Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - 120. Dawn Wells

Episode Date: September 12, 2016

In addition to co-starring in one of the most popular and durable sitcoms of all time, "Gilligan's Island," actress Dawn Wells appeared in dozens of memorable shows, including "Bonanza," "The Invaders," "The Wild Wild West," "77 Sunset Strip" and "The Joey Bishop Show." Gilbert and Frank talk to Dawn about her Old West roots, her friendships with her fellow castaways and her memories of Don Rickles, Hans Conried, Phil Silvers and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Also, Batman fends off a shark, Martin Landau builds evil robots, Sherwood Schwartz takes his revenge and Elisha Cook Jr. warms Dawn's heart. PLUS: Sterling Holloway! "The Legend of Boggy Creek"! The return of John McGiver! Mr. Magoo drops an F-bomb! And Sid Caesar phones Albert Einstein! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Frank Furtarosa. Our guest this week is an actress, producer, former Miss America contestant and current MeTV ambassador who's been working in show business for an impressive six decades. She's appeared in films like Winterhawk, Return to Boggy Creek, and The Town That Dreaded Sundown, as well as dozens of TV shows, including Bonanza, 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, The Joey Bishop Show, The Wild Wild West, Columbo, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, ALF, Baywatch, Growing Pains, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Roseanne. Growing Pains, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Roseanne. She's also appeared in hundreds of theatrical productions around the world, starred in her own one-woman show at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and published several books, including Mary Ann, Gilligan's Island Cookbook, and What, even John MacGyver. But to millions of fans, she'll forever be known as the wholesome country girl, Mary Ann Summers, from the classic comedy Gilligan's Island.

And I can't wait to ask her whether she thinks I'm a ginger or a Mary Ann. Please welcome to the podcast, lovely and talented Dawn Welch. Hello, hello. We got to put Mrs. Howell in that mix too, you see. Right, are you a Ginger, a Marianne, or a Mrs. Howell? Or a Mrs. Howell. I'm a Mrs. Howell by now, I think. I don't know.

Hey, thanks for doing the show, Dawn. Oh, this is so much fun. I'm glad to talk to you guys. So what was, how do you describe a ginger and a Marianne? Explain the concept briefly to our listeners. It's very simple. It's the girl next door that you want to marry, or it's the one-night stand. That's all I can say.

Is that what it comes down to? Well, no. I think you had to be quite a mature person to take out ginger. You didn't have to buy her a cocktail and get all dressed up. And Marianne would play baseball with you and be your best friend. And it's kind of the girl next door, I think. I think she's the marrying kind. I've heard you say that you like the way it works out because most people say they would rather be a Marianne.

Yeah, of course, they're talking to me. They wouldn't say they'd rather have Ginger. That's true. You know, I'm not sure how that goes. And I feel sorry for her if, you know, if they always say they're a Marianne fan to her. I just think as a 14-year-old boy, Marianne is the one you'd have the crush on. As a 25-year-old man, Ginger would be more your type. So Sherwood Schwartz knew what he was doing.

He covered all the bases, I think. And there was a weird story of one of the actresses who auditioned for Marianne, of all things. I think that's a rumor. Oh, yeah. You're talking about Raquel Welch? Raquel Welch, yeah. There were three characters that were schoolteachers for the pilot. And when CBS decided to buy it, they said, let's rewrite.

Let's make the characters more interesting. So they wrote a movie starring Marianne and Mrs. Howell. And the casting, I think, was the difference between the girl next door and the sex symbol. And I think he just covered all the bases. I think it's a very interesting concept because as a 14-year-old boy, Marianne would have been your friend. She'd have been your friend if you were, you know, a girl. You've been buddies. But you had to be pretty sophisticated to appreciate a ginger. Well, didn't you, even if Raquel Welch didn't audition, didn't you beat out something like 300 women? Well, yeah.

And they said that she auditioned for us. I didn't see it. We auditioned for about a week at TV City, one after the other, you know, trying to match up the chemistry with the professors and the Mariannes, et cetera. Sure. And they said that she came in to audition. And I think it was before that BC fur bathing suit that she wore because she'd have been a better ginger than a marianne she was so sexy but i don't know where it was in in her career at that stage i'm not sure let's let's talk about your co-stars okay gossip what are we talking about name the first ones that

pop into you like which ones you're the closest to well that, that's interesting because there was no discord. I think the professor and I were grouped together because we were – and the rest, you know, for the first couple of years. And he had the best sense of humor, surprisingly enough. Russell Johnson, the late Russell Johnson. The late Russell Johnson. The professor. The professor. He was very funny.

And, of course, Gilligan is just, I thought, probably an incredible talent. Physically could bumble and fall out of trees and do everything. And he was, comedy timing was terrific. Alan and I used to hit golf balls together and share recipes. Mrs. Howell swam naked in her swimming pool every day until she was 92. I love that. She never invited me. I didn't get to do that.

But she was a lovely lady. I think the least contact I had was basically Ginger and Mr. Howell. I think we were the least, and there was no enemies or anything like that, but just sort of hang out with people you have things in common with, you know? You did 39 episodes a year back then, didn't you, Dawn? Can you imagine? Yes. And it took, what, a week to do an episode? You guys spent a lot of time together.

We did spend a lot of time together, and that's one of the things. I'm the ambassador for MeTV, and what's so interesting to me is there's so many shows I never got to see. You work till 9.30, 10 o'clock at night and you don't, all the shows that you're opposite and things you don't get a chance to see, like the Partridge family and the monkeys and that kind of stuff. Oh, right. And especially the shows that were shooting when you guys were in production. Yeah. So I'm catching up, which is just great. That's fun. I heard a story that when Mrs. Howell died, there was something that she had that you wanted to keep for yourself. Really?

I hope this is true. Well, yeah. Someone told me she had like a rose tree or something. Oh, a rose bush. A rose bush. Oh, yes. I called her business manager and I said said I know you're selling the house or anything but could I have a couple of your roses and I dug up three of her roses and they're in my

yard but one of the things that Natalie was just completely different than what you thought she was she was very smart and very very funny and and when she left when she was leaving she said I want you all my best friends to get into my bar and it was all papered in leopard painting zebra painting and she said i just want you to empty the bar while you can so we all sat around and told natalie's stories and drank everything in her bar which was just really wonderful oh that's great we i was doing research dawn and i didn't know she was married to the great character actor lewis cal hearn louis cal hearn yeah from duck soup yes yeah was he in duck soup he's groucho's nemesis

yeah oh really oh okay yeah he was very dramatic. Isn't he? Oh, yes. Yes. He's like an English teacher. With Marilyn Monroe and Sterling Hayden. Oh, I'll have to look at in the department store at one point. In Brooklyn? Probably. And she was like, you know, a kid working. And she one time saw Lewis Calhoun there. Love it. And she remembers that he carried himself exactly like you'd imagine Lewis Calhoun to carry. Immaculately dressed and everything.

Yeah, he wore a cape that he threw around his shoulders. You know, you hear funny things too, Dawn, and who knows if the Raquel Welch thing was apocryphal or not. I read that Natalie left some of her fortune, if not all of her fortune, to her teacup poodle. Is that true? No. She didn't have a teacup poodle to begin with. She had a chihuahua.

She had a German shepherd. No, I'm kidding. No, I don't know. She left a lot of her money to the motion picture home. She did? Yeah, she had no children, and she left quite a bit, five or six or seven million dollars,

I think, to the home. Uh-huh. So basically we're batting a thousand here with our question. Who does your research? Well, it may be true. the home uh-huh so basically we're batting a thousand here with our question and it was a strange thing with the theme song that it was that weird thing where like in like the first one it was like and gilligan and the other people and the rest oh yeah professor i were the rest as a matter of fact. We used to send little cards

saying, love the rest. It was a billing issue. I think Ginger was the last person to get billed, and I think her contract said nobody after her. So after we went on for a year, Gilligan said, I'll put my name in the back of the thing. This is just ridiculous. There's only seven people. So they renegotiated

all of that. I mean, you know, I was brand new. I mean, I'd been working quite a bit as an ingenue doing all the guest star spots, but I was brand new to what was going on. You know, we didn't get a dime for the residuals. We're one of the longest running shows in history television, 50 years last year. Never been off the air. Not 10 cents do we have. Sherwood Schwartz made a few bucks though. Yeah, I did a thing for CBS called TV Moguls, and they were talking about the most successful. And I was quoted, he was quoted as saying he made $90 million on the reruns of Gilligan's Alone. I don't know whether that's true or not. I'm going to take a wild, wild guess that you didn't make anywhere near the money that Schwartz made on Gilligan's Island.

He could have spent a million dollars among seven of us. It would have been all right. That would have been nice. Wasn't there money in writing the theme song? I mean, isn't that why, and I heard this, I hope this is true, that he wrote the Brady Bunch theme song as well as the Gilligan's Island theme song because there were residuals in the music. In everything.

I mean, you don't realize it. Nowadays, everything's covered. as the Gilligan's Island theme song, because there were residuals in the music. In everything. I mean, you don't realize it. Nowadays, everything's covered. But it was the first time I think VHS came out, and we got paid for five runs of some little episode. Nowadays, you know, Jim Backus used to be so mad. He was so cute. He was so cheap. And he would say, oh, he wasn't.

I'll tell you a cute story. He was. He never had a dime in his pocket. But he kept saying, why aren't we going to get these residuals? Why aren't we? And it was the law. I mean, people have taken it to court. You can't start over. Of course. But he would ask Natalie and I to lunch. Come on, girls, I'm going to take you to lunch.

I don't know how many times we went, but he never had his wallet and never had a credit card. I know someone like that. Whisper it to me when this is over. But at the end of the first year, Natalie presented him a bill worth $360. She said, Jim, this is the lunch you owe us. Wow. This is a fun thing about Bacchus. I heard you say when he did Mr. Magoo, he sometimes snuck profanity in.

Yes. He said, and I've never heard it since he told us that. If you hear me mumbling, Don, I'm saying every dirty word you ever heard. Now, I've never seen it since or heard it since then. We ought to go get a copy and play it and see if it's true. I don't know. He was an interesting guy. You know, he always had that kind of upper crust New England thing.

He's actually from Cleveland. Oh, wow. Which I found interesting. And he made comedy albums. He wrote humor books. He made comedy albums. Yes. He was versatile.

He did a lot. Yes. And he was a very nice man. And he worked very hard. I mean, he was a good soul. Very funny in It's a Mad, Mad World as the drunk pilot. And he was most proud of Rebel Without a Cause, where he played the dramatic. Sure.

Oh, did he have any stories about James Dean? No, I don't think so. I mean, I didn't hear it, but he was so proud of doing that film. He also did one of my favorite Christmas carols. Which was? Mr. McGrew's Christmas Carol. Christmas Carol. Yes.

Yes. Yeah, he was a versatile guy. And he would tell you, cut this word out of it to get a better laugh. Natalie said, I don't understand. You're always ad-libbing and you're always getting all the laughs. He said, well, practice it. Just practice it. Well, then you'd see the two of them ad-libbing.

They never stopped talking. They'd have to say, cut. Now, let's just stick to the script, can we? It was great. As long as we're talking about the old co-stars, too, tell us a little bit about Alan Hale Jr., who, of course, came from a showbiz family. Can you imagine growing up with Errol Flynn and all those people in your house as a young boy? I mean, what heaven it would be. He was a great guy. He was the same size as my dad. He would pick me up and give me a hug and he loved to cook. So he'd stop by once

in a while and we'd share recipes. We'd go out and hit the golf ball at the Witsit course out there for a while. He was absolutely the kindest, sweetest, never heard a temper tantrum out of him. And at one stage, I don't know what episode it was a second year he had to crawl out on a tree and and save a little bird's nest or something and we were shooting it and it was on the cement floor and he crawled out on it and the branch broke and he fell on the cement and blah blah blah finished the day he'd broken his wrist and he never said a word finished the whole work day came in the next day with his wrist all bandaged he was a joy he was a joy yeah i remember it's so funny when you see his father pop up in all those Warner Brothers.

Yeah, he's in a lot of them. And they look alike, don't they? Yeah, there's a strong resemblance. Yeah. Yeah. I think he was a childhood friend of William Shallert's, Alan Hale Jr., which I found in doing research. I didn't know his mother was an actress, too. His mother was in Silence. I didn't know that. was an actress, too. His mother was in Silence.

I didn't know that. Yeah. Yeah, he came from a big showbiz family. I always loved the Laurel and Hardy dynamic. Oh, it was wonderful. And his granddaughter's doing stand-up. Samantha Hale is doing stand-up. Under what name?

Samantha Hale. Samantha Hale. We'll look for her. Yeah, she's funny. Pretty, too. And I remember, too, being out in being out in LA and there was a restaurant, I don't know how long it lasted, called Skipper's. And he on Los Angeles Boulevard and he would greet you and shake your hand. Lobster house.

I think it was Alan Hale's Lobster House. I'm not sure what he called it, but he was there every night with his little captain's hat on and his blue shirt. I love that man. I did. Every time he hugged me, he picked me up off the floor. It was just, it's hat on and his blue shirt. I love that man. I did. Every time he hugged me, he picked me up off the floor. It was just, it's the same size as my dad. So every time he hugged me, it was kind of like daddy was hugging me. It was cool.

And we should talk about Bob Denver too, since you've mentioned him. And again, the research, the things I find in research, I did not know that he replaced Woody Allen in the original play, in Play It Against Sam on Broadway. Yeah. He was a real talent. You know, you can't teach comedy. And it came from his soul. He wasn't a wit. He wasn't a clever verbalization of what he did. He was physically like elastic. He could fall out of trees and never hurt himself. And he looked at the world at a different gaze. He had a very severely

retarded child. And Bobby would say to me, it was his last child, and he'd say to me, I am so lucky. I'm communicating with my son in a totally different way. I mean, he was quite a remarkable man, very smart, very talented, quite a loner, not funny in person, not witty, you know, owner, not funny in person, not witty, you know, serious, into an awful lot of atom bomb stuff and that kind of stuff. Little Patrick, his son, played in Jack and the Beanstalk. He played Bob, and Alan was the giant. So Little Patrick was five and dressed up in Gilligan's little outfit and everything. And I said, can he spend the weekend with me? He said, sure. So when he got ready to come home with me on Friday night, Bob said, no, he's probably going to sleep in the outfit. He's probably not going to take it off. And that's okay. That's all right. And as he got ready to leave, instead of his father saying,

now you make sure you're a good boy and whatever, he got down on his knees and he took Patrick's hands and he said, and I just want you to give Marianne lots of love. And that's the last thing he said. And Patrick slept in his little outfit with his little hat oh that's nice now now did he was it kind of difficult when people recognized him then if he was a serious person that they must have wanted him to be gilligan yeah when they saw him yeah and i think he was uncomfortable with that i think i i think he he's he's was a shy person, not really outgoing, not trying to be witty. And I think it was kind of awkward for him. I think he was an actor is really what it was as opposed to a comedian where Jim would just be telling his stories one after the other.

But Bob was not. Bob was very quiet and very private. Very smart. Very smart. Yeah, I read that in doing the research. I read that he kind of had a scientific analytical mind. He taught math and he was interested in those things. And he was anti-pesticides before everybody thought they weren't any good.

That's right. He was environmentally conscious. Yeah. Yeah. You know, when the world thinks of him as Maynard, it's funny how people get, not stereotyped, but people get, audiences think of, that's their character, that's who they really are. People think of him as Maynard G. Krebs and Gilligan. And you think I would be a nice Marianne? I'm actually a B-I-T-C-H. You just don't know. You can't believe that's true. Do you know something? I found out, I was doing some

research. Downtown Los Angeles has some incredible theaters, bigger and more beautiful than Broadway, been closed up all this time. I think there's one that they've remodeled because they use in films. And I was doing some research of a show that I'm interested in doing. And I walked into one of the theaters, and one of the theaters was built by Charlie Chaplin. Do you know who Charlie Chaplin's best friend was? I know. Oh, I don't think. I know, but I don't want to give it away.

I'll give you a hint. He was a scientist. Einstein? Yes. Now, can you imagine those two brains? I mean, how do they connect in some way? And you'll see a picture of Charlie Chaplin walking in arm in arm with Einstein, but Mrs. Einstein's behind him following him in. I would love to be a fly on the wall with those two minds. It just fascinates me. I remember hearing an interview with Sid Caesar where when Sid Caesar was at his height with his show, somebody, his secretary goes, oh, Mr. Caesar, Albert Einstein is on the phone.

And he goes, oh, hang up. Albert Einstein's on the phone. And he like, you know. Thought it was a joke? Yeah. He slammed the phone down because he thought, you know, why would they be calling me? Yeah, yeah. If ever there was a crank call, hi, it's Albert Einstein.

And he said that Einstein died about two weeks later and he wanted to discuss comedy and the human condition with Sid Caesar. Oh, and he never took the call and never got to speak to him. Oh, wow. How interesting. Yeah, wouldn't it be? I didn't know Gilligan had a first name until I started doing research. And I've been watching Gilligan's Island for 40 years. And I don't think it's true.

Not true. Also not true. No, no, no. They say a Willie. My manager's saying, yes, it's true, yes think it's true. Not true. Also not true. No, no, no. They say a Willie. My manager's saying, yes, it's true, yes, it's true. Well, we had long discussions on the set. I don't think there really was one. They kind of think there was a Willie Gilligan, but no.

Sherwood wanted one name. Just one name. He didn't want to have a first and second name. He wanted one name. Right. Well, they never called the skipper Jonas Grumby on the show, did they? No. You heard it on the radio once, I think.

Oh, this was a weird bit of trivia. It's like the name of the boat was the Minnow, which everyone assumes, well, it's a little fish, a minnow. But it actually wasn't, according to something I read. Yeah. And what was he? He was, what was his title? Head of television or something? He worked for the FCC. FCC, that's it. And Sherwood Schwartz hated him.

And it was something Minnow was his name. So he named the boat Minnow. Minnow. Yeah. He got back at him, didn't he? Well, there's a wonderful story, too, about what you believe in television this day and age. But we were filming maybe about the fifth or sixth week. Sherwood said, we're never going to get reruns. They hated us. The only reason we're on the air is because the audience gave such a good reaction. And we're at about the third or fourth episode, something like

that. And Sherwood walks in with the Coast Guard, big mucky mucks, five or six guys from the Coast Guard. And we stopped filming. And he said, the Coast Guard just has something they want to say to you. And the Coast Guard said, we have received many telegrams saying there are seven people stranded in the Pacific Ocean. Why can't you find them? Now, does that tell you about the audience? I mean, does that tell you who we're appealing to? They believed it. They really believed that we were out there floating around. We had Dick Van Dyke on the show, Dawn, and I think this is true, that Jerry Van Dyke, his brother, was considered for the Gilligan part or that Sherwood wanted him originally. Yeah. Dick claims that he talked him out of doing it or he talked him into doing My Mother the Car.

I guess he had the choice. Yeah, and I think there were two or three other people considered. Yeah, I think Jerry Van Dyke felt there'd be more respectability in doing a show about a guy who lives with his mother reincarnated as a car. The great Ann Southern. Our researcher Paul is in the room. What do you got, Paul? I want to go back to Minnow. Yeah, the Minnow. Oh, he's got Paul's want to go back to Minnow. Yeah, the Minnow.

Oh, he's got, Paul's got the story on the Minnow here. Okay, give me the real one. Newton Norman Minnow is his full name. He was head of the FCC. And he's known for, it's now the 50th anniversary of his famous speech in which he referred to television as a vast wasteland. That's right. That's right. A vast wasteland.

How interesting. How true. Didn't know that. So it was a little payback there. Yeah. You think comedy is easy, don't you? They found that one out. I also read that when Sherwood Schwartz was pitching the show, and I hope this is true because I love it, that a CBS executive was pushing for the idea of an animated dinosaur.

They've talked about that. Maybe the second season they were going to bring in a dinosaur. Somebody said, you're just going to see a foot in a chain. How are you going to get Gilligan an animated dinosaur? They've talked about that. Maybe the second season they were going to bring in a dinosaur. Somebody said, you're just going to see a foot in a chain. How are you going to get Gilligan and the dinosaur in a shot? I mean, it was so ridiculous. When the show first came on, Dawn,

I mean, I've seen interviews with you and you said that, I guess it was not the network, but the press was not kind to the show. They thought it was ridiculous. Oh, thought it was the worst show ever written. Yeah. And CBS didn't think they'd had a prayer, but they showed it to an audience. And it was the highest rated audience reaction. And they said, well, we're not stupid. Let's keep it on the air. And we were actually in the top 10 when we were

canceled, which is also a remarkable, when you stop and think about it. Yeah. One of the shows that went from black and white to color back in those days. And Sherwood said, we're probably never going to go to color. We probably won't get any reruns. And we just had our 50th anniversary and never been off the air. I would love to see it in another language. I'd love to see that song in Japanese or everybody talking in another language. Wouldn't that be fascinating?

Yeah, there must be dubbed versions of it. Sure. Tell us about some of the censorship, too. I've heard you say you weren't allowed to show your belly button and the Howells had to sleep in twin beds. Well, they always did that. I mean, I think Van Dyke slept in twin beds. That was kind of way back when. But I think I was the first short shorts on television.

And I designed them because I'm short and short-legged and Ginger's eight feet tall with these long legs. So I got the regular denim that's soft, you know, and I made it kind of come up so it would cover my navel and dip down on the side so my torso would look longer and my legs would look longer, blah, blah, blah. And Tina couldn't show her cleavage either. And Sherwood's wife would say, how was your day, dear, at the office? his wife would say, how was your day, dear, at the office? Well, between Dawn's navel and Tina's cleavage, I was called back and forth all day long because you could only show it for 30 seconds or something. Now look what's happening.

You're topless on the piano singing. I don't know. I mean. Things have changed. Well, Barbara Eden famously couldn't show her navel either. That's right. On Genie, on I Dream of Genie. I Dream of Genie.

We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast after this. That's the sound of fried chicken with a spicy history. Thornton Prince was a ladies' man. To get revenge, his girlfriend hid spices in his fried chicken. He loved it so much, he opened Prince's Hot Chicken. Hot chicken in the window. This is one of many sounds in Tennessee with a story to tell. To hear them in person, plan your trip at tnvacation.com.

Tennessee sounds perfect. This episode is brought to you by FX's The Bear on Disney+. In Season 3, Carmi and his crew are aiming for the ultimate restaurant accolade, a Michelin star. With Golden Globe and Emmy wins, the show starring Jeremy Allen White, Io Debrey, and Maddie Matheson is ready to heat up screens once again. All new episodes of FX's The Bear are streaming June 27, only on Disney+. At Miele, our partner is the planet. Our appliances use less water and energy and are tested to last for 20 years of use. That's the ultimate form of sustainability.

I'm Nelson Fresco, president of Miele Canada. From now until June 30th, every Miele dishwasher purchased supports the planting and preservation of Canadian forests through the Miele Forest Initiative. Join us in making an impact today for a better tomorrow. Visit Miele.ca to learn more. And now back to the show. Can we ask you about some of the other things, Dawn, that you did? First of all, let's go back.

I mean, I don't know how many people know this. things Dawn that you did when you, first of all, let's, let's go back. I mean, I don't know how many people know this. You were playing a farm girl from Kansas, but you yourself were actually from the gambling capital of America. Darn right. Reno, Nevada, Reno and Las Vegas. My father had a hotel in Las Vegas. Your father owned the Thunderbird, right? And my great, great grandfather drove stagecoach during the gold rush. He drove the dignitaries from the golden spike was driven in Utah. My grandmother, my mother's mother, as a little girl, played at Piper Opera House, where Mark Twain was. I mean, I'm a real Westerner. Black Bart held up my other grandmother, robbed them all of their, tied

them up and put them in the basement, robbed them all of their food. By the time they got out, he'd left a $50 gold piece on the table. I mean, I'm a real Westerner, and it's really kind of nice to go back. You know, Easterners, it's four or five generations. This is not that far back. So the stories that my mama told me is really something. I'm very proud to be a Westerner. And I learned something else this year too. I was reading an article about women and Western women are stronger. And they go back to saying when you all landed in Massachusetts or North Carolina or wherever you were, those who went west, you know, how long did it take with a covered wagon to go west? You had your babies on the way and you built tents on the way and you landed. Why in the world would anybody stop in Las Vegas?

Why would you say here? Let's stop here. There's not any water or anything. So the women that did that were stronger women. And I think that there's an independence that the Western women have. They're not quite so socially graced, I guess is the right word. It's interesting, I think. Well, how did you get from Reno? I know you were in a beauty pageant. You were Miss Nevada. Well, that means nothing. You know, there's three women in the whole state. It's no big deal.

How did you make the transition to, you went to college in what, Missouri? I went to Stevens College, all women in Missouri, and was really pre-med. I love science. And my knees dislocated. I wanted to be a ballerina more than anything. And my knees dislocated. So I couldn't take any P.E. So I took a theater course instead of a P.E. course.

And my professor said, you're good at this. You ought to major in this. I said, major? And drummer? Are you out of your mind? It means I'll never go to work. But I transferred to the University of Washington in Seattle, and I double majored theater and pre-med. And they asked me to run for Miss Nevada in the middle of my junior year. And I thought, well, that's interesting. I wonder if I could get up in front of a bunch of people and do a scene, you know, act and see how that was. Having no idea I'd win as short as I am and all of that. And I did win and I did go to the Miss America pageant and won a scholarship for the

rest of my college education. And then when I got through, when I was a senior, I said, I'll give myself two years. And if I'm not working, I'm going back to med school. So I went to work right away. I got a play with Mercedes McCambridge and Leon Ames. Oh, Mercedes McCambridge. Yes. Wow. There's a name. You bet.

And she was really- The voice of the exorcist. Yes. Yeah. The voice of the demon. Yeah. And I did a play with him and I got an agent because of that. And then, of course, I was a perfect ingenue, you know, the perfect type.

You have to be the perfect type. And you popped up in these classic early TV shows. Lots of them. Lots of them. Lots of them. Well, that's all there was. Yeah. What else was there? Bonanza, 77, Sunset Strip, Maverick, Hawaiian Eye.

Wagon Train. There's so many. Can you tell us any of your memories about that? Well, not a whole lot. I'm a Western girl, and I remember I was doing something at Universal, and I was supposed to be driving a buckboard. And they were going to put a stunt guy in, and I said, oh, I can do that. I can do that. Well, the horse ran away with me, almost dumped me and Abraham Savar right in the middle of the field.

The horses bucked, and it was quite an adventure. Well, I've heard you say that you went, you chose California because when you thought about going in acting, you chose California over New York because you thought New York. It was mostly musicals. That's right. Yeah, you couldn't sing. I can tell you a lot of stories about my not singing if you want to. Shirley Schwartz said this before, he's a jolly good fellow. We're all going to sing it. I said, Shirley, I don't sing. He said, of course you do. This is a first or second episode. So we're all singing for He's a Jolly Good Fellow. He said, Don, you, out. Don't sing.

You're getting everybody out here. Okay, so I've gone through that three or four times. Now, I'm starring in a movie called Winterhawk. And we're up in the mountains of Montana, and I'm playing a missionary. And it was probably one of the most beautiful films ever. And the director said to me, now, I want you to lead the choir in Amazing Grace. I said, Charlie, I cannot sing. He said, yes, everybody can sing.

No. So he started me. He said, you're right, you can't sing. So I'm a missionary, 1840, with the long skirts. So I'm standing in the middle of a field with all the missionaries around me, and he puts a girl between my legs, sitting on the grass,

and I cover her with my skirt. And I'm mouthing, Amazing Grace, and she's singing through my skirt. So about a year later, I was over here at one of the restaurants, and I was sitting at the bar talking to my friend, and I was telling this story about me singing through the skirt, and the woman next to me tapped me on the shoulder. She said, I was the woman under your skirt. Oh, that's funny.

It is funny. I know that movie Winterhawk. Woody Strode is in it. was the woman under your skirt. Oh, that's funny. It is funny. I know that movie, Winterhawk. Woody Strode is in it. Woody Strode is in it. One of our favorite actors. Yeah, it was a wonderful film. A beautiful film. It really was incredibly photographed, too. It was terrific. You know who else turns up in that movie? Elijah Cook. This is kind of fun.

Sashene Littlefeather. Yeah, Sashene. Does that name mean anything to you? Oh, Marlon Brando. Yes. When he wouldn't accept the Academy Award. Shasheen Littlefeather. Yeah, Shasheen. Does that name mean anything to you? Oh, Marlon Brando. Yes. When he wouldn't accept the Academy Award. Oh, that's right. Yeah, she was the one that went up and accepted the award for him. That was one of the most ridiculous things to ever happen in Academy Award history. I'll say.

I mean, word history. I'll say. And now here's something. These are things that so many people have commented on already. So it's already a tired subject, but we got to hit on it. Okay. All the ridiculous things in Gilligan's Island, like they had a professor who couldn't vent flying machines but couldn't figure out how to get people off the boat. That'll nail the hole in the boat. Sherwood said, if you had two pretty girls on an island, would you try to fix the boat?

Are you crazy? Yes, well said. Well, the question that I always heard was, why did Thurston Howell bring all his money? Why did he bring suitcases of money for a three-hour tour? And all our clothes. Why did we bring all his clothes for a three-hour tour? Oh, Ginger had a big Hollywood wardrobe. She had 30 outfits.

Yeah. And we always looked good. Her hair was perfect. The false eyelashes. It was amazing what we did on that island. I want to talk to you a little bit more about Russell Johnson because we were talking before we turned on the mics, Dawn. And he's in a favorite episode of The Twilight Zone. Oh, yeah.

Of Gilbert's and mine where he goes back in time to try to prevent John Wilkes Booth. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. From shooting Lincoln. Have you seen that one? Yes, yes. Oh, I've forgotten that. Yes.

But you guys not only had a friendship, but you just alluded to it briefly before. But tell the thing about the—first of all, I found it interesting that you performed in a prison together. Yes, Folsom. He was more frightened than I was. He said, you better get me out of here. I didn't know he was—he flew 44 combat missions. And I did not know until his funeral that he won the Purple Heart. We knew that he was shot down on the Solomon Islands.

But he was just a joy. And the funniest. He had the best sense of humor. He was a humble man. I mean, he never revealed that he had a medal. He was lovely. Tell us a little bit about the rest, how you guys bonded over that. Well, we still send each other cards.

Love the rest. Love the rest. And actually, Bob made the difference after the first year. And I think what really happened was, I think Ginger was cast before Russell and I were cast. And I'm sure the agent said, she gets the last billing, period. Nobody after her. So they had to, you know, make our contract. And after the first year, Bob said, that's just silly. There's seven people. And he went to Sherwood and Sherwood said, well, it's it's contractual and he said then put me back i'll be at the back of this i'll be on the rest as well so because he said that we got our credits that's how it changed yeah and they had they had to

record the song obviously yeah yeah how sweet though how nice to add that but i think the rest is wonderful love the rest we still love each other. And they had all those strange sequels to Gilligan's Island. Oh, the three TV movies. Yeah. Oh, 90 minutes of Gilligan's Island is way too much. What'd you say? 90 minutes of Gilligan's Island is way too much. Well, there was a demand for it.

I guess so. It's a popular show. Oh, it is. And it's all over the world. Wouldn't you love to see it in Japanese or something? Yes, I really would. Yeah. The most famous of those is the Harlem Globetrotters.

Well, wait, there were three. There was Rescue from Gilligan's Island in 78. And I'd like to point out that the director of that, I hope you remember Leslie Martinson. Of course I remember Leslie Martinson. He's 101. Is he still alive? He is still with us. How wonderful.

He also directed the Batman movie, the Adam West, the Burt Ward, Adam West feature film. They put out a feature film in 67. He's alive. 101. We should try to get him on. I think so. He was such a lovely man. Oh, I'm so happy to hear that.

Yeah. Is that Batman movie the one where they have the shark repellent? Yeah, the anti-bat shark repellent. They made a feature to cash in on the Batman series, Dawn, and he directed it. That was the first Gilligan's Island reunion. The second

one was called The Castaways on Gilligan's Island in 79. And then finally, yes, the famous classic. The classic Hall of Road Trotters on Gilligan's Island. They surf on and surf off and never tell anybody where they were. What is that? I said they surf on and surf off and you never tell anybody where you were.

Well, I remember watching them and I remember having trouble following the story. They got rescued and then they went back? Yeah, we went on a Christmas cruise and got ruined again. One of the interesting things about the Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island, it guest starred a pre-Academy Award winning Martin Landau. Oh, my God. And Guy Sosby.

You know Guy Sosby, one of the Globetrotters, a little comedian? I had a cousin that was a little slow, and he would come down and watch the show from Reno. And he came down and watched when the Harlem Globetrotters were playing with us. And Randy was his name, and he was very sweet. And he went up and met Geese Osby and spoke with him for a few minutes. Two years later, two years later in Reno, Nevada, the Harlem Globetrotters came. My cousin took Randy to the game, and Geese walked right off the court and said, Hi, Randy, I haven't seen you in two years. How are you?

Oh, that's nice. Doesn't that tell you something? The premise of that, the Harlem Globetrotters. Well, first of all, Martin Landau, it was the last role with his wife, with Barbara Bain. It was? The last time he did with her? Yeah, they divorced after that. I don't know if it had anything to do with it. If ever there was a reason.

He was a mad scientist and he built robots. And the payoff was the robots had to play basketball against the Globetrotters. I wonder if one's best writing that year. And the Howell suddenly had a son.

Where did that come from? I don't know. Suddenly a son turned up in the Harlem Globetrotters. Maybe it was a nephew. I think it was a nephew. Was it? Yes, because Lovey couldn't have children, certainly. She spoiled the wardrobe.

I didn't know Lovey was barren. And the Scatman turned up in that one, Gil. Oh, my God. Scatman Crothers. Wow. Oh, wow. You're good at this. Oh, it's just research, but I remember that. That movie I remember very well. We've had to live it down

over and over. Let's ask you about some of these other credits and other things that you've done over the years, Dawn. See how many of you can remember. See if I can remember anything. Some of these, well, the old ones like 87th Precinct and Lawman and Surfside 6 and Hawaiian Eye. I mean, these are fun credits. Well, and that's when I began. You know, I started at Warner Brothers.

They put me under option for contract. They didn't pick up a contract, but I did all the shows. I'll tell you a cute story. I had a very small little agent, and I went to an interview at Warner Brothers of some sort, and my agent called me. He said, Don, I had a great call this afternoon. I said, what?

He said, well, Jack Warner called me, and he said, I just want to tell you, I had an intelligent conversation with an actress today. Oh, wow. That's a compliment. Oh, I didn't want to be in the movies. You know, I came here as a graduate and then I'll give myself some time and then I'll go back to school. So I wasn't interested in being a movie star or anything. And I think we had a conversation about an all-woman's college. We had a great time in the office, not auditioning particularly. And I thought it was really kind of a nice compliment

that he called my agent and said, I actually had an intelligent conversation. Do you have any recollection of being on the Joey Bishop show in 1964? Yes, I do. And it was kind of live with an audience. Yeah, he was funny. Yeah.

And then you were in a show, and this is relevant because we just talked about this show on the podcast, The Invaders. Oh! With Roy Thinnes thinnis oh that's where he's the only guy who knew the world was taken over by aliens and they all had deformed pinkies i don't remember that in the plot but i i once ran into roy thinnis somewhere and i told him that I remembered that in the pinkies, and he was in shock. He didn't know. He's quite an artist.

I was at one of these autograph show things, and I bought one of his paintings. But, you know, we were filming. It was the first thing I did after Gilligan's Island. It was out in the Mojave Desert or something. It must have been 120 degrees, and I had on long Levi's and a long-sleeve sweater and a long fall on my head. And they had to put burlap down when I walked because the sand would melt my tennis shoes. And the only thing that we had was one Joshua tree that we tried with an umbrella to stay under from the heat. It was 120 degrees. It was horrible, just horrible. We should have gotten a stunt check for that.

Remember anything about the Wild Wild West or Bonanza? Well, I just happen to know that I did a lot of the Wild West because I'm one of the few girls that's not taller than he is. Than Robert Conrad. You heard that from my mouth, yes. Well, that's in your book. You're talking about the Apple boxes. Yeah. Well, the Apple boxes was because of Tina.

I mean, she was tall. And in order to get me in the scene, and Alan was tall and Bob was tall, but Conrad was not very tall and he didn't want a leading lady to be taller than he was. Isn't that fun? He's still with us too. So they'd have him stand on a box. Robert Conrad.

Yeah. I love that. Sometimes. I don't imagine all the time. I imagine, you know, there's some girls that were my height, but Alan Ladd was short too time. I imagine, you know, there's some girls that were my height. But Alan Ladd was short, too. Alan Ladd was short. Alan Ladd, famously short, yeah. I remember stories of actors and actresses where sometimes they'd go so far as to dig a small ditch if they were standing outside so the actress could stand in there and be shorter than her leading man. Or maybe they did it so everybody is the same height when they're walking.

I imagine they do some of that stuff. Oh, yes. You know, to get everybody in the shot. You can't do a six foot four and a five feet two girl in the same shot, maybe. I don't know. Although Tina and I were, you know, she was very tall. I was on an Apple box half the time when I was standing next to her. But I mean, I was the shortest one. But Natalie was about five, four or five, five. Is it true that they

said, and again, this may be my research is bad or my information is bad. Did they, did they tell Tina Louise that the show was going to focus on her, was going to center around an actress and her friends? Because you read that in some places. I don't know what you read. You know, I don't think so. I mean, she was cast as a movie star. She was perfect in the role. She was never a problem on the set. She was very good at what she did. You know, I don't know.

It's that gossip column stuff. I don't know. If there was any anxiety going on, I didn't see it. I know Bob was very livid about, excuse me, Russell and I not getting the billing. But that was just, it wasn't a temper tantrum or anything. He just negotiated and brought it back. That was admirable of him. It was very sweet of him.

And you did both voices. You did Marianne's voice and Ginger's voice for Gilligan, the animated series, Gilligan's planet. Yes, I did. I feel so deceived. That was fun

The first time I said Okay let's go I'll do all the Marianne voices And then we'll come back And we'll do all the Ginger voices And after halfway through I said I can talk to myself I can be Ginger

Talking to Marianne It was really fun I enjoyed that And here Very important trivia Yeah hit me I think I'd love to

I think Ginger was Jewish Tina Louise? Yeah Or Ginger Grant? No Ginger Being a Jewish fellow I think Ginger was Jewish Tina Louise? Yeah Or Ginger Grant? No Ginger Being a Jewish fella, Don He has an obsession with which celebrities were Jewish

Were you saying the character was Jewish? No, no Tina Louise herself Oh, maybe so I don't know that I don't know I have a cute little story When Tina married Les Crane at the wedding

Yes And Jim Backus says Now when you guys get a, who's going to get custody of the mirror? That's funny. Isn't that a cute story? They're both so good looking. Now, what amazes me, you worked with Elijah Cook Jr.? Yes. Wilmer the Gunsel. Yes.

Wilmer the Gunsel. Yes. Now, can you tell us, because he was one of those guys like every, you know, every Warner Brothers picture he'd pop up. Yeah. And so what was it like working with Elijah Cooke Jr.? Well, and there were three or four of the other guys, too, that did all those Western movies and stuff together. Rory Calhoun. Yeah. He was on one.

Yeah. He was in our show. together. Rory Calhoun. Yeah. He was on one. Yeah. Yeah. He was in our show, but this is a winter hawk with, with Elijah Cook and Denver Pyle, you know, all the, all the old actors. And I tell you something, Cookie, they called him and he was so sweet. My grandmother passed away, excuse me, during the show. And I couldn't get off to go to the funeral. We were in the middle of the Rocky mountains and in the door of my hotel room the next morning was a bouquet of violets and a poem saying, life is like an onion. You peel off one layer at a time. Sometimes you cry. And he left that for me when my grandmother died at the front of my door. Now, how he got

violets in the middle of a town of cowboys and snow and whatever. I mean, he was a very sweet man. Very talented. This was Elijah Cook Jr.? It's so amazing because anyone who knows his career knows like in movies, he's like the sleaziest, most underhanded character you'll ever meet. How sweet. Wasn't that sweet? Yeah, that's an amazing story.

We have to ask you about some of the other guest stars, because these are people that, obviously, we were telling you before that the show is kind of about old show business, and these names come up. Bill Silvers, for instance, on Gilligan's Island, playing Harold Hecuba, the movie producer. And that we did a take off on Shakespeare. Yes.

That's right. That's right. You had to do Hamlet. Uh-huh. I think he's one of the investors. Gladysia Productions is the company, and I think Gladysia was Phil Silver's. What was Phil Silver's like? Funny.

Yeah. Very strong. Very, knew exactly what he wanted to do. You know, comedians are very interesting. They're very different personalities. Some of them are shy and they just sparkle when the light comes on. And he was very much in control.

He knew what was funny. Let's cut this line. This is funnier. He was a genius with all that stuff. And how about when Zsa Zsa was on as Erica Tiffany Smith as the socialite? She was very glamorous and she was selling a Rolls Royce

and I got to drive it around the lot to see what it was like. It was like driving a diesel truck. It's so hard to turn a corner. She was exactly what you'd expect her to be. Don Rickles, on the other hand, kept us laughing night and day and sure would have said if it had been a five-day shoot, I wouldn't have hired him because you can't laugh that many days in a row.

He was wonderful. That's a weird episode. He plays a compulsive kidnapper. Yeah. Don was wonderful. That's a weird episode. He plays a compulsive kidnapper. John Rickles. And our pal Larry Storch was a bank robber. Yes. And here's another good one.

A favorite of Gilbert's is the actor John MacGyver. Oh, he was wonderful. The butterfly, wasn't he? He was the butterfly collector, yes. And Rory Calhoun wandered through in that hunter's outfit, and Tina and I just followed him drooling. He was the best looking thing you ever saw. The send-up of the most dangerous game where Rory Calhoun shows up as a big game hunter and decides he's going to hunt Gilligan. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And, of course, yeah, with John MacGyver, who I've always been a fan of. He keeps coming up on this show, yeah. Everything must be run according to schedule. I am in charge of things. It must be run like a tight ship. Well done. Did you ever hear anybody do John McGuire? No, never before.

There's more of a demand for it than ever. Kids love it. We're going on the road. The teens demand it. What about the great Sterling Holloway? Wow. He was wonderful. It was the pigeon, wasn't it?

Yes. Yeah. He was lovely. And Hans Conrad. Oh, I loved Hans Conrad. Who played Wrong Way Felton. Yeah. He was lovely. And Hans Conrad. Oh, I loved Hans Conrad. Who played Wrong Way Felton. Yeah. Yeah, I loved him too.

The pilot, the wayward pilot. Gosh, those good plots, weren't they? And Vito Scotti. Oh, yes. With the voices. Yeah, who we love. We all changed our voices or something. Russell said, I can't talk as fast as you, Dawn.

I can't do your voice. It's so hard. Those dream sequences were the most fun. The vampire and the Mary Poppins thing. Isn't that your favorite episode where you did the Cockney accent? The Cockney accent, sure. What was the plot of that one? I'm trying to remember.

No early idea. I think it was a Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was a court. It was a court case. Was it a Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? I'm not sure. Yeah. I think so.

Yeah. I'm remembering the professor turning into Mr. Hyde. Yes. For some reason. Yes. And Gilligan in the coffin, whatever that was with his. And Kurt Russell, a very young Kurt Russell showed up. I'll say, he was 12.

The Jungle Boy. And you know what was so interesting? Because child actors, you always look around and see what's going to happen. But Bing was his father. And in between takes, he was out tossing the balls with him. He wasn't a showbiz dad at all. He was taking him out and playing baseball. And he was a lovely young man.

And speaking of actors, and this could be BS as well, was Carol O'Connor sought for the role of the skipper? Well, it was kind of considered, I think. Yeah. I mean, Jerry Van Dyke, I don't even know who they thought of for Bob. Somebody else for Bob. I don't know. Jerry Van Dyke would be Bob. And I don't know.

I don't know. You think about the alternate universe version of Gilligan's Island. Tell us how much mail you were getting, Dawn. You were getting a lot. You were even getting wedding proposals. I was. Marriage proposals. I still am.

Isn't that amazing? Yeah. Now they're 95 when they're asking me. They were 25 and hunks then, but now who knows? No, I think Marianne was the marrying kind. I mean, I get the most fan mail. I got the most fan mail because I think a young girl would write to me and say, I'd like to be your best friend. And I've had so many soldiers say you were in my helmet. I wanted to come home and marry a Marianne. I wrote a book, What Would Marianne Do? Yeah, so we have it right here. Yeah, and I really think it has a lot to say because it's now Kardashians and $500 purses. And, you know, raising a teenager today or a teenage

girl today has got to be a horrendous experience. And I think Marianne had some values. I think she shared, she helped out. She was fair. She wasn't temperamental. She wasn't all about how she looked. I mean, I think she's a really good role model. Yeah. I read the book. When did you publish it?

2014? 2014. What would Marianne do? A Guide to Life. It's a fun, quick read. Yeah. I'm very proud of it. I think it had a lot to say. Because my character, I can't go anywhere in the world.

Marianne, Marianne. It's fascinating to me. What the simple little character that you think she is was sort of the rudder. Did you say you were somewhere, some remote location like the Solomon Islands or somewhere, and somebody came up to you? I've climbed the Rwanda Gorillas, and five of my friends, I don't do anything athletic because of my knees, but I'm an adventuresome person. So we canoed through the Solomon Islands with a friend who had a photographer that knew where we were going. And I canoed up to the island of Sulafu. The chief's family had been chief for nine generations. His son was at the University of Fiji being studying to be a chief. And they were all doing little war dances and everything is no running water, no electricity, all the little huts up on stakes, you know.

And as we canoed up, the chief's wife went, I know you, to me. And I went, what? In the middle of the Pacific Ocean. She said, yes, in 1979, I went to nursing school in the Solomon Islands for a year. And I used to come home and watch you in black and white. Now in the middle of nowhere. Can you imagine? That's the power of television.

Yeah, it is. That's very cool. Well, and you liked my character, too. You'd be a friend of my character. I didn't play the witch or something, you know? Marianne would have been your friend. Sure. Strange Departure, you made a movie about Bigfoot

called Return to Boggy Creek. Yes. Yeah. It's one of my highlights. Actually, it was fun because we were shooting in the swamps. And we were in Louisiana. And I come from Nevada. We've not even seen any water to begin with.

And the good old boys living in the swamps would come and bring their children with their pet rats on leashes. Pet rats? Pet rats. And they were going to a cockfight, I think. And I said, I want to see that. You're not going to go to that. I said, I just want to see that. We're not taking you.

It's too vicious. I mean, it's back in the backwoods. It was quite an experience. They had pet rats on leashes? On leashes. Now, would the rats fight also? Or is this just cockfighting? No.

I mean, it was like their little puppy. It was their pet. I mean, they weren't fighting the rats. That was the only cocker spaniel they could get. Oh, God. Yeah, imagine. Well, I'll have some nightmares. Rats on leashes.

Well, and they're swimming with water moccasins. Imagine what those swamps are like in Louisiana. It's pretty dumb. Oh, jeez. Dawn, you're still doing theater around the country because you've been in over 100 productions. You did The Lion in Winter. You've done Steel Magnolias. What are you doing now?

They're asking me to do Driving Miss Daisy, which I'm considering. Great. Yeah, and I've done Love Lost and several of the vagina monologues and that kind of stuff. I'm always looking for the role that kind of stretches me, you know. Driving Miss Daisy would be great. And you were in the Bold and the Beautiful recently? Yes. One time I was bold and beautiful.

I was just great. I don't know. I'd never done a soap before and I loved them. And it was quite an interesting experience to just walk on, not know anybody. And all the cameras are coming at you from every direction. I enjoyed it. I got a kick out of it. And tell us, too, about my wife is a big fan of Roseanne, and I love the episode, the Roseanne episode with the flashbacks.

Yes, wasn't that great? Where you guys show up. Uh-huh. Tell us about that experience. Well, it was fun. I mean, it was great, and she was at her heyday, Roseanne was. Sure. I was playing Darlene. I do recall the boots of hers that I wore that must have weighed 50 pounds a boot. I don't know how the girl walked around after two o'clock in the afternoon. It was fun. It was fun. I mean, you don't realize when you're doing it, you'd have no idea the influence this show has had. As silly as it was, and the critics thought it was the stupidest thing ever, ever. And I can't go anywhere in the world. I mean, it's everybody's, it's like the soldiers saying, I want to come home

and marry Marianne. It's something of America. It's something of who we are. It's something of how we are all raised that resonates. And I think that's one of the things that tickles me about MeTV. Because when we were doing MeTV, you know, we had censors then. The shows were censored and family style and people could watch them. And then when you're working, you don't get a chance to see it. And now it's a wonderful way to influence morality. What can you teach your kid about somebody singing naked on the piano? But you watch the Brady Bunch or you watch a Gilligan's Island or you watch a dry I Dream of Jeannie when there's principles and ethics and things. So the MeTV has kind of brought that back. It's kind of a balance to what's going on in the rest of the world.

And what is your official, what capacity are you working in with them? They're calling you an ambassador. Yeah. I mean, I've done some promos for them and stuff, which is fun. You see me talking to Perry Mason and things like that. And then I do personal appearances around the country for them, promoting the shows. What did the actors think? Did you guys think originally this is such a silly concept? We're out of here in 13 weeks or 22 weeks? Oh, we couldn't believe it.

You mean you've got a kid floating on and floating off and doesn't know where he was? And you've got rock and roll bands. We thought it was the stupidest thing. But, of course, the rock band shows up on the island. The mosquitoes. But, you know, did you believe Abbott and Costello? You know, I mean, comedy is fantasy anyway, isn't it? No, I mean, amongst yourselves, you must have thought, yeah, this is absurd.

I mean, we're going to get our checks and get out of here. You couldn't have imagined in your wildest dreams that you'd be talking about it five decades later. And they said, we're never going to get reruns, you know, and we'll never go in color. Yeah. And here we are. You sure did. We sure did. And, you know, I mean, as an actress, I can say there's other roles that I feel that were more challenging

and that I've really got my teeth into and loved what I was doing. But the character of Marianne has given me love and affection around the world. I mean, everybody loves the character. It's lovely to be greeted with somebody that likes you. If you'd have played a witch on a soap opera, they might be slapping your face. But it's interesting. Gilligan's Island is one of those comfort shows where you just kind of put it on and you do your business or you walk out of the room or you do your chores and you come back and it reminds you of your childhood. Yes. And then you'll pick up, you know, we've talked about the incidental music on the show. Do you

remember this, Gil? Oh, yeah. You know, when like Gil Gillian's riding the bicycle that washes the clothes. Yes. This stuff that's stuck in my head. Oh, yeah. I wonder, do they compose that afterwards? Do they do that afterwards?

I don't know, but I have a friend who's a musician. I went to his house once, and he said, here, I'm going to play you something. And he started playing not the theme from Gilligan's Island, but what I guess they call the incidental music. The little... The bridging the scenes. I'm sorry? The bridging the scenes. The bridging.

And there were several from Gilligan's Island. When you guys were in trouble, or the giant spider in the scenes. The bridging. And there were several from Gilligan's Island. When you guys were in trouble or the giant spider in the cave. Yes, yes. And there was music for that. And you'll be doing something in the house and you'll catch a glimpse of it on the set and say, and it takes you right back to 1966. It does. All those shows had that. Yeah.

I remember them. Because you're instantly back. I remember the Munsters had dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun. Yes remember them. Because you're instantly back. I remember the Munsters had... Yes, yes. And, of course, whenever Don Knotts would be brave... Oh, they'd play that old Highway Patrol stuff. Right. Hey, you guys watch way too much television. The highway patrol stuff. Da, da, da family foundation in Reno called the Terry Lee Wells Foundation.

We just built a discovery museum connected with the Smithsonian. And for Reno, Nevada, that's a huge thing. I'm very, very, very proud of it. I did a Children's Miracle Network telethon for 15 years and became very close to a young cystic fibrosis child. And I didn't have a child. So that has fulfilled my life. I ran a film actors boot camp up in Idaho for 10 years, teaching you not how to act, how to get the job. You know, it's called show business. It's a business. And I think that there's a lot of

people that have to understand it's just, you just can't show up and be talented. There's a lot more to it than that. And I don't have children. So I've done a lot of charity work and I took care of my mom. And I'm leading a wonderful life. I'm very happy. I'm healthy. And I wonder what I'm going to do tomorrow. What is Wishing Wells, the Wishing Wells collection? Oh, the Wishing Wells collection.

I had a friend in a nursing home for 11 years. And when you see somebody that can't dress themselves, and the people in the convalescent homes don't have time. And I thought, why in the world are we wearing sweatshirts backwards and sweaters backwards, when in a theater you can change your costumes in 30 seconds with Velcro? Why can't they be in something pretty? So I designed a line of clothing. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Howell modeled for me. And it's just very difficult reaching the caregiver, reaching you, the son. It's your mother that needs it. But how do I get to you, the son, that says your mother needs it? I had it for about four years. And I went with pennies, and they ripped me off.

I mean, they kind of stole the ideas. It's not an original idea anyway. It's just hard to reach the people, but I think it's such a necessity to keep your dignity no matter how long you're here. Well, you're doing so many admirable things. And you're working with elephants, too. Oh, you did at some point. Oh, for God's sakes, yes. The Elephant Sanctuary in Honewall, Tennessee.

Can you believe it? It's not like a zoo. You can, the classes will come and see them, but they roam, they take them away from the circuses. I mean, you know, I've been to Africa five times and you know, when you hear about elephants, never forget, if an elephant, if a herd goes by and there's a pile of bones,

they will stop and touch every bone if it's a relative. They will touch every bone and they will go on. But if it's one of theirs, they will stay. I mean, they are incredible creatures. And to see that they've been tied up and chained to 7-Elevens in the middle of nowhere, it's wonderful that we've managed to help them. Now, haven't circuses, they're going to stop? I think Barnum and Bailey have stopped already. Imagine if they have to walk 50 miles.

Imagine them chained to a 7-Eleven store somewhere in the middle of a desert, standing all day long and not doing anything. That's cruel. It's shameful. Don't get me started on animal rights, Dawn. We'll be here for hours. Okay. I've heard you say you want to be Betty White when you grow up. Yeah, I do.

Am I getting close? Hasn't she had a wonderful... I think that's such a wonderful quote. Well, it is. Hasn't she had a wonderful life and she's still working and she's joyful and one of the nicest ladies ever. Oh, yes. You've met Betty White several times in your travels. And she always remembers, too, doesn't she?

What's that? She always remembers who you are she always remembers who you are oh yes yeah and and i mean the idea that she's as old as she is and and in demand yes and that show she was memorizing that was that wasn't teleprompters they had it was like doing a little play every week and that she hosted saturday night live in her 90s oh yeah she was on i I was writing for a talk show for CNN, and Betty White was a guest. And I said, I'm going to test her. I'm going to give her a line of dialogue

from the Mary Tyler Moore show. Oh, yeah, did you? Just for fun. Yeah. And I said, hey, Betty, what happens to Veal Prince Orloff when you leave him in a 375-degree oven? And she turned around and she looked at me

and she went, he dies. Which is a line from Sue Ann Nivens from 1976. It made my month. Yeah, she's a nice lady. We'd love to get her on this show. Oh, you have to. Yeah, it's a project. So shall we wind and let this lady get back to her?

I just noticed a question. Uh-oh. What do you got there? That Jonathan Winters was a great help to you early in your career? Or that he was nice to you. It's in your book. Jonathan Winters. He was very nice to me because I was working with him.

He was very kind about saying, let her get the laugh. He was very gentle and very sweet. Usually comedians are not that way. They're usually very selfish and try to take everything away from you, but he was not. Oh, I don't know what she's talking about. I don't either. Have you two met, by the way? I don't know where you're going there, Dawn.

I don't either. I give up. As I sneak out of the room. Tiptoe, please. Well, this was fun. I enjoyed it. Thank you guys for having me. Oh, thank you for taking the time, Dawn. Thank fun. I enjoyed it. Thank you guys for having me. Oh, thank you for taking the time, Dawn.

Thank you. This was a kick. And not only that, you were well-prepared, and it's so nice because you kind of knew what we were talking about instead of just asking silly questions. I appreciate that. Oh, we didn't scratch the surface. I mean, we have all your credits here from, you know, 40 years, but it's only an hour show. That's right. Okay, I'm Gilbert godfrey this has been

gilbert godfrey's amazing colossal podcast we're here with my co-host frank santo padre once again we're recording at nutmeg with our engineer frank ferderosa and we've been talking to everyone's favorite girl on Gilligan's Island, Dawn Wells, Marianne herself. Do you still have the shorts, Dawn? Oh, you betcha, and I still look good in them, too. Fantastic. Thank you, Dawn. This was a treat for us.

Thank you. Have a good life, you guys. You, too. We'll talk to you again. Okay, bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.