Russell Johnson Professor on 'Gilligan's Island,' dead at 89 RIP

[Nut44x4]

Jan. 16, 2014, 3:21 PM EST
By Josh Dickey
 


Johnson died at his home in Washington state of natural causes, his agent, Michael Eisenstadt said.

Born in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, Johnson graduated from a private boarding school for orphaned children before joining the Air Force, flying dozens of combat missions in World War II -- including one that turned him into a real-life castaway in the Philippines in 1945. Johnson's B-25 bomber was shot down by heavy flak; he broke both his ankles during the mission, and received the Purple Heart.


 
But he'll be best remembered as Roy Hinkley -- "The Professor" -- on "Gilligan's Island." Johnson's unwavering, straight-man treatment of the character brought brains and gravitas to the otherwise silliness of Sherwood Schwartz's creation; it also afforded the otherwise hapless castaways a badly-needed hero, whose fix-it-with-whatever's-around approach would give way to more modern characters like Richard Dean Anderson's "MacGyver" and spurned spy Michael Westen on "Burn Notice."

Johnson was the last surviving male castaway from the TV series that ran from 1964 to 1967. Bob Denver (Gilligan) died in 2005; Alan Hale (the Skipper) died in 1990; and Jim Backus (Mr. Howell) died in 1989. Natalie Schafer (Mrs. Howell) died in 1991; Dawn Wells and Tina Louise (Mary Ann and Ginger) are the last surviving castmembers.
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