# The Professor has died \[Russell Johnson of "Gilligan's Island"\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997 "2014-01-16T20:58:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/21 "2014-01-16T23:55:10Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > This is a man of Science who can make a battery out of a coconut, salt water and something he stole from Ginger’s makeup kit when she wasn’t watching, but yet, he can’t repair the Minnow. Remember, they did repair the _Minnow_ in one episode? Problem was, the glue turned out to be no good and the boat fell apart! You’d’ve thought, though, that he could have come up with something a lot better than that… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/22 "2014-01-17T00:10:43Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > And the rest in peace, Professor. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I see what you did there, but it has a certain lyric beauty to it. Another side story. As noted, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells were relegated to “and the rest” status in the original theme song. It was Bob Denver who fixed this. As the show’s lead, he pressured the studio into filming a new title sequence where the Professor and Mary Ann were named like everyone else. The impressive part is Denver never told Johnson or Wells he had done this. They just assumed the studio had decided to change the title on its own. It was decades later that they learned from somebody else that Denver had been the one looking out for them. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/23 "2014-01-17T00:14:37Z")
Russell Johnson appeared as a Professor (!) in _This Island Earth_ with Rex Reason, who played -----Cal Meacham. A name that sticks in my head, for some reason. If you go to his website, you’ll find that Rex Reason (who still looks and sounds better than I ever did) is selling autographed pictures of the two of them from This Island Earth. Johnson seems to have been cursed to play scientists and technicians. Besides his long-running role as The Professor, Roy Hinckle, in _Gilligan’s Island_ and its various spinoffs and sequels, and in _This Island Earth_, he also played a scientist twice on the original _Twilight Zone_, a technician in _The Attack of the Crab Monsters_ (where he kills the title monster, at the cost of his own life) and in _The Space Children_. He was also in _It Came From Outer Space_, as **Reality Chuck** observes, although there, for once, he wasn’t a scientist. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/24 "2014-01-17T00:25:44Z")
If I was stuck on a desert island with Dawn Wells, fixing the boat wouldn’t have been my priority, either. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/25 "2014-01-17T00:32:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Russell Johnson appeared as a Professor (!) in _This Island Earth_ with Rex Reason, who played -----Cal Meacham. A name that sticks in my head, for some reason. If you go to his website, you’ll find that Rex Reason (who still looks and sounds better than I ever did) is selling autographed pictures of the two of them from This Island Earth. > > Johnson seems to have been cursed to play scientists and technicians. > Besides his long-running role as The Professor, Roy Hinckle, in _Gilligan’s Island_ and its various spinoffs and sequels, and in _This Island Earth_, he also played a scientist twice on the original _Twilight Zone_, a technician in _The Attack of the Crab Monsters_ (where he kills the title monster, at the cost of his own life) and in _The Space Children_. > > He was also in _It Came From Outer Space_, as **Reality Chuck** observes, although there, for once, he wasn’t a scientist. And This Island Earth was the film Mike and the bots were subjected to in MST3K:Tye Movie. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/26 "2014-01-17T01:17:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It was Bob Denver who fixed this. As the show’s lead, he pressured the studio into filming a new title sequence where the Professor and Mary Ann were named like everyone else. Nitpick: They had to film new titles anyway, because they were moving from B&W to color that year. What Bob _did_ do was ensure that the Professor and Mary Ann were mentioned by name, automatically raising the salaries of both Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells. He did so by threatening to invoke an article in his contract saying that as star of the show, he could have his title in any position he wanted; if Russell and Dawn were going to be left out again, he told the studio to put his name last. As mentioned above, he never told anyone who wasn’t at that meeting about what he did. And **that** , my friends, is pure class! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/27 "2014-01-17T01:27:06Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > The Professor and [Rueben Kincaid](http://www.tmz.com/2014/01/16/dave-madden-dead-partridge-family-reuben-kincaid/) both in the same day. I hope somebody is keeping a watchful eye on Ann B. Davis. Hmm. I didn’t realize he was born in the city I grew up in: [Sarnia, Ontario](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarnia,_Ontario). (Dave " Rueben Kincaid" Madden that is.) James Doohan was also from Sarnia. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/28 "2014-01-17T01:29:00Z")
He also guested on an episode of “The Invaders”, portraying the lawyer of a man on trial for murdering one of the aliens. The twist: He was an alien himself. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/29 "2014-01-17T01:37:34Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > He also guested on an episode of “The Invaders”, portraying the lawyer of a man on trial for murdering one of the aliens. The twist: He was an alien himself. Russell or Dave? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/30 "2014-01-17T02:11:09Z")
Dave Madden was one of those actors who could move his whole hairline - every time Danny did something stupid and he frowned or gaped, his forehead would grow or shrink an inch. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/31 "2014-01-17T02:17:14Z")
I wonder if ultimately Gilligan’s Island a good thing or bad thing in his life. Bad: It hopelessly typecast him, and while he had some talent you couldn’t look at him without thinking “it’s the Professor”, and while I doubt he died indigent it certainly didn’t make him rich because shows didn’t pay much then and no residuals. Had to get irritating being recognized for something you did decades ago that hamstringed you without paying. Good: It did enable him to get recognized, and even low level fame has its perks. And acting is not a logical profession; there are numerous actors just as talented or more who were never able to make a living at it. So I’ll go with ‘Chaotic Neutral’. Danny Bonaduce said that Dave Madden was his surrogate father. His own family was very dysfunctional and he started spending every moment he could with Madden’s family; they remained close throughout his life. Bonaduce and Cassidy both said that Madden was a charming hypochondriac who when asked how he was doing would always answer “I’d have to get better to die.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/32 "2014-01-17T02:28:51Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I wonder if ultimately Gilligan’s Island a good thing or bad thing in his life. > > Bad: It hopelessly typecast him, and while he had some talent you couldn’t look at him without thinking “it’s the Professor”, and while I doubt he died indigent it certainly didn’t make him rich because shows didn’t pay much then and no residuals. Had to get irritating being recognized for something you did decades ago that hamstringed you without paying… I thought actors whose shows went into syndication were set for life. I believe that’s the case now. What changed, and when, and for what reason? I’m totally ignorant on this topic, but again, I thought syndicated shows meant lots of money for the actors involved. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/33 "2014-01-17T02:43:19Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I thought actors whose shows went into syndication were set for life. I believe that’s the case now. What changed, and when, and for what reason? > > I’m totally ignorant on this topic, but again, I thought syndicated shows meant lots of money for the actors involved. I think it’s always depended pretty much on the contract you sign. Shatner, e.g., had a percentage of _ **ST: TOS** _ right from the beginning. Nimoy did not, and he wouldn’t until he renegotiated his contract at the beginning of the second season; by then, of course, he had the clout to demand a piece of the action. Junior members of an ensemble cast would have a much more difficult time getting such recognition. ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/34 "2014-01-17T02:43:32Z")
I recall seeing an interview with Russell Johnson where he said that his favorite _Gilligan’s Island_ episodes were the ones with dream sequences. I can see why. I still laugh at his gape mouthed, British twit interpretation of Sherlock Holmes in Gilligan’s vampire dream. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/35 "2014-01-17T02:46:18Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I thought actors whose shows went into syndication were set for life. I believe that’s the case now. What changed, and when, and for what reason? > > I’m totally ignorant on this topic, but again, I thought syndicated shows meant lots of money for the actors involved. Back in the era of\* Gilligan’s Island\*, actors were only paid for a set number of reruns (typically something like 7) when a show went into syndication. Wikipedia says [that changed in the mid-1970’s.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rerun#Syndication) Here’s an article that really doesn’t make the subject more clear, except to say that the author [got a check for 67 cents](http://www.cgllpblog.com/2008/11/calculating-sag-results/) for his appearance in an episode of _The Facts of Life._ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/36 "2014-01-17T02:58:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I thought actors whose shows went into syndication were set for life. I believe that’s the case now. What changed, and when, and for what reason? > > I’m totally ignorant on this topic, but again, I thought syndicated shows meant lots of money for the actors involved. As terenti said, it depends on the contract. And Gilligan’s Island was broadcast back in the sixties before there were cable networks and home viewing. I doubt anyone anticipated how many times those episodes would end up being shown. One person who benefited from this was Audrey Meadows who played Alice on _The Honeymooners_. Most actors had agents or lawyers who specialized in show business to negotiate their contracts. But Meadows had some family members who were regular lawyers. So when they were negotiating Meadow’s contract one of the things they asked for was perpetual residuals. Which was a joke back in the fifties - shows back then might be shown as a rerun once if that. The idea that anyone would want to rewatch an old television show seemed as unlikely as the idea somebody would want to reread an old newspaper. So the studio representatives were undoubtedly laughing to themselves about the inexperience of Meadow’s lawyers as they agreed to the demand. The result, of course, was that Meadows was getting monthly checks from the studio for the rest of her life. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/37 "2014-01-17T03:04:48Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > by then, of course, he had the clout to demand **a piece of the action.** I see what you did there. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/38 "2014-01-17T03:04:52Z")
Just noticed him last night in a 1959 episode of _Gunsmoke_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/39 "2014-01-17T03:07:51Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I see what you did there. 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/40 "2014-01-17T03:13:16Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I see what you did there. 😉 I don’t. 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997.md?page=3)