Tina Louise became a superstar overnight as she starred as Ginger in the hit television show Gilligan’s Island. The New York native became a great actress, singer, and model. Though, she was often praised for her looks and not necessarily for her work on screen.
Today, Louise is the only cast member of Gilligan’s Island who still is alive. The show changed her life forever, but her career didn’t only consist of acting. The now 90-year-old is still going strong – and when you see her today, you’ll have a hard time believing she isn’t a few decades younger!
Let’s look at her magnificent life, career, and what she looks like today
Tina Louise was born Tina Blacker on February 11, 1934, in New York City. Her father owned a candy store, and her mother worke as a fashion model.
Tina Louise – early life & career
When Tina was only four years old, her parents divorced, which made her childhood rather complicated.
“My path was very unusual. I lived with a lot of different cousins and aunts and strangers and so forth and so on, sort of a gypsy kind of a childhood,” she told Authority Magazine in 2019.
When growing up, Tina didn’t have any big dreams of working in the entertainment industry. Though, just weeks before she was to attend Miami University, everything changed.
“I saw a friend of mine who had gotten a part in a play on Broadway and he was the same age as me and I was very impressed,” Tina Louise told Authority Magazine.
“My mother took me backstage and I just really enjoyed it,” she continued. “And the very fact that my friend was in it gave me a little push to just proceed. I told my mother that I wanted to leave the University because the drama dpartment wasn’t sufficient for me.”
Tina’s mother knew her daughter wanted to pursue a career in the drama department and honored her request. She began attending the Neighborhood Playhouse in Manhattan, New York, which she said “was, and still is, a wonderful school. “
While Tina Louise studied and perfected her craft at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, she also began modeling. Moreover, she was working as a nightclub singer. In 1952, she made her Broadway debut in the Bette Davis musical Two’s Company. At that point, her looks fascinated people, and she even appeared in Playboy Magazine.
In 1957, Tina Louise released her first music album, It’s Time for Tina. She continued working in theater and got some smaller parts in movies. However, in 1958, her life changed.
Breakthrough role in ‘God’s Little Acre
Her role as Griselda Walden in the drama film God’s Little Acre made her a Hollywood star. The movie received excellent reviews – and Tina Louise ended up taking home the Golden Globe Award for the New Star of the Year.
“It was incredible,” she told Forbes. “The movie ended up in the Venice Film Festival. I went abroad. There were all these people around taking care of me. I didn’t have to worry about anything. We sat in the theater, and I got bright red roses [laughs]. I’m saying, ‘Why did you give me roses? You should give them to the writer, the director – somebody else.’”