Dawn Wells

Who is Dawn Wells?

Dawn Wells was an American actress who had worked in the entertainment field from 1961 to 2019. She worked in this show business for more than 55 years and died at the age of 82 years. Before landing her career in acting, she initially participated in different beauty pageants. She represented Nevada as Miss Nevada and participated in the Miss America 1960. Likewise, this actress was well-known for her acting role of Mary Ann Summers in the comedy TV series ‘Gilligan’s Island’ from 1964 to 1967. Apart from acting, she has also endeavored as a producer, author, teacher, motivational speaker, journalist, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. Additionally, she also served as President of the Idaho Film and Television Institute.

Bio

Dawn Elberta Wells was born on October 18, 1938, in Reno, Nevada, United States. Her parents were Joe Wesley Wells and Evelyn Wells. Likewise, her father ran a local Reno shipping company named ‘Wells Cargo.’ Additionally, she was of Libra star sign.

Death of Dawn Wells

Dawn Wells died at the age of 82 on 30 December 2020. She died during the pandemic in California due to the causes related to COVID-19.

Nationality and Physical Stats

Dawn Wells was an American nationality and as per her ethnicity, she belonged to White. Besides this, she stood 5 feet and 3 inches (1.63m/163cms) tall and weighed around 43kg (106lbs). Her body measures were 33-22-34 inches, respectively with a banana body type. Moreover, she had a pair of dark blue-colored eyes with brown hair color.

Education

Dawn Wells did her education at the Reno High School. She then enrolled at the Stephens College in Columbia and majored in Chemistry. Likewise, she transferred herself to the University of Washington in Seattle and took a degree in theatre arts and design. Wells then graduated in 1960. Moreover, she was also a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.

Social

Dawn Wells had an official Facebook page with 549 thousand followers. Though she had different social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram, none of them are verified.

Personal Life

Dawn Wells was married to a talent agent named Larry Rosen on 27 October 1962. Sadly they divorced in 1967 and had no children.

Career

Movies of Dawn Wells

Dawn Wells had her debut film in the 1963 bedroom comedy film ‘Palm Springs Weekend’ as an uncredited role. It starred actors and actresses like Troy Donahue, Stefanie Powers, Connie Stevens, Ty Hardin, and Robert Conrad. Likewise, in 1964 she played in a sequel film ‘The New Interns’ as Bobbie. After this, she directly appeared in movies like ‘Winterhawk’ in 1975, ‘The Town That Dreaded Sundown’ in 1976,’ and ‘Return to Boggy Creek’ in 1977. Dawn also appeared in the 1983 television movie ‘High School U.S.A.’ which starred Nancy McKeon, Michael J. Fox, Anthony Edwards, and Crispin Glover.

Furthermore, in her 2000s, she only did few movies. To name some they are ‘Super Sucker’ in 2002, ‘Life Interrupted’ in 2017 starring Julie Dolan, Brandon Cruz, Erin Murphy, etc.

TV Shows

Dawn Wells landed her first acting role in the American drama TV series ‘The Roaring 20s’ in 1961. The same year, she also appeared in four other series like ‘The Everglades,’ ‘The Cheyenne Show,’ ‘Maverick,’ and ’77 Sunset Strip.’ Moreover, she also appeared in an episode of ‘Tales of Wells Fargo’ in 1961 where she played Molly. She also had a role in an ABC TV series ‘Surfside’ where she played as June and in ‘Hawaiian Eye’ in 1962 where she played as Lois Corey. Similarly, in 1962 she appeared in series like ‘Bonanza,’ ‘It’s a Man’s World,’ and ‘Lawman.’ In 1963 and 1964, she featured in different series ou of which one of her most successful series was ‘Gilligan’s Island’ which is the longest-running sitcom.

She played as Mary Ann Summers from 1964 to 1967. This was her first breakthrough role and with this role, she received huge fame. Moreover, this series gained more popularity and it also released its TV film, film sequels, spin-offs and reunions, and documentaries. She even reprised her role of Mary Ann in different spin-offs like in the 1978 made-for-television comedy film ‘Rescue from Gilligan’s Island, and it’s two sequels in 1979 and 1981 named ‘The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island’ and ‘The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island’ respectively. Additionally, she also voiced over for Mary Ann in series like ‘Gilligan’s Planet’ in 1982.

More

Talking more about her series, she did a television game show named ‘Family Feud’in 1983. Likewise, she also appeared as Myrtle in ‘Growing Pains’ in 1987.  Dawn also did different talk shows such as ‘Today Show,’ ‘The Late Show,’ ‘Joey Bishop Show,’ ‘FOX News,’ ‘Password,’ and Steve Harvey.’ Moreover, the Australian news show ‘Midday’ saw her renowned personalities including Tom Hanks, Eddie Murphy, and Julia Roberts. This actress also appeared in ‘The Man Show’ in 2000 and ‘RuPaul’s Drag U’ reality TV series in 2010. Her last played series is ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ in 2016 and ‘The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants’ in 2019. Apart from acting, she also co-wrote the book named ‘What Would Mary Ann Do? A Guide to Life’ alongside Steve Stinson which was published on 8 September 2014.

Awards

Dawn Wells has received awards like the Award of Merit and International Independent Film Award in 2017 for her film role ‘Life Interrupted’ in 2017. Moreover, she also won the Pop Culture Award in 2004 for her role in ‘Gilligan’s Island.

Net Worth of Dawn Wells

Dawn Wells had an estimated net worth of $50 thousand at the time of her death in December 2021.