2020 isn’t quite done when it comes to seeing the end of those that have been entertaining us for years, as Dawn Wells, formerly Mary Ann of Gilligan’s Island among her many other roles, has passed away. As might be expected, many of those that have the ability and desire to announce her passing has taken to the internet to make sure our words are given in respect, homage, and to remember a woman that was entertaining the masses before quite a few of us were even born. A lot of those reading will likely remember her days spent on the cast of Gilligan’s Island since the continual debate between who was hotter, Ginger or Mary Anne is still one that happens to spark every now and then despite the fact that both Dawn and Tina Louise, who is still alive and is the last remaining member of the show at this time, grew old a long time ago and people are holding onto images from decades past. that’s what folks tend to do though since there are plenty of old characters that people still manage to compare with each other, and some that they’ll even pit against contemporary characters to see just who is really thought to be more beautiful and in a sense more popular.
Wells did go on to star in other projects and even had a successful theater career after Gilligan’s Island but it’s fair to say that the show managed to follow her wherever she went since as anyone should be able to imagine, her image from the show is how people wanted to see her and ultimately how they came to care about her. Everyone had their favorite on the show at one point since plenty of folks even liked the Skipper and the Professor. But Wells was one of those that had a special place in the hearts of a lot of people for a number of reasons, one of those being that she felt like the down to earth individual that kind of rounded out the cast given that Ginger was a movie star, the Professor was highly intelligent, the Howell’s were extremely rich, and Gilligan and Skipper were more or less the comic relief and were responsible for the ship that brought everyone to the island. Everyone had their part to play and they did it so well that the show lasted for 98 episodes and even had a TV movie that came out in the 70s. Apart from that, Wells’ career was still a full one since before and after Gilligan’s Island, she managed to land one role after another, no matter if she was an extra or had a part for more than one episode. The point is that she did do more in her life than star as Mary Ann, but the fact is that a lot of people choose to see her this way since to be honest it was one of her best parts.
Sadly, she is said to have passed away from complications that were brought on by COVID-19, but this is where things can get a bit awkward since the idea has been, for a while now, that people have been passing on from COVID when the unfortunate idea is that while the virus can in fact exacerbate already present medical conditions, it is being written down as the cause of death in many cases, when in fact it is a complication that led to the demise of many individuals but is not necessarily the only reason. The truly sad part of this is that COVID has become a truly frightening force considering the news coverage that continues to speak of people dying of COVID when the virus itself is not bringing many of those it touches down but is worsening conditions that had already been in place. Yes, it’s true that there are those that are healthy that have caught the virus and suffered horribly, but simply using it as a means of explaining a person’s passing is irresponsible at best and as close to fear-mongering as can be sometimes. The virus has already been used to scare enough people into giving up quite a bit in terms of personal freedom and what they’ve been used to doing for years, but using it in this manner is inherently dangerous since it can be taken and pushed by even more people by using those that pass from it as continual lightning rods to push this agenda.
While it’s uncertain just what kind of health issues that Dawn might have had, at this time it might have been wise to divulge any health concerns she might have been dealing with, if there were any. At the age of 82 she was in the high-risk group when it came to contracting the virus, but publishing so many articles highlighting that she passed from COVID is highly irresponsible. In the meantime, rest in peace ma’am, you’ll be missed.
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