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'Robert Osbourne "Bob" Denver' (January 9 1935 – September 2 2005) was an American comedic actor best known for his role as Willy "Gilligan" Gilligan on the television series ''Gilligan's Island''. Earlier, Denver had played beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the (1959-1963) TV series ''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'', a characterization that was similar to Gilligan in many ways.

Contents

Early life and television career

Later career

See also

References

External links

Early life and television career

Denver was born in New Rochelle, New York and raised in Brownwood, Texas. He graduated from Loyola University (predecessor to today's Loyola Marymount University) in Los Angeles, California and worked as a mailman and as a math teacher and physical education coach at Corpus Christi School, a Catholic elementary school in Pacific Palisades, California.
He landed the role of Maynard G. Krebs on ''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' in 1959. His co-star Dwayne Hickman, who played Dobie Gillis, was also a Loyola graduate. Credited as "Robert Denver," he landed a small role in the 1963 Jimmy Stewart film, "Take Her, She's Mine," playing a beatnik poet working at a coffee shop named "The Sleeping Pill." Denver appeared in the 1964 beach movie ''For Those Who Think Young'' with Tina Louise prior to the development of ''Gilligan's Island''.
When ''Dobie Gillis'' ended in 1963, Denver landed the role of Gilligan on ''Gilligan's Island''.

Later career

After ''Gilligan's Island'', he appeared in other television shows including ''The Good Guys'' (1968–1970) and ''Dusty's Trail'' (1973) (a virtual copy of ''Gilligan's Island'', set on a lost wagon train). He also starred in a children's program, ''Far Out Space Nuts'' (1975), which was essentially Gilligan in space. Although appreciated by Bob Denver fans, none of these shows matched the wider audience success of his earlier roles.
In 1998, Denver was arrested for having a parcel of marijuana delivered to his home. He originally said that the parcel had come from Dawn Wells (who had played "Mary Ann" on ''Gilligan's Island'') but later refused to name her in court, and testified that "some crazy fan must have sent it". The police reportedly found more of the drug and related paraphernalia in Denver's home. He pleaded no contest and received six months probation. ^{[1] [2]}
Late in his life, Denver worked in his adopted hometown of Princeton, West Virginia as an FM radio personality. He and his wife Dreama owned and operated a small "oldies format" station, WGAG-LP. He also earned a small income making public appearances, often costumed as Gilligan.
Denver underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in May 2005, and subsequently was diagnosed with throat cancer. He died on September 2, due to pneumonia and squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx^[3] at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at the age of 70, surrounded by his family — his last wife (of 28 years), the former Dreama Peery; and his children (from 4 different marriages) Patrick, Megan, Emily, and Colin.

See also

★ Maynard G. Krebs

★ ''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis''

★ Gilligan

★ ''Gilligan's Island''

References

1. Gilligan's No Dope: Cops Plea Joal Ryan at eonline.com August 27, 1998
2. Gilligan's Dreams Dana Stevens
at slate.msn.com, September 6, 2005
3. North Carolina Death Certificate (September 7, 2005) via Find A Grave.

External links

★

★

★ Gilligan's Minnow no longer lost

★ Bob Denver's Gilligan Fan club

★ Find-A-Grave profile for Bob Denver