Gilligan's Island Actor Tina Louise Helped Launch The Biggest '80s Primetime Soap Opera
Actress Tina Louise is probably best known for playing Ginger Grant on the cheesy-yet-beloved '60s show "Gilligan's Island," but she had another major role in a show that might be even more important to TV history than the CBS sitcom. In 1978, a little more than a decade after "Gilligan's Island" unceremoniously ended, Louise was featured in the first few episodes of "Dallas," one of the biggest shows of the era.
Louise, the last surviving member of the "Gilligan's" cast, played Julie Grey, secretary to "Dallas" protagonist J. R. Ewing (Larry Hagman). Louise appeared in the series premiere, which aired on April 2, 1978. When the soap launched, it was originally conceived of as a miniseries, and CBS executives expected "Dallas" would fail. They were very wrong, perhaps in small part due to Louise's performance as Julie in the first three episodes of the first season. In addition to being J.R.'s secretary, Julie is also his mistress, giving the fledgling series some juicy drama right from the jump. When J.R. takes Julie for granted, she becomes vengeful, going so far as agreeing to steal documents incriminating J.R. for his rival Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval).
Louise only appears in six total episodes of "Dallas," three in the first season and another trio in Season 2, but they are memorable. And, in classic soap opera fashion, her character meets a dramatic end, falling to her death while another character gets framed for murder.
Gilligan's Island almost had another connection with a Dallas (of sorts)
Tina Louise was not the only "Gilligan's Island" actor to appear on "Dallas." Russell Johnson, who played the Professor on "Gilligan's," was a sheriff in Season 9, the infamous "dream season." However, Louise's role was far more prominent.
Amusingly, there was almost another connection between "Gilligan's Island" and Dallas — not the '80s primetime soap, but the city in Texas. Specifically, the cheerleaders for the Dallas Cowboys. In the third "Gilligan's Island" movie, the castaways meet the Harlem Globetrotters. According to "Gilligan's" creator Sherwood Schwartz in his book "Inside Gilligan's Island: A Three-Hour Tour Through The Making Of A Television Classic," the original plan was to have the castaways meet the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in the TV movie. Producer Fred Silverman got the idea after seeing the cheerleaders do a TV special. "I'm sure I could work out a story for the cheerleaders on 'Gilligan's Island,'" Schwartz said (via Google Books). "In fact, I thought it was a very attractive idea, all those beautiful girls in a tropical setting."
He'd started writing an outline only to find that the cheerleaders were contractually unavailable, and they pivoted to the Harlem Globetrotters instead. Louise, who had already appeared on "Dallas" and been killed off, didn't return for any of the films. (Cassandra Peterson, better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, nearly replaced Louise as Ginger Grant in one.)