portrayal of Ginger.\n\n\n\n

\u201cI get letters every day at my house. I appreciate the fact that they love the series. I once had somebody come up to me in a restaurant, she said she was sorry to interrupt, but that her husband was dying of cancer and liked to look at the show every single day,\u201d Tina Louise said.\n\n\n\n

\"Tina
Youtube\/DoYouRemember\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was very, very important. I respect the fact that people like it so much. I understand that for myself \u2013 when you need diversion, you need diversion. When I was on my bed for two-and-a-quarter months [recuperating], I needed diversion. Fortunately, there was the reality show of an election that was really getting heated. I was grateful for that, the books I read and the people that came by.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe writers didn\u2019t want us to get off the Island\u201d\n\n\n\n

Even though the series became very successful, it \u201conly\u201d lasted for three seasons. So what happened? According to Tina, it was an executive decision.\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe writers didn\u2019t want us to get off the Island,\u201d Louise explained. \u201cThe show was in the Top 10 or 20 when it ended. The [network] president wasn\u2019t happy [with the 1967] schedule. He wanted Gunsmoke to come back on. So they took our show off,\u201d she added. \u201cIn syndication, it just went on and on and on \u2026 and on and on and on.\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen it did end I just got back to what I was doing. Which was more dramatic roles,\u201d she added.\n\n\n\n

Tina Louise continued her successful career both in acting and in music. She starred in the television series Kojak in 1974, and other roles include the 1975 movie The Stepford Wives, the 1987 comedy OC and Stiggs, and the rockabilly satire film Johnny Sue in 1992, starring Brad Pitt.\n\n\n\n

Even though she had reached retirement age, Tina would not stop with her passion. In 2014, she starred in the spiritual drama Tapestry, and other things became more interesting.\n\n\n\n

\"Tina
Youtube\/DoYouRemember\n\n\n\n

Beginning with her Sunday: A Memoir book in 1997, Tina Louise has written several books. Her children\u2019s book When I Grow Up in 2007 was very special, as she donated some of the proceeds to literacy programs. Moreover, Louise has been volunteering at local public schools since 1996.\n\n\n\n

She is an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member and a lifetime member of the Actors Studio. But while the recognitions are very special to her, she has sadly seen many of her colleagues pass away over the years. Tina Louise is the last living cast member of Gilligan\u2019s Island. In 2020, her former Gilligan\u2019s Island castmate and friend, Dawn Wells, passed away from Covid-19.\n\n\n\n

This is Tina Louise from \u2018Gilligan\u2019s Island\u2019 today\n\n\n\n

\u201cDawn was a very wonderful person. I want people to remember her as someone who always had a smile on her face,\u201d Louise told the New York Post. \u201cNothing is more important than family and she was family. She will always be remembered.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were part of the wonderful show that everyone loves and has been a great source of comfort, especially during these times.\u201d\n\n\n\n

Tina Louise was married to the late TV talk show host Les Crane for four years. The couple divorced in 1971, and together, they share a daughter, Caprice Crane, who\u2019s moved on to become a producer, screenwriter, and novelist. Today, Tina has two grandchildren,\u201d whom she calls \u201cmy two beautiful babies.\u201d\n\n\n\n

The 90-year-old still lives in her hometown of New York (in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan.)\n\n\n\n

\"Tina
Cindy Ord\/Getty Images for FLC\n\n\n\n

Even though she is getting quite old \u2013 which remains hard to believe when seeing pictures of her \u2013 Tina is ready to meet the right man.\n\n\n\n

\u201cNumbers are not what you look like\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m open. I\u2019m open. I\u2019m open to life,\u201d Louise said. \u201cThese days, I\u2019m still not going out very far. If I go out with a friend, it\u2019s once in two weeks.\u201d\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, she didn\u2019t want to give her age when interviewed by the New York Post in 2021.\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t number me. Who needs it?\u201d Tina Louise added. \u201cNumbers are not what you look like or how you live your life \u2026 Buddha said, \u2018Live in the present moment. Wisely and earnestly.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n\n

If you enjoyed this article, perhaps you\u2019d like to read about why Little House on The Prairie star Karren Grassle never had children.\n\n\n\n

Tina Louise was extraordinary on Gilligan\u2019s Island. We can\u2019t believe she is 90 years old; she still looks so beautiful!\n\n\n\n

Please share this article on Facebook with friends and family to honor the great Tina Louise!\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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