Many of you will no doubt remember the sitcom Gilligan's Island, which ran from 1964 to 1967 on CBS. One of the castaways was one Roy Hinkley, who had 4 university degrees as follows:
(a) B.A. from the University of Southern California
(b) B.S. from the University of California - Los Angeles
(c) M.A. from Southern Methodist University
(d) Ph.D. from Texas Christian University
Of course, most of you won't remember Roy Hinkley by that name, but by the moniker "The Professor". Russell Johnson played Professor Roy Hinkley on Gilligan's Island, which became his best known role. Johnson died today at his home in Bainbridge Island, WA, aged 89. More below the flip.....
Bruce Weber has the NYT obit for Johnson here, which noted that Johnson started his Hollywood career in Westerns, following service in the Army Air Forces during WWII. Weber quotes Johnson:
"Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, The Dakotas, you name a western, I did it. I was always the bad guy in westerns. I played more bad guys than you can shake a stick at until I played the Professor."
So what happened after that to Johnson's career?
"Then I couldn't get a job being a bad guy."
Weber further noted:
"After Gilligan's Island, Mr. Johnson made a career guest-starring in other series, including the dramas Mannix, Cannon and Lou Grant and the comedies Bosom Buddies and The Jeffersons, usually as an upright character with smarts."
For those who remember the first season of
Gilligan's Island, the classic theme song (sing along if you want - you know you want to) actually omitted mention of both Mary Ann and The Professor, with the closer:
".....the movie star,
and the rest,
Are here on Gilligan's Isle."
I remember hearing somewhere (can't remember where) that Bob Denver (Gilligan) objected to that line, and said that if it wasn't changed by the second season, he'd leave the show. So the change was made to give the now-standard close:
".....the movie star,
The Professor, and Mary Ann,
Here on Gilligan's Isle."
Weber succinctly captures The Professor's character:
"The Professor was a good-looking but nerdy academic, an exaggerated stereotype of the man of capacious intelligence with little or no social awareness. Occasionally approached romantically by Ginger (and guest stars, including Zsa Zsa Gabor), he remained chaste and unaffected.
But he was pretty much the only character on the show who possessed anything resembling actual knowledge, and he was forever inventing methods to increase the castaways' chance of rescue."
Of course, as in any good TV show, absolute logical consistency wasn't its strong point:
".....among the show’s many lapses of logic was the fact - often noted by Mr. Johnson in interviews - that although the Professor could build a shortwave radio out of a coconut shell, he couldn't figure out how to patch a hole in a boat hull."
Granted, even if The Professor had succeeded in figuring out how to patch the hole in the S.S. Minnow, who knows if it would have kept the water out if he'd done it, and they all tried to set sail. But never mind.
BTW, I got the extended intro information from this bit of dialogue, mentioned in Weber's obit, between The Professor and Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus):
Thurston Howell III: "Professor, what exactly are your degrees?"
The Professor: "Well, I have a B.A. from U.S.C., a B.S. from U.C.L.A., an M.A. from S.M.U. and a Ph.D. from T.C.U."
Howell: "Well, I don’t know much about your education, but it sounds like a marvelous recipe for alphabet soup."
Johnson had his share of sadness in life, including the death of his son David from AIDS in 1994. Bill Chappell noted on the NPR blog "The Two-Way"
here that:
"For years, Johnson worked as a volunteer helping to raise money for AIDS research."
So Johnson helped out science research in real life in that way. There was also another way that he contributed to American science, where the character of The Professor evidently inspired a number of 1960's kids to go into science. Chappell quoted a passage by Johnson on his own blog, "The Professor's Place":
"I have received mail throughout the years from young viewers from all over the world, year after year, who were so influenced by the Professor's smarts that they became science buffs and are now Real Professors, Doctors and Scientists."
The commenter "b h" on the
Yahoo.com obit wrote (
emphasis mine) said much the same thing, with his own testimonial and memories of meeting Johnson:
"Back in 1987, I was working up in Seattle, WA as an envionrnental [sic] geologist for the EPA Region 6. One day I was on the top deck of the Bainbridge Island ferry at about 2:30 pm and going across Puget Sound to go check on a gasoline underground storage tank removal. There was one other person up on the deck with me just sitting there looking out and enjoying the view. I noticed him and that he looked very familiar and after glancing his way about the third time, I walked over to him, excused myself for being forward, and asked him by chance if he was the Professor on Gilligan's Island. He looked up and said "Why yes I am and there's no need to excuse yourself. Would you like to sit and chat for awhile??" I eagerly did and when he asked me what I did for a living I told him that I was an environmental geologist, had BS degrees in zoology, chemistry, and geology and an MS and PhD in geology. Almost also had a degree in astronomy but never finished it. I went on to tell him that he was my inspiration as a child to become a scientist!! He smiled and said "You know I hear that alot and it really warms my heart every time I hear that I've somehow made such a positive impact in ther lives of so many."
A long interview with Johnson in the last year of his life can be seen from these YT videos:
So a small salute from DK to an actor who made a lot of people happy and gave of himself to the world.
(PS: If anyone else has already diaried about Russell Johnson, please let me know and I'll delete this.)