This guy could make a radio out of a coconut, but could not patch a boat... .............................................. (CNN) -- Actor Russell Johnson, best known as Professor in the 1960s TV sitcom "Gilligan's Island," died Thursday, his agent said. Johnson was 89. Johnson played the iconic role of Professor Roy Hinkley, whose scientific schemes to get the castaways rescued were always foiled by Gilligan's bumbling. He died at his home in Washington, where he lived with his wife, Connie. She and their daughter, Kimberly, were at his side, said agent Mike Eisenstadt. Johnson is also survived by a stepson, Court, and a grandson, he said. Hats off to another member of the greatest generation... Before becoming an actor, Johnson served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. He was on a B-24 Liberator when it was shot down during a bombing raid over the Philippines in 1945, according to his official biography, and used his G.I. Bill benefits to pay for acting school after the war.
I watch every episode (I think) but Inever knew any name for him but "Professor". And of course, no one ever understood, why he couldn't just fix the boat.
Would you really want to get off that island if you were stranded with Ginger and Mary Anne? RIP Professor!
And now, the rrest of the story.... They were eventually rescued, the professor invented all sorts of things, only to find they were already invented. No one really fit in anymore, their only real friends were themselves. They set sail again, crashed again on the same island, and were happy to be home. Moral? Home is where your heart is.
RIP professor, and RIP Dave Madden. He also passed today. He played the manager Ruben Kincaid on the Partridge Family.
