List of Gilligan's Island characters

The following lists the main and recurring characters of the American television situation comedy Gilligan's Island, created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz.

Main characters (the castaways)

• Gilligan: The title character of the show, a bumbling idiot who always seems to mess up the castaways' escape. He wears a red shirt, white pants, and a navy hat. His last name is never revealed. In the never-aired pilot episode, it is revealed that his first name is Willy.

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• The Skipper: His real name is Jonas Grumby; he is the captain of the S. S. Minnow. He is well over-weight, leading to numerous fat jokes from Gilligan. Such an instance is when the Professor and Gilligan are helping him into a wetsuit: the Skipper says that he just has big bones, to which Gilligan adds: "and they're covered in big meat."

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• Thurston Howell, III: Thurston is millionaire used to luxurious living, and never does any work on the island. The only exception is when the castaways believed that Mr. Howell was broke, making him do work. He always devises get-rich-quick schemes on the island.

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  Professor

• Mrs. Howell: Thurston's wife: she is very civilized and social. She can be more spoiled than Mr. Howell at times, but is always the first to want to try something first. Mr. Howell always calls her "Lovey." Her maiden name is Wentworth.
• Ginger Grant: A movie star from Hollywood, she usually tries to use tricks from the movies she starred in to solve problems, causing other castaways to rescue her. She helps Mary Ann with cooking and dishwashing.

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• Professor: His real name is Roy Hinkley, and he was a high school teacher before being stranded on the island. He has numerous scientific degrees, and using his knowledge built many things on the island out of bamboo and other materials. He is the most well-learned of the group and always has a logical answer to everything (although not always correct).

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• Mary Ann Summers: A farm girl from Kansas; not much is said about her before getting to the island. She is portrayed as a typical "girl next door" and does most of the laundry and cooking. She is famous for her coconut cream pies, which usually end up on Gilligan's face.

Recurring characters

• Wrongway Feldman: A fighter pilot from World War I. He was stuck on the island when he tried to fly around the world in the spirit of the Bronx. He leaves at the end of the episode, but returns later, saying he will stay on the island. He leaves again, however, but he crashes and never appears again. The castaways get a message from him, saying he "crashed on a strange island," which appears to be Hawaii. He was played by Hans Conried.
• Dr. Balinkoff: A mad scientist who appears twice. For his first appearance, he takes the castaways to his secret lair on another island. In the end, the castaways escape. The second time, he uses mind-control rings to get the castaways to rob Fort Knox. He then flees when they attack him with coconuts, never to return.
• The Mosquitoes: A rock/pop group who came to the island to escape all their fans. They were annoyed into leaving by the castaways, who eventually got them to leave by the girls forming the musical group "The Honeybees." The Mosquitoes left, leaving behind one of their records, called "The Mosquitoes at Carnegie Hall". Their names are Bingo, Bango, Bongo, and Irving.
• Japanese Sailor: Appeared in two episodes. For his first appearance he locks everybody on the island up, except Gilligan and Skipper. In his second appearance, he appears in a flashback of events that never happened. Vito Scotti also played the role of Dr. Balinkoff in two other episodes.
• The Gorilla: The only animal who acts as an antagonist on the island that causes mayhem and mischief among the castaways. In the episode "Diamonds Are an Ape's Best Friend" he kidnaps Mrs. Howell because her perfume acted as a pheromone. In the episode "Chain of Command" . disciplines Gilligan to be a better leader. In the episode "Forward March" he shells the castaways with hand grenades after he has found a stash of WWII weapons in a cave. In the episode "Our Vines Have Tender Apes", the Gorilla instead appears to resemble an orangutan. He was portrayed by Janos Prohaska.
• Erika Tiffany-Smith: Appeared in the season two episode "Erika Tiffany-Smith to the Rescue". Erika, played by Zsa Zsa Gabor, is a rich socialite and is a rival to Mrs. Howell. However, Mr. Howell takes a liking to Erika when she lets word out that she wants to buy the island; and, as usual, Mr. Howell takes all money offers. Erika falls in love with the Professor, ignores Mary Ann's sweetness and the Skipper's advances of romance, and treats Gilligan (like everyone else) as a butler. Ginger adores Erika because of her owning several movie studios; however, Ginger doesn't appear on screen with Erika at all. Erika leaves claiming to return and rescue the castaways and buy the island. Like other visitors, she never returns. She's heard on the radio at the end of the episode saying she couldn't remember where the island was.