# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/81 "2014-01-19T02:30:26Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Russell Johnson was a solid journeyman actor who really paid his dues. Unfortunately, like everybody else on that remarkably silly show he was typecast as “The Professor” for the remainder of his life and he couldn’t do anything else. > > I remember that he played a racist police officer in a PBS kids program in the late 1970s. He also played a scientist in THE FBI show on ABC (not a stretch) from the late 1960. > > It’s a shame that he was so smart on the Gilligan’s Island that he could never invent a RAFT and get them off of there. I saw him in some 1950s B movies. I saw them after _Gilligan’s Island_ of course. That’s why I recognized him. ---
**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 20, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/82 "2014-01-20T22:41:25Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Russell Johnson was a solid journeyman actor who really paid his dues. Unfortunately, like everybody else on that remarkably silly show he was typecast as “The Professor” for the remainder of his life and he couldn’t do anything else. > > . As I pointed out above, Johnson was already typecast as a Professor before he ever ended up on Giligan’s Island. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/83 "2014-01-20T23:17:32Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > But remember y’all, 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. "I like the Professor, he always save their butts He could build a nuclear reactor from a couple of coconuts She said, ‘That guy’s a genius!’ I shook my head and laughed I said, ‘If he’s so fly then tell me why he couldn’t build a lousy raft’ (‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, _Isle Thing_) And it looks like Dawn Wells could do the “smoky-eyes” thing: > **[Dawn Wells | Dawn Wells Picture #10178382 - 454 x 340 - FanPix.Net](https://fanpix.famousfix.com/gallery/dawn-wells/p10178382)** > > 11 February 2025... Dawn Wells | Dawn Wells Photo ID: 10178382. Picture of Dawn Wells - - Latest Dawn Wells image. Yowza. Anybody know what that pic is from? It doesn’t look like GI, and she looks younger there. ---
**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 20, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/84 "2014-01-20T23:35:57Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Yowza. Anybody know what that pic is from? It doesn’t look like GI, and she looks younger there. Since it’s in color and apparently set in the present, I’d guess it’s from her 1967 guest spot in _ **The Invaders** _, right after _ **GI** _ ended. > **[Dawn Wells | Actress, Producer, Costume and Wardrobe Department](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0920171/)** > > Known for: Gilligan's Island, Baywatch, The Town That Dreaded Sundown My mother would have been shocked if she had known how I lusted after Dawn between fourth and seventh grade… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/85 "2014-01-20T23:44:05Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Since it’s in color and apparently set in the present, I’d guess it’s from her 1967 guest spot in _ **The Invaders** _, right after _ **GI** _ ended. > > [Dawn Wells - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0920171/) > > My mother would have been shocked if she had known how I lusted after Dawn between fourth and seventh grade… :rolleyes: This site uses the same [headshot](http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=18159) for The Invaders. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997/86 "2014-01-20T23:51:41Z")
I was just emailing a friend of mine today who lives on Bainbridge Island, asking him if he ever ran into Russell Johnson, when the irony struck me: here’s a guy who spent years trying to get off an island, then he goes and retires on one! R.I.P. Professor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-has-died-russell-johnson-of-gilligans-island/678997.md?page=4)