Lillie Langtry BORN 1853 OCTOBER 13- 1929 FEBRUARY 12

 

Lillie Langtry BORN 

1853 OCTOBER 13- 1929 FEBRUARY 12

The daughter of a model and a candy shop owner, Tina Louise got discovered at the age of 2 posing for ads to sell her dad's store's sweets. Born Tina Blacker in 1934, it would take exactly 30 years for the actress to land her most famous role as Ginger Grant on Gilligan's Island.

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In between, a high school drama teacher in her senior year dubbed her Louise after she complained about having no middle name. The name Tina Louise stuck and became the one associated with the dazzling redhead who debuted on Broadway just shy of 20 years old. That was in 1953, and spectacularly enough, it found her sharing a stage with Bette Davis.

By the end of the decade, Louise had made it on stage, as well as modeling for album covers in 1957 and 1958:After standing out on Broadway, Louise got her start on TV shows and movies in the mid- to late 1950s, but it was a role in 1958 that cast her hair back in a messy ponytail that made her look more like her Gilligan's Island country girl counterpart Mary Ann Summers. In God's Little Acre, Louise played Griselda Walden, a young woman who marries the son of a poor Georgia cotton farmer. God's Little Acre

The role would be a turning point for Tina, who'd appear in a string of movies after that 1958 rural comedy/romance. Here are some fresh-faced photos from this early era of Louise, ordered from 1958 through 1963, just before Gilligan's Island premiered in 1964. Scroll through to watch the evolution of Tina Louise, from budding beauty to iconic TV star:

Interestingly, Gilligan's Island creator Sherwood Schwartz said that it was Louise's stage work that almost kept her off the show. He told the Archive of American Television that she was unavailable to do the pilot because of a play she was doing, so despite how much he wanted her to be his Movie Star, he almost had to go with a back-up. "[Tina Louise] became available and she signed in New York to do the show," Schwartz said. He continued later, "She was perfect for the part." Here's more photo proof from the early 1960s:

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1958	God's Little Acre	Griselda Walden	Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress Laurel Award for Best Female Supporting Performance (5th place)
1959	The Trap	Linda Anderson
1959	The Hangman	Selah Jennison
1959	Day of the Outlaw	Helen Crane
1960	L'assedio di Siracusa	Diana / Artemide / Lucrezia
1960	The Warrior Empress	Sappho
1961	Garibaldi	French Journalist
1961	Armored Command	Alexandra Bastegar
1964	For Those Who Think Young	Topaz McQueen
1967	The Seventh Floor	Dr. Immer Mehr
1968	The Wrecking Crew	Lola Medina
1969	How to Commit Marriage	Laverne Baker
1969	The Good Guys and the Bad Guys	Carmel
1969	The Happy Ending	Helen Bricker
1970	But I Don't Want to Get Married!	Miss Spencer	Television film
1973	Call to Danger	April Tierney	Television film
1975	The Stepford Wives	Charmaine Wimpiris
1975	Death Scream	Hilda Murray
1976	Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby	Marjean Dorn	Television film
1976	Nightmare in Badham County	Greer	Television film
1977	SST: Death Flight	Mae	Television film
1977	The Kentucky Fried Movie	Voice
1978	Mean Dog Blues	Donna Lacey
1979	Friendships, Secrets and Lies	Joan Holmes	Television film
1980	The Day the Women Got Even	Mary Jo Alfieri	Television film
1981	Advice to the Lovelorn	Diane Marsh	Television film
1984	Dog Day	Noémie Blue
1984	Hell Riders	Claire Delaney
1985	Evils of the Night	Cora
1985	O.C. and Stiggs	Florence Beaugereaux
1987	The Pool	Miloha
1988	Dixie Lanes	Violet Hunter
1991	Johnny Suede	Mrs. Fontaine
1997	Welcome to Woop Woop	Bella
2000	Growing Down in Brooklyn	Mrs. Pip
2004	West from North Goes South	Celeste Clark
2014	Late Phases	Clarissa
2019	Tapestry	Rose