After Gilligan's Island, Tina Louise Starred In One Of TV's Most Iconic Westerns
In 1967, Tina Louise made a big jump from shipwrecks to saloons. While most knew her at the time as Ginger Grant, the glamorous Hollywood actress marooned on "Gilligan's Island," she stripped away the diva trappings to appear on "Bonanza," one of TV's most legendary Westerns, shortly after the sitcom was canceled.
Louise appeared in a Season 9 episode of "Bonanza" titled "Desperate Passage," which aired less than seven months after CBS voted "Gilligan's" off the island to make room for a different Western, "Gunsmoke." In a show of Louise's range, the actor starred as the bereft Mary Burns, one of the sole survivors of a Paiute raid on her town. In one particularly salient scene, Louise recounts her trauma to "Bonanza" patriarch Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) while weeping and stuttering over her sentences. By the end of her story, she can hardly get the words out at all. For fans used to the bold, sultry Ginger, this was a major departure.
Tina Louise thought of herself as a serious actor
Tina Louise — the last surviving member of the "Gilligan's Island" cast — wasn't the only one of her co-stars to hitch a ride to "Bonanza," which follows the exploits of the Cartwright ranching family over its impressive 14-season run. Dawn Wells, who played fellow castaway Mary Ann Summers, guest-starred twice. She appeared in a Season 4 episode titled "The Way Station" that aired in 1962 (two years before "Gilligan's" launched), as well as a Season 9 episode, "The Burning Sky," which aired in 1968. Alan Hale Jr., who played The Skipper, also appeared in the very first season of "Bonanza," back in 1959.
It's not surprising that Louise specifically wanted to make a pivot after "Gilligan's Island" ended. "I never thought of myself as a comedian," as she told Woman's World in 2025. "I thought of myself as a serious person who loved my field. I was a natural actor, but I thought of myself more along dramatic lines and just wanted to get back to that. After ['Gilligan's Island'] was over, I continued to do dramatic things."