Early life

Tina Louise was born Tina Blacker in New York City. An only child, she was raised by her mother, Betty Horn (née Myers) Blacker (1916-2011), a fashion model. Tina's father, Joseph Blacker, was a candy store owner in Brooklyn and later an accountant. The name "Louise" was allegedly added during her senior year in high school when she mentioned to her drama teacher that she was the only girl in the class without a middle name. He selected the name "Louise" and it stuck. She attended Miami University in Ohio.

Career

Early work

At the early age of just two years, Tina got her first role, after being seen in an ad for her father's candy store. She played numerous roles until she decided it was best to focus on school work. By the age of 17, Louise began studying acting, singing and dancing. She studied acting under Sanford Meisner at the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse in Manhattan. During her early acting years, she was offered modeling jobs, including as a rising starlet, who along with Jayne Mansfield, was a product advocate in the 1958 Frederick's of Hollywood catalog, and appeared on the cover of several pinup magazines such as Adam, Sir! and Modern Man. Her later pictorials for Playboy (May 1958; April 1959) were arranged by Columbia Pictures studio in an effort to further promote the young actress.

Her acting debut came in 1952 in the Bette Davis musical revue Two's Company, followed by roles in other Broadway productions, such as John Murray Anderson's Almanac, The Fifth Season, and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? She appeared in such early live television dramas as Studio One, Producers' Showcase, and Appointment with Adventure. In 1957, she appeared on Broadway in the hit musical Li'l Abner. Her album, It's Time for Tina, was released that year, with songs such as "Embraceable You" and "I'm in the Mood for Love".

Hollywood and Gilligan's Island

Louise made her Hollywood film debut in 1958 in God's Little Acre. That same year, the National Art Council named her the "World's Most Beautiful Redhead." She became an in-demand leading lady for major stars like Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark and Robert Ryan, often playing somber roles quite unlike the glamorous pinup photographs and Playboy pictorials she had become famous for in the late 1950s. She turned down roles in Li'l Abner and Operation Petticoat taking roles on Broadway and in Italian cinema and Hollywood. Among her more notable Italian film credits was the historical epic Garibaldi (1960), directed by Roberto Rossellini, that concerned Garibaldi's efforts to unify the Italian states in 1860. When Louise returned to the United States, she began studying with Lee Strasberg and eventually became a member of the Actors Studio. She appeared in a 1962 episode of The Real McCoys, the Walter Brennan sitcom, and in the 1964 beach party film For Those Who Think Young, with Bob Denver, prior to the development of Gilligan's Island.

In 1964, she left the Broadway musical Fade Out - Fade In to portray movie star Ginger Grant on the situation comedy Gilligan's Island, after the part was turned down by Jayne Mansfield. However, she was unhappy with the role and worried that it would typecast her. The role did make Louise a pop icon of the era, and in 2005 an episode of TV Land Top Ten ranked her as second only to Heather Locklear as the greatest of television's all-time sex symbols.

After the series ended in 1967, Louise continued to work in film and made numerous guest appearances in various television series. She appeared in the Matt Helm spy spoof The Wrecking Crew (1969) with Dean Martin. Louise played a doomed suburban housewife in the original The Stepford Wives (1975), and both the film and her performance were well received.

She attempted to shed her comedic image by assaying grittier roles, including a guest appearance as a pathetic heroin addict in a 1974 Kojak episode, as well as a co-starring role as an evil Southern prison guard in the 1976 ABC-TV Movie Nightmare in Badham County. Her other television films of the period included Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby (1976), SST: Death Flight (1977), Friendships, Secrets and Lies (1979), and in the prime-time soap opera Dallas, during the 1978-79 seasons, as J.R. Ewing's secretary, Julie Grey, a semi-regular character. Her character was finally killed off. In the fall of 1984, she replaced Jo Ann Pflug as Taylor Chapin on the syndicated soap opera Rituals after Pflug refused to do love scenes with co-star George Lazenby due to her religious beliefs. After a few months, however, Louise did not renew her own contract and the character was written out. She later made cameo appearances on the network daytime soaps Santa Barbara and All My Children.

The question "Ginger or Mary Ann?" is considered a classic pop-psychological question when given to American men of a certain age as an insight into their characters, or at least their desires as regarding certain female stereotypes. With the January 2014 death of Gilligan's Island co-star Russell Johnson, Louise and actress Dawn Wells are the only two surviving cast members of the original sitcom. Louise is quoted as saying, "The best movie you'll ever be in is your own life because that's what matters in the end."

Later work

Louise declined to participate in any of three reunion television films for Gilligan's Island. Despite maintaining an adequate career after the show's run, she kept claiming that the show actually ruined her career. The role of Ginger was recast with Judith Baldwin and Constance Forslund. Although she did not appear in these television movies, she made brief walk-on appearances on a few talk shows and specials for Gilligan's Island reunions, including Good Morning America (1982), The Late Show (1988) and the 2004 TV Land award show with the other surviving cast members. In the 1990s, she was reunited with costars Bob Denver, Dawn Wells, and Russell Johnson in an episode of Roseanne. She did not reunite with them for the television film Surviving Gilligan's Island (2001), co-produced by Wells. She was portrayed by Kristen Dalton in the television film. Her relations with series star Denver were rumored to be strained, but in 2005, she wrote a brief, affectionate memorial to him in the year-end "farewell" issue of Entertainment Weekly.

Later film roles included a co-starring appearance in the Robert Altman comedy O.C. and Stiggs (1987) as well as the independently made satire Johnny Suede (1992) starring Brad Pitt. She appeared in Married... with Children as Miss Beck in episode "Kelly Bounces Back" (1990).

As of 2014, Louise has returned to the acting world in the upcoming spiritual drama, Tapestry and the horror film Late Phases.

Music

Louise made one record album, It's Time for Tina, which was released originally on Concert Hall in 1957 (Concert Hall 1521), and later reissued on Urania Records (1958 and 1959 respectively). The album is sought after by collectors. With arrangements by Jim Timmens and Buddy Weed's Orchestra, 12 tracks include "Tonight Is the Night" and "I'm in the Mood for Love." Coleman Hawkins is featured on tenor sax. The album has been reissued on CD twice, most recently on the UK label Harkit Records. The album was released on iTunes in 2012. She also recorded for United Artists Records but recorded just one single for that label in 1958.

Personal life

From 1966 to 1974, Louise was married to radio and TV announcer/interviewer Les Crane, with whom she has one daughter, Caprice Crane (born 1970), who became an MTV producer and a novelist. Crane's first novel, Stupid and Contagious, was published in 2006, and was warmly dedicated to her mother.

Louise now resides in New York City. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a lifetime member of the Actors Studio. Louise has been a vocal advocate for improving child literacy. She donated a portion of the proceeds of her 2007 book, When I Grow Up, to literacy programs and said in a 2013 interview that she had been volunteering at local public schools since 1996. She has written three books including Sunday: A Memoir (1997) and When I Grow Up (2007). The latter is a children's book that inspires children to believe they can become whatever they choose through creative and humorous comparisons of animal kingdom achievements. She published a second children's book titled What Does a Bee Do?

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1958	God's Little Acre	Griselda Walden	Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actress Laurel Award for Best Female Supporting Performance (5th place)
1959	The Trap	Linda Anderson
1959	The Hangman	Selah Jennison
1959	Day of the Outlaw	Helen Crane
1960	L'assedio di Siracusa	Diana / Artemide / Lucrezia
1960	Saffo, Venere di Lesbo (The Warrior Princess)	Sappho
1961	Garibaldi	French Journalist
1961	Armored Command	Alexandra Bastegar
1964	For Those Who Think Young	Topaz McQueen
1967	The Seventh Floor	Dr. Immer Mehr
1968	The Wrecking Crew	Lola Medina
1969	How to Commit Marriage	Laverne Baker
1969	The Good Guys and the Bad Guys	Carmel
1969	The Happy Ending	Helen Bricker
1970	But I Don't Want to Get Married!	Miss Spencer	Television film
1973	Call to Danger	April Tierney	Television film
1975	The Stepford Wives	Charmaine Wimpiris
1975	Death Scream	Hilda Murray
1976	Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby	Marjean Dorn	Television film
1976	Nightmare in Badham County	Greer	Television film
1977	SST: Death Flight	Mae	Television film
1977	The Kentucky Fried Movie	Voice
1978	Mean Dog Blues	Donna Lacey
1979	Friendships, Secrets and Lies	Joan Holmes	Television film
1980	The Day the Women Got Even	Mary Jo Alfieri	Television film
1981	Advice to the Lovelorn	Diane Marsh	Television film
1984	Dog Day	Noémie Blue
1984	Hell Riders	Claire Delaney
1985	Evils of the Night	Cora
1985	O.C. and Stiggs	Florence Beaugereaux
1987	The Pool	Miloha
1988	Dixie Lanes	Violet Hunter
1991	Johnny Suede	Mrs. Fontaine
1997	Welcome to Woop Woop	Bella
2000	Little Pieces
2000	Growing Down in Brooklyn	Mrs. Pip
2004	West from North Goes South	Celeste Clark
2014	Late Phases	Clarissa
2015	Tapestry	Rose
2015	White Lillies	Cordelia Cooper

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1956	Studio One	Dolores	Episode: "Johnny August"
1956	Producers' Showcase	Maude	Episode: "Happy Birthday"
1957	The Phil Silvers Show	Gina	Episode: "Bilko Goes South"
1957	Climax!	Maxene Sumner	Episode: "A Matter of Life and Death"
1961	Tales of Wells Fargo	Helene Montclair	Episode: "New Orleans Trackdown"
1961	The New Breed	Stella Knowland	Episode: "I Remember Murder"
1962	Checkmate	Checkmate	Episode: "A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to the Game"
1963	Burke's Law	Bonnie Belle Tate	Episode: "Who Killed Billy Jo?"
1963	Route 66	Robin	Episode: "I'm Here to Kill a King"
1964	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Angie Powell	Episode: "The Deep End"
1964	Mr. Broadway	The Girl	Episode: "Smelling Like a Rose"
1966	The Red Skelton Show	Daisy June	Episode: "Be It Ever So Homely, There's No Face Like Clem"
1964-1967	Gilligan's Island	Ginger Grant	Series regular, 98 episodes
1967	Bonanza	Mary Burns	Episode: "Desperate Passage"
1968	It Takes a Thief	Anna Martine	Episode: "Totally by Design"
1970	Ironside	Candy	Episode: "Beware the Wiles of the Stranger"
1973	Mannix	Linda Cole	Episode: "The Faces of Murder"
1969-1973	Love, American Style	Mrs. Rossi / Wilma / Lola/ Audrey	4 episodes
1974	Kojak	Audrey Norris	Episode: "Die Before They Wake"
1973, 1974	Police Story	April / Anita	2 episodes
1974	Movin' On	Helen Trueblood	Episode: "The Cowhands"
1975	Cannon	Nell Dexter	Episode: "The Wedding March"
1976	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Susan Dager	Episode: "All Passions Spent"
1978-1979	Dallas	Julie Grey	Special guest star, 5 episodes
1979	The Love Boat	Betty Bricker	Episode: "My Sister, Irene/The 'Now' Marriage/Second Time Around"
1980	Fantasy Island	Lisa Corday	Episode: "Unholy Wedlock/Elizabeth"
1980	CHiPs	Edie Marshall	2 episodes
1982	Matt Houston	Jessica Collier	Episode: "The Kidnapping"
1983	Knight Rider	Anne Tyler	Episode: "The Topaz Connection"
1984-1985	Rituals	Taylor Chapin Field von Platen	Series regular
1986	Blacke's Magic	Lainie Warde	Episode: "Death Goes to the Movies"
1986	Santa Barbara	Cassie Dunn	Special guest star
1986	Simon & Simon	Robin Price	Episode: "Act Five"
1990	Married... with Children	Miss Beck	Episode: "Kelly Bounces Back"
1994	All My Children	Tish Pridmore	Special guest star
1995	Roseanne	Cameo	Episode: "Sherwood Schwartz—A Loving Tribute"
1999	L.A. Heat	Patricia Ludwigson	Episode: "In Harm's Way"

Stage work

• Two's Company (1952)
• The Fifth Season (1953)
• John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953)
• Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1955)
• Li'l Abner (1956)
• Fade Out - Fade In (1964)

References in popular culture

• Tina Louise is one of two celebrities included among the many women's names listed in The B-52's 1979 song, "52 Girls" (the other is Jacqueline Onassis)
• A song on The Dirtbombs' album If You Don't Already Have a Look is named "Tina Louise" (#26 on Disc one)
• On the TV series Bob's Burgers, the family's two daughters are named, older to younger, Tina and Louise.
• An Asian Fusion restaurant in Carlstadt, New Jersey is named "Tina Louise"

[ Source: Wikipedia ]