It wasn't a sitcom, it was an American cultural icon. Gilligan's Island ran from 1964 to 1967 on television.

But thru the 70's and 80's many markets ran it in syndication. The more people watched it, the more they loved it.

Many of us watched it in the late afternoons after school. Every episode had you sitting there with your fingers crossed, hoping it would be today that the S. S. Minnow and it's 7 passengers would be rescued.

Of the original seven, five members of the cast have already passed away:

  • Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III, the millionaire - Died: July 3, 1989
  • Alan Hale, Jr. as Captain/The Skipper Jonas Grumby - Died: January 2, 1990
  • Natalie Schafer as Eunice 'Lovie' Wentworth Howell, Thurston's wife - Died: April 10, 1991
  • Bob Denver as First Mate Gilligan - Died: September 2, 2005
  • Russell Johnson as Professor Roy Hinkley, Ph.D. - Died: January 16, 2014

That means of the original castaways, only 2 are left: Tina Louise, who's 79,who played movie star Ginger Grant, and Dawn Wells, who is 75, who played Mary Ann Summers.

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