In Memorium - Russell Johnson - Gilligan's Island 'Professor'
Russell Johnson, one of Hollywood's most beloved and endearing 'white bread' character actors has died. Johnson, 89, 'The Professor' on the 1960's TV show, Gilligan's Island passed away on the unnamed deserted island where he spent the last 49 years of his life along with the last 4 surviving members of the SS Minnow. Cause of death was not immediately known but according to The Skipper, he apparently had drowned, his body washing ashore late Wednesday evening. The Professor had been working on a makeshift raft using only the tools and materials available to him on the island. According to The Skipper, a.k.a. Jonas Grumby played by veteran actor Alan Hale, Johnson had 'tried everything he could think of' to get us off that island'. “He tried various boats, rafts, hot air balloons, and even a large fishing net that had 'miraculously' washed ashore that he filled with coconuts, nothing worked. He was testing this new raft to see if it was seaworthy, I don't know what happened, it must have come apart in the rough waters off the island", he said. The nearest known inhabited island was Grand Cayman which was more than 800 nautical miles from where the SS Minnow had run aground. “The likelihood of them reaching Grand Cayman in shark infested waters was at best, remote”, said oceanographer Steven Laubenstein. “Without radio communication or navigational equipment, using only the stars to find their barring’s, their chances of reaching Cayman would be like literally finding a needle in a haystack”, he said. Johnson's character, Roy Hinkley was 'the brains of the outfit' according to script writer David Murphy “His resourcefulness and knowledge of things like chemistry, electricity, carpentry, plumbing, farming, small engines, and air conditioning made life on the island if not bearable, then downright pleasant”, said fellow actor and castaway Ginger, played by Tina Louise. Sources close to Hinkley said that had never forgiven 'Gilligan', played by the late Bob Denver for getting them lost in the first place and ''always making some 'stupid, bonehead' mistake that kept them stranded on the island.''
“If only someone would have told them that the 'island' where they had lived for the past 5 decades was really only a television studio set in Burbank, CA, perhaps none of this would have happened”, said Barbara Schwartz, daughter of the producer of the show, Sherwood Schwartz. Hinkley will be buried on the island in the makeshift graveyard that he built using only the tools and materials available to him on the island.