Mary Ann Summers is a fictional character in the television sitcom ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

'' which ran on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

network from 1964 to 1967, and has run more or less continuously since in reruns. She was played by actress

Dawn Wells Dawn Elberta Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Ann Summers in the sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''. Early life Wells was born to Evelyn (née Steinbrenner) and Joe Wesle ...

Character summary

Mary Ann was portrayed by actress

. She is an

ingénue The ''ingénue'' (, , ) is a stock character in literature, film and a role type in the theater, generally a girl or a young woman, who is endearingly innocent. ''Ingénue'' may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in such role ...

, the typical

girl next door The girl next door is a young female stock character who is often used in Romance novel, romantic stories. She is named so because she often lives next door to the protagonist or is a childhood friend. They start out with a friendship that late ...

, and a

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

as well as a friend to glamorous

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

star Ginger Grant, played by

Tina Louise Tina Louise (née Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her career on stage, film and television, including her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the popular television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island'' ...

. In addition, her practical domestic skills and plain, good, common sense make her an indispensable member of the group. She is from

Winfield, Kansas Winfield is a city and county seat of Cowley County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in South Central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,777. It is home to Southwestern College. ...

, a farm girl, and a reference to

Dorothy Gale Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by the American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most o ...

as played by

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

in the 1939 classic movie ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'' (occasionally wearing Dorothy's ubiquitous pigtails and a gingham dress). Mary Ann is in her late teens to early twenties. She was traveling alone on the "three-hour tour", which she had won in a contest. She tells the others that she has a boyfriend named Horace Higgenbotham from Horner's Corners, Kansas, so they would think she has someone special waiting for her, but confesses later that he is "a real creep" and not her boyfriend at all.Season 2, episode 18, "The Postman Cometh" In '' Rescue from Gilligan's Island'', she is revealed to be in fact engaged and that her fiancé had waited 15 years for her, but when she was finally rescued, they no longer loved each other, and he married her best friend instead. Mary Ann mentions her mother and father in passing and only very briefly, such as when she tells about her father going bankrupt, before the shipwreck, due to a dishonest business partner, but references her Aunt Martha and Uncle George multiple times, leading some to believe that she lived with them and that her parents may be deceased, another connection to ''The Wizard of Oz''. However, her parents seem to be alive in '' Rescue from Gilligan's Island''. In "Two on a Raft", the Honolulu-based AM radio newsreader only states, "the attractive brunette" is "employed at the Winfield General Store". Mary Ann Summers was not in the original pilot. They had Bunny, a secretary who was a cheerful but not so bright blonde, played by Nancy McCarthy. Bunny was a co-worker of Ginger Grant, a brunette played by

Kit Smythe Kit may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kit (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Kit (surname), a list of people Places * Kit, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province * Kit Hill, Co ...

. After the pilot, both secretary characters were changed. Bunny was replaced by Mary Ann from Kansas, played by Dawn Wells. Ginger was changed from a secretary to a movie star from Hollywood, played by

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Mary Ann American female characters in sitcoms Fictional characters from Kansas Fictional farmers Gilligan's Island characters Television characters introduced in 1964