Dawn Wells, a star of the popular television show Gilligan’s Island, died at age 82 from complications arising from COVID-19, according to her publicist.
Wells, who played Mary Ann Summers on the 1960s hit show, died at a hospital in Los Angeles on Wednesday and is survived by her stepsister Weslee Wells.
Wells is best remembered for her performance on Gilligan’s Island, the story of a misfit group of shipwrecked passengers, which was later picked up for syndication and aired repeatedly in the homes of millions of people in the United States.
During an interview with Smashing Interviews following her exit from the show, Wells described her character as a “good girl.”
“Mary Ann was a good girl,” Wells said. “She was polite. She was a hard worker. She would be your best friend. She cooked. She cleaned. She did all of those things, and she was a really good role model.”
Wells appeared in a number of TV shows following her departure from Gilligan’s Island, including Baywatch, Growing Pains, and The Bold and the Beautiful.
More than 330,000 people in the U.S. have died from complications arising from COVID-19 since the outbreak began in March, according to the New York Times coronavirus tracker.
