I was a grip on Rescue From Gilligan's Island In fact, if you want to know what I look like, look at the cover of TV Guide. That's me holding the shiny board, swimming along with the raft, as it floated in the ocean. IIRC Rescued was the first time all of the characters' names were given.
On a personal note, although there's a "thou shall not cross" caste barrier between cast and crew, Bob Denver and I became buddies during the shoot, and remained friends afterwards. It's difficult to see him as anything other than silly because he wore the clown mask so well. He was a very decent man, who worked much harder at his comedy than anyone knew. He approached physical slapstick with the attitude of a dancer/athlete -- constantly practicing not only the routine but "the basics." He died way too young.
FWIW, Alan Hale Jr., and Jim Backus were very accessible as well. Hale was a very lonely guy who loved to talk. He spent no time at all in his or anyone's trailer -- if he wasn't working, he was on the set watching and talking. At the time, I was too young to appreciate the person behind the need. But if I wasn't working, I listened when he talked and occasionally asked questions which made me better than most in his eyes. Probably for that reason, Hale remembered me and looked me up through Bob, a couple of years after Rescue, to cater a party for him. It was one of the last parties I ever did.
Backus, by the time of Rescue, was already very old and not particularly well. He was the King of the Cast and enjoyed holding court. They liked sitting around and hearing how it used to be from him too. They were professional actors -- not a professional audience so that ought to give you an idea of how well he could tell a story. Very funny guy, lots of great stories, and of course the voices. A pleasure to be around.
The Ginger I worked with was Judi Baldwin. Tina Louise had the reputation of a world-class be-yotch. Bob and the rest of the cast were outspokenly grateful that she wasn't on Rescue. Never met her myself, just sayin' is all. Baldwin did the sequel MOW, Castaways; but not the third MOW, Globetrotters. Backus was so ill by the time they shot Globetrotters they wrote him out. He insisted on working, so Sherwood made a few changes and wrote a little scene for him. Bob told me
Anyway, Gilligan (they ducked giving the "full name" in Rescue, but I've googled it since and found it may have been Willie Gilligan), Jonas Grumby (Skipper), Thurston Howell III, Eunice Wentworth Howell (Lovey), Marianne Summers, Ginger Grant, and Roy Hinkley.
BDL
