Hello and thank you for being a DL contributor. We are changing the login scheme for contributors for simpler login and to better support using multiple devices. Please click here to update your account with a username and password.

Hello. Some features on this site require registration. Please click here to register for free.

Hello and thank you for registering. Please complete the process by verifying your email address. If you can't find the email you can resend it here.

Hello. Some features on this site require a subscription. Please click here to get full access and no ads for $1.99 or less per month.

Happy 90th Birthday to Tina Louise !

Tina Louise, best known as the Hollywood sex symbol 'Ginger Grant' on 'Gilligan's Island', turns 90 today. Certainly, there's some gossip about this old actress ?

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 47August 16, 2024 2:36 AM

She used to be a bit pissy about the Ginger role and its lasting fame but seems to have mellowed and appreciates it. She was good in the original Stepford Wives. Formerly married to hot pioneering talk show host, Les Crane, the father of her daughter. Not much else.

by Anonymousreply 1February 11, 2024 3:58 PM

They always come around those actors who are famous for one role and it's all people want to talk about. They finally accept it.

Except Alec Guiness who I think detested Star Wars till the end of his life no matter how rich it made him. I can't blame him. He appeared in many wonderful movies and Star Wars wasn't one of them.

by Anonymousreply 2February 11, 2024 4:44 PM

Evil never dies!

by Anonymousreply 3February 11, 2024 5:09 PM

R3 You certainly did & so did that young girl while you were at the Playboy Mansion that night!

by Anonymousreply 4February 11, 2024 5:46 PM

I sure had a lot of ball gowns for that 3 hour tour. And apparently lots of hairspray and island sand in my crack.

Sure, I was bitchy, but I ended up back on that same sound stage years later dressing up/playing that bitch Roseanne Connor ("Sherwood Schwartz—A Loving Tribute")

by Anonymousreply 5February 11, 2024 5:49 PM

Was known for giving great blow jobs. One of her best "clients" was CBS president James Aubrey, who was the inspiration for Jackie Susann's The Love Machine.

by Anonymousreply 6February 11, 2024 5:50 PM

I thought Miss Tina and her wild mane were gorgeous in The Stepford Wives.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 7February 11, 2024 5:57 PM

One of my favorite bits from Gilligan's Island. I think Madonna picked up some of the moves for her latest tour from Mrs. Howell.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 8February 11, 2024 6:38 PM

[quote] She used to be a bit pissy about the Ginger role and its lasting fame but seems to have mellowed and appreciates it.

This seems to happen when they become barely-there celebrities. In fact we can think of it as Star Trek Syndrome because William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Patrick Steward all went through that phase.

by Anonymousreply 9February 11, 2024 6:45 PM

Well she outlived Sherwood Schwartz and Bob Denver who insulted her for like 30 years after the show shut down because she wanted out of her contract which has always led me to wonder: Why didn’t they just let her out of her contract? What was the big deal?

She could’ve been replaced by myriad starlets in Hollywood. The Munsters replaced Marilyn, Bewitched replaced Darrin, Petticoat Junction seemed to be replacing their young female cast members on a regular basis. The Andy Griffith Show let Elinor Donahue out of her contract (it was a Me Too situation. Griffith liked to fuck his female costars and Elinor wasn’t interested)

So why not just release her? It was a common tv thing at the time.

by Anonymousreply 10February 11, 2024 6:53 PM

I don't think Tina Louise was blameless in the situation. She was reputedly very bitchy towards Dawn Welles, whom she considered far beneath her, and didn't get along with the other cast members.

by Anonymousreply 11February 11, 2024 6:57 PM

She was good on Married with Children

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 12February 11, 2024 7:06 PM

Did she ever spend the money to buy a surname or just go through life with two first names?

by Anonymousreply 13February 11, 2024 7:08 PM

R13- Don't complain I'm named after two NYC mayors

by Anonymousreply 14February 11, 2024 7:10 PM

Louise was bitchy in order to get out of her contact. She held up production and acted badly because she wanted to be let go. They wouldn’t let her go. What was the reasoning behind keeping her there when be-wigged, false eyelashed starlets were a dime a dozen in 1960s Hollywood? They were punishing her. For what, is what I’d like to know. Why not just let her go and everyone would be happy. Seems like some kind of weird power thing. Also, Denver was insistent that she get 5th billing. Why? I saw him on several talk shows over the years when he railed about that. “I made sure she only got 5th billing and she couldn’t have ‘also starring’ or ‘with’ in front of her face during the opening credits.”

WTF was up with that? I never heard of a tv star (especially a male tv star) demanding a cast member (especially a female cast member) be deliberately demeaned in opening credits in a 1964 sitcom. It’s bizarre.

by Anonymousreply 15February 11, 2024 7:21 PM

No, she didn't, r13.

by Anonymousreply 16February 11, 2024 7:24 PM

In the OP article, Dawn Wells says she was not difficult, presumably meaning in production, just unfriendly.

by Anonymousreply 17February 11, 2024 7:27 PM

You have to admit Tina Louis is sui generis and I always look forward to seeing her. I wouldn't let her go either.

And Dick York was great in Bewitched but he had serious health problems. There's heat between him and Elizabeth Montgomery. With the other guy he's just an unfunny unhappy gay guy who Sam has picked up as a friend out of pity.

by Anonymousreply 18February 11, 2024 7:27 PM

From what I’ve read, Tina lives a full life with her young daughter.

by Anonymousreply 19February 11, 2024 7:57 PM

R19- Her daughter is hardly young at 53 years old.

by Anonymousreply 20February 11, 2024 8:26 PM

Between Tina Louise and Robert Reed Sherwood Schwartz really had a difficult time making silly kids shows

by Anonymousreply 21February 11, 2024 8:46 PM

At least they weren't hyphenated.

by Anonymousreply 22February 11, 2024 8:59 PM

In the old Hollywood Kids magazine, they had an interview with Dawn and asked her to give descriptions of various GI castmates. Natalie Schaeffer she said "dear friend" and when they asked about Tina, she took a long pause and said "let's just say 'beautiful'".

by Anonymousreply 23February 11, 2024 9:00 PM

[quote] which has always led me to wonder: Why didn’t they just let her out of her contract? What was the big deal?

[quote] She could’ve been replaced by myriad starlets in Hollywood. The Munsters replaced Marilyn, Bewitched replaced Darrin, Petticoat Junction seemed to be replacing their young female cast members on a regular basis.

Are you being serious? The show was about a band of people [italic]trapped on a desert island[/italic]. How were they supposed to replace her?

by Anonymousreply 24February 11, 2024 9:28 PM

Is it true Jayne Mansfield was the first choice for Ginger but turned it down because she felt television was beneath her? It’s hard to imagine, considering she was playing those sad little juke joints in Biloxi and such. Oh, what could have been.

by Anonymousreply 25February 11, 2024 9:47 PM

R10 R15 Tina had movie star looks (18 on a 1-10 scale) and had some serious acting chops, which is why they were reluctant to let her out of her contract. Either you would have to recast, which I don’t think would’ve worked (how can you recast the ideal looking woman? the reunion movies did a shitty job at this) or explain how Ginger left the island without anyone else. This was rumored to have been the option if GI was renewed for a fourth season with Ginger alone being rescued somehow. They thought Tina would leave, but Tina maintains she would’ve stayed. I think Denver was just jealous of the attention she got. From what I understand there wasn’t a lot of fighting on set, but Tina didn’t bond with the rest of the cast. If Tina makes it another year, she will surpass Natalie as the oldest living cast member.

by Anonymousreply 26February 11, 2024 9:51 PM

And what a profound accomplishment that would be, r26

by Anonymousreply 27February 11, 2024 9:54 PM

The best explanation for why they didn't let her out of her contract is what R26 pointed out -Despite a plethora of starlets available, she would have been very hard to recast. Not just the looks -she had talent and presence that made her believable as a star. She also showed intelligence under all that beauty. The people cast to replace her in the subsequent films were just pretty. Period.

Given all the cast changes on other 60s shows, "explaining" the change would have been simple: It would have been completely ignored on the show. In fact, the only show I can recall actually pointing out cast changes was the old Burns and Allen Show. See below.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 28February 11, 2024 10:34 PM

Tina Louise is a cunt!

by Anonymousreply 29February 12, 2024 12:00 AM

Maybe, R28, maybe. But she's famous, and has had some serious, first-class cock in her life. Can you say the same for yourself?

by Anonymousreply 30February 12, 2024 12:06 AM

I think Carol Wayne or her sister, Nina, would have been solid recasts.

by Anonymousreply 31February 12, 2024 12:36 AM

Carol Wayne would have resulted in even more opportunity for ironic drowning references. That might be worth feeding into AI..

by Anonymousreply 32February 12, 2024 12:53 AM

The Gilligan lady!

by Anonymousreply 33February 12, 2024 1:00 AM

I would get her mixed up with Suzy Parker. My mom had a girl crush on Suzy and took umbrage at me for not knowing the difference. One of my mom’s favorite movies is THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, and when I saw Suzy’s red mane and tall curvy body I cried out, It’s GINGER FROM GILLIGANS ISLAND!”. “NO, it’s NOT!”, mom said, already on her third glass of gin.

by Anonymousreply 34February 12, 2024 1:05 AM

I can see being annoyed by Bob Denver. But Dawn Wells? Tina Louise got the "career" she deserved.

by Anonymousreply 35February 12, 2024 1:12 AM

*

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 36February 12, 2024 1:15 AM

Looks great.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 37August 15, 2024 9:58 PM

Op and Tina are the same age?

by Anonymousreply 38August 15, 2024 10:06 PM

[quote]Griffith liked to fuck his female costars and Elinor wasn’t interested.

He and Don Knotts would Eiffel Tower Frances Bavier while little Ronnie Howard watched.

by Anonymousreply 39August 15, 2024 10:17 PM

I saw that clip of her earlier today. Did you notice her not-so-subtle shift to the conversation? She was done with Gilligan and wanted to talk about her book. Which sounds dreadful, by the way. An entire book focusing on her experiences from age 7 to 11? Shudder.

by Anonymousreply 40August 15, 2024 10:54 PM

noone ever mentions her early credits.......Born in New York City, Tina was still in her teens when she burst upon the national scene by starring on Broadway in the critically acclaimed box-office success "Li'l Abner", based on the famous comic strip character created by Al Capp. Stellar reviews caught the attention of Hollywood and Tina signed up for her first feature film, God's Little Acre (1958), which was an entry in the Venice Film Festival. It was at this point in her career that she began studying with Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio in New York because she believed it was "time to develop and deepen my knowledge of the craft . . . Lee Strasberg," says Tina, "had the most dynamic effect on me. He influenced my life as no other man ever has."

After several more films, Tina returned to Broadway to star with Carol Burnett in "Fade in, Fade Out".

by Anonymousreply 41August 16, 2024 1:19 AM

full stream below of TL's first film God's Little Acre......with DL fave Aldo Ray

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 42August 16, 2024 1:55 AM

Day Of The Outlaw 1959 Robert Ryan, Burl Ives & Tina Louise

full stream / more early Tina Louise!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 43August 16, 2024 2:00 AM

I really thought I’d read a few years back that she was already well into her 90s (?). Oh well, I hope she might still have her Ginger “SOS” dress as a show souvenir!! :)

by Anonymousreply 44August 16, 2024 2:03 AM

I thought she was one of the finalists for Louise in the Ethel Merman Gypsy. Tina Louise as Louise.

by Anonymousreply 45August 16, 2024 2:06 AM

They should have let Ginger go and let Eva Grubb take her place

by Anonymousreply 46August 16, 2024 2:27 AM

When nine decades old you reach, look as good you will not

by Anonymousreply 47August 16, 2024 2:36 AM
Loading
Need more help? Click Here.

Yes indeed, we too use "cookies." Take a look at our privacy/terms or if you just want to see the damn site without all this bureaucratic nonsense, click ACCEPT. Otherwise, you'll just have to find some other site for your pointless bitchery needs.

×

Become a contributor - post when you want with no ads!