Gilligan’s Island star Tina Louise, 90, is having ‘fun’ talking up her juicy memoir as it is re-released 27 years after its debut
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Tina Louise, who played the great Ginger Grant on Gilligan’s Island, is re-releasing her 1997 memoir.
The 90-year-old actress also created an audiobook for her revelation, titled Sunday: A Memoir.
In the book she talks about her work on the hit series. She said she didn’t expect it to be such a big success. At first she thought it would only last six months.
The series starred Russell Johnson, Dawn Wells, Bob Denver, Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, and Alan Hale, Jr.
The series about a diverse group of tourists shipwrecked on a tropical island aired from 1964 to 1967.
Tina Louise, who played the stunning Ginger Grant in Gilligan’s Island, is re-releasing her 1997 memoir; Seen in 1960
The actress, 90, has also made an audiobook for her tell-all titled Sunday: A Memoir. Seen on Gilligan’s Island with Alan Hale Jr. and Bob Denver
She also talks about it in her book her time as a child at boarding school.
At the age of six, her parents sent her to boarding school because they were going through a divorce.
But she didn’t feel comfortable at school.
Her only highlight was Sundays, when her parents came to visit.
She wrote on her Facebook page this week: ‘I’ve been having a lot of fun doing press for my audiobook for the reissue of Sunday, my memoir written from my perspective as an 8-year-old. It’s been really cathartic and therapeutic to talk about it. The book is out now in various forms.’
She is a Hollywood veteran, having begun her acting career in the mid-1950s in the theater.
Her breakthrough came when Louise played the lead role in the 1958 drama film God’s Little Acre. She even received a Golden Globe in the New Star of the Year category.
She had a successful film career, appearing in classics such as The Trap, The Hangman, Day Of The Outlaw and For Those Who Think Young.
Portrait of the cast of Gilligan’s Island, 1964. Back row, from left, American actors Jim Backus (1913 – 1989) as Thurston Howell III, Natalie Schafer (1900 – 1991) as Mrs. Howell, Tina Louise as Ginger Grant, Alan Hale Jr. (1918 – 1990) as the Skipper and Dawn Wells as Mary Ann Summers; front row, from left, Russell Johnson as the Professor and Bob Denver as Gilligan
The series about a diverse group of tourists shipwrecked on a tropical island aired from 1964 to 1967
In her book she also talks about her time as a child at a boarding school. At the age of six, her parents sent her to a boarding school because they were going through a divorce. But she did not feel comfortable at school
Louise at the opening night of the Museum of Modern Art and Luce Cinecitta’s Ugo Tognazzi: Tragedies of a Ridiculous Man Retrospective at MoMA in NYC in 2018
Her most famous role, however, came in 1964, when she took on the role of movie star Ginger Grant in Gilligan’s Island after Jayne Mansfield turned down the part.
The character was a sexy, sexy actress reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe, who was mostly concerned with her outfits, looks, career and Hollywood gossip.
Louise played the role of Ginger in all three seasons of the sitcom, but turned down opportunities to reprise the role in the 1977 film Rescue From Gilligan’s Island or The Harlem Globetrotters On Gilligan’s Island, being the only original cast member to turn down the opportunity.
She made numerous guest appearances on television series and even made a return to films with roles in The Wrecking Crew, The Happy Ending and The Stepford Wives.
She also worked opposite Stephen Baldwin, Burt Young and Joseph D’Onofrio in the Ken Kushner-directed family drama Tapestry, which was released in 2017.