Gilligan’s Island star Dawn Wells dies aged 82 from COVID-19 complications

Dawn Wells, who parlayed her girl-next-door charm into enduring TV fame as the sweet-natured castaway Mary Ann on the classic 1960s sitcom Gilligan’s Island, died on Wednesday at age 82, her publicist said.

Wells, who won the title of Miss Nevada in 1959 and competed in the Miss America contest, died from complications of COVID-19, publicist Harlan Boll said in a statement.

Born in the gambling city of Reno, Wells played Kansas farm girl Mary Ann Summers, one of seven castaways stranded after their boat, the S.S. Minnow, became battered in a storm during…