Tina Louise, who played the stunning Ginger Grant on Gilligan’s Island, is re-releasing her 1997 memoir.
The actress, 90, has also done an audiobook for her tell-all titled Sunday: A Memoir.
In the tome she talks about working on the hit show as she said she did not think it would be such a massive success – at first, she thought that it would only last six months.
The series starred Russell Johnson, Dawn Wells, Bob Denver, Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, and Alan Hale, Jr.
The show about a diverse group of tourists shipwrecked on a tropical island aired from 1964 to 1967.
Tina Louise, who played the stunning Ginger Grant on Gilligan’s Island, is re-releasing her 1997 memoir; seen in 1960
The actress, 90, has also done an audiobook for her tell-all titled Sunday: A Memoir. Seen on Gilligan’s Island with Alan Hale Jr. and Bob Denver
Also in her book she talks about her time as a child in boarding school.
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At age six she was sent by her parents to boarding school because they were going through a divorce.
But she did not feel comfortable at the school.
Her only highlight was Sundays when her parents might visit.
She wrote on her Facebook page this week: ‘I’ve been having fun doing press about my audiobook for the re-release of Sunday, my memoir written from my perspective as an 8-year-old. It’s really quite freeing and therapeutic to talk about it. The book is out now in various forms.’
She is a veteran of Hollywood as she began her acting career in the theater during the mid 1950s.
Louise had her breakthrough when she starred in 1958 drama film God’s Little Acre as she even received a Golden Globe in the New Star Of The Year Category.
She had a successful film career as she starred in classics like The Trap, The Hangman, Day Of The Outlaw, and For Those Who Think Young.
Portrait of the cast of Gilligan’s Island, 1964. Back row, from left, American actors Jim Backus (1913 – 1989) as Thurston Howell III, Natalie Schafer (1900 – 1991) as Mrs. Howell, Tina Louise as Ginger Grant, Alan Hale Jr. (1918 – 1990) as the Skipper, and Dawn Wells as Mary Ann Summers; front row, from left, Russell Johnson as the Professor and Bob Denver as Gilligan
The show about a diverse group of tourists shipwrecked on a tropical island aired from 1964 to 1967
Also in her book she talks about her time as a child in boarding school. At age six she was sent by her parents to boarding school because they were going through a divorce. But she did not feel comfortable at the school
Louise at the opening night of The Museum of Modern Art and Luce Cinecitta’s Ugo Tognazzi: Tragedies of a Ridiculous Man Retrospective at MoMA in NYC in 2018
However her signature role came in 1964 when she took on the role of movie star Ginger Grant in Gilligan’s Island after the role was turned down by Jayne Mansfield.
The character was a sexy, bombshell type actress reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe who was concerned with her outfits, appearance, career and Hollywood gossip.
Louise starred as Ginger in all three seasons of the sitcom but turned down opportunities to reprise the role in 1977 movie Rescue From Gilligan’s Island or The Harlem Globetrotters On Gilligan’s Island as she is the only original castmember to turn the opportunity down.
She did make numerous guest appearances on television series and even made a return to film starring in The Wrecking Crew, The Happy Ending, and The Stepford Wives.
She also worked alongside Stephen Baldwin, Burt Young, and Joseph D’Onofrio in Ken Kushner directed family drama Tapestry which was released in 2017.