Gilligan's Island Professor Dead at 89

Only Mary Ann and Ginger are left now. Russell Johnson, who played "the professor" on Gilligan's Island, has died at age 89, reports E! Online. Johnson has a long list of acting credits to his name, but it was his role on that show from 1964-67 that is by far his best remembered. TMZ notes some trivia: In season one, the show's well-known theme song didn't mention "the professor" (full name, Professor Roy Hinkley) or "Mary Ann" (played by Dawn Wells), instead referring to them as "the rest." That changed in season two, at the insistence of Gilligan himself, the late Bob Denver. Only Wells and Tina Louise, who played Ginger, survive from the main cast.

"Russell was a true gentleman, a good father, a great friend, and 'the rest,'" Wells posted on Facebook. "I love him and shall miss him." (More Russell Johnson stories.)