Biography of Dawn Wells

Best known as Mary Ann on the longest running show in the history of television syndication, "Gilligan's Island," Dawn Wells is an actress, author, journalist, speaker, adventurer, businesswoman, entrepreneur, chef and volunteer.

Wearing her producer's hat, Wells has co-produced and hosted her own women's fishing show, "Dawn Wells' Reel Adventures," which features fly fishing all over the world. She also hosted and co-produced the Childrens' Miracle Network broadcast for mid-Missouri, as well as a "Gilligan's Island" retrospective for the E Channel. She currently has several projects in the wings, including a movie-of-the-week with director and producer Deborah Reinisch.

Wells has performed in over 60 theatrical productions from Neil Simon to Tennessee Williams and has also appeared in over 120 television shows, as well as a number of feature films. She served as co-executive producer, co-creator, and host of the hit CBS movie-of-the-week, "Surviving Gilligan's Island." While producing the movie, she flew to Michigan to appear in the film "Super Sucker," written, produced and directed by Jeff Daniels. She was a guest star on the NBC series "Three Sisters," while also appearing as one of the survivors on "The Tonight Show" for five weeks in a row. Wells also appeared in a pilot that was produced, written and directed by Fran Drescher and hosted a CBS variety show called "TV's All Time Favorites." Author of the cookbook Mary Ann's Gilligan's Island Cookbook, which consists primarily of three generations of her family recipes, she was also a week-long guest on The Food Network as the "Chef du Jour."

Wells has established the Dawn Wells' Film Actors Boot Camp near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where in one intense week during the summer, actors learn the art of acting on camera, as well as the business of the film industry. And even though she's in constant demand for personal appearances and speaking engagements, Wells found time to create a line of clothing for the physically challenged called the Wishing Wells Collection.

Serving on many boards, Wells is a Trustee of Stephens College, one of her alma maters. She is also a graduate of the University of Washington. She serves on the University of Missouri Children's Hospital Advisory Board and on the Advisory Board of Women in Film and Video.

An avid world traveler, Wells has climbed the mountains in Rwanda to view the mountain gorillas, canoed in the Solomon Islands where women had never been before, has experienced four safaris, and has flown around the world on the Concorde.