Just over 60 years after becoming a household name on Gilligan’s Island, Tina Louise is opening up about her tough childhood.
The 91-year-old actress started her career as a stage actress in the mid-1950s and won a Golden Globe for New Star Of the Year in 1958 for her work in the film God’s Little Acre.
She became a household name when she was cast as movie star Ginger Grant in Gilligan’s Island, which debuted in 1964, and while it only ran three seasons, it spawned several TV movie sequels as well.
Louise has acted sparingly since the mid-1980s, last appearing in the 2019 film Tapestry, though now she’s opening up about her childhood to The New York Times.
Now she spends her days in New York City, tutoring children who have no idea she was an iconic actress decades earlier, a year after her memoir was released.
She revealed in the wide-ranging interview that there wasn’t much love in her childhood home, stating, ‘I didn’t have hugs. I didn’t have loving situations.’
Just over 60 years after becoming a household name on Gilligan’s Island, Tina Louise is opening up about her tough childhood
Now Louise (seen above in 2013) spends her days in New York City , tutoring children who have no idea she was an iconic actress decades earlier
The actress’ (born Tina Blacker) mother, Sylvia Horn, was just 18 when she welcomed Tina into the world, her father, Joseph Blacker, was 10 years older.
They were divorced by the time she was 4, and she was ultimately sent to a boarding school in Ardsley, New York, where she has literal and figurative scars.
She recalled a time that a teacher stabbed her in the wrist with a pencil, which she still bears the scar of to this day.
‘We were just little angry girls that were put in this place, and nobody wanted to be there,’ Louise admitted.
The actress was just 9 years old when she left Ardsley to live with her father and his new wife, but two years later, her mother, after marrying a wealthy doctor, wanted her to live with them.
‘It was like going from “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” to “Eloise at the Plaza,”‘ the actress said, adding that she ultimately told her father they shouldn’t see each other.
She didn’t see him for many years, until God’s Little Acre was released, when she was on the verge of stardom.
She reveals all these years later that she didn’t want to see him because he never went to court to try and regain custody of her, and she never forgave him.
The actress’ (born Tina Blacker) mother, Sylvia Horn, was just 18 when she welcomed Tina into the world, her father, Joseph Blacker, was 10 years older
They were divorced by the time she was 4, and she was ultimately sent to a boarding school in Ardsley, New York, where she has literal and figurative scars.
She didn’t see him for many years, until God’s Little Acre was released, when she was on the verge of stardom
‘I was mad at him because he didn’t go to court,’ Louise said, adding that her own mother Sylvia was lacking in familial love as well, with her mother dying when she was just 3.
‘She didn’t have the loving that she needed. She always needed a man to lean on,’ Louise said.
Louise turned to tutoring in 1996, after reading an article about a decrease in young students’ ability to read.
She joined the nonprofit organization Learning Leaders, which trains volunteers as tudors, which she has served as in New York City for the past two decades.
Leave a Reply