Dawn Wells, the actress best known for her role as Mary Ann in the '60s sitcom "Gilligan's Island," died Wednesday from COVID-19 complications, her representative told USA TODAY. She was 82.
Wells died Wednesday morning at 7:30 in Los Angeles from "causes related to COVID," representative Harlan Boll told USA TODAY in an email. He said she "passed peacefully... in no pain."
Portrayed as a perky wholesome Kansas farm girl, Wells told USA TODAY in 2019 the series always provided some life lessons beyond the comedy.
“It was a fun, silly show that made you laugh and didn’t preach to the audience,” she said. “But there was an awful lot in the character of Mary Ann that kids could learn from today: She was fair, she pitched in to help, she had standards, she wasn’t worried about a $500 purse, and she would be your best friend you could trust".
Wells died Wednesday morning at 7:30 in Los Angeles from "causes related to COVID," representative Harlan Boll told USA TODAY in an email. He said she "passed peacefully... in no pain."
Portrayed as a perky wholesome Kansas farm girl, Wells told USA TODAY in 2019 the series always provided some life lessons beyond the comedy.
“It was a fun, silly show that made you laugh and didn’t preach to the audience,” she said. “But there was an awful lot in the character of Mary Ann that kids could learn from today: She was fair, she pitched in to help, she had standards, she wasn’t worried about a $500 purse, and she would be your best friend you could trust".