American actress Tina Louise most famously played movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy Gilligan’s Island.
Before scoring her breakthrough performance in 1958 drama film God’s Little Acre for which she got the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year, she started her career on stage in the mid-1950s.
Born in New York City, Tina came from a candy store owner father and a fashion model mother. Her Russian, Italian, and Irish background exposed her to many cultures and shaped her growing environment.
In 1958 Louise debuted in God’s Little Acre. The National Art Council dubbed her the “World’s Most Beautiful Redhead that same year.”
She played Day of the Outlaw with Robert Ryan the following year. Often performing sad roles, she developed into a leading woman for performers including Robert Taylor and Richard Widmer.
When Tina Louise earned the part of Ginger Grant on the venerable television show “Gilligan’s Island in 1964, she became somewhat well-known.
Audiences were enthralled by her performance of the glitzy movie diva caught on a desolate island, so confirming her place in popular culture.
Louise wanted to be known for her adaptability as an actor, hence even with the popularity of the show, she felt some annoyance over being typecast following “Gilligan’s Island.”
She insisted repeatedly that playing Ginger had destroyed her cinematic career, even though she kept working in movies and made guest appearances on TV. She did not feature in any of the later Gilligan’s Island sequel films.
Playing darker roles, such a heroin addict in a 1974 episode of Kojak and as a nasty correctional officer in the 1976 television movie Nightmare in Badham County, Louise tried to distance her humorous image.
Later performances included co-starring in the Robert Altman comedy O.C. and Stiggs (1987) and independently produced satire Johnny Suede (1992) starring Brad Pitt.
Playing darker roles, such a heroin addict in a 1974 episode of Kojak and as a nasty correctional officer in the 1976 television movie Nightmare in Badham County, Louise tried to distance her humorous image.
Later performances included co-starring in the Robert Altman comedy O.C. and Stiggs (1987) and independently produced satire Johnny Suede (1992) starring Brad Pitt.
(Photo credit: Pinterest / IMDB).
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