Gilligan's Island star Dawn Wells dies from COVID-19 complications

Dawn Wells photographed in 2019.
Dawn Wells photographed in 2019. Photo credit: Getty

Gilligan's Island star Dawn Wells has died from COVID-19-related causes.

The actress, who was aged 82 at the time of her death, played Mary Ann Summers in the classic sitcom.

She is said to have died peacefully at a nursing home in Los Angeles, with her publicist saying the cause of death was related to COVID-19, according to the New York Times.

Gilligan's Island ran from 1964 to 1967 and was set around the premise of a group of day trippers who became stranded on a desert island.

Well's character was a Kansas farm girl, who found herself on the island along with a movie star, a science professor, an older, rich couple and two of the ship's crew members.

Before starring in Gilligan's Island, Wells represented the state of Nevada in the 1959 Miss America pageant.

Although she went on to act in other TV shows and movies, she remains best known for her role as Mary Ann Summers.