Published: November 18, 2009 05:28 pm      

Interview with Mary Ann: Iconic star holds true to image of charm, grace

It’s been years since I’ve really been nervous about doing an interview, but one I did last Sunday called for at least a slight case of nerves; I really wanted this one to go especially well.

I had agreed to call at 1 p.m. I worked on other stories and called 911 centers to fill the time, anxiously waiting for the appointed hour. Finally, there was no denying that 1 p.m. was here. I picked up the phone and tapped in the number. After a few nerve-twitching rings, a hotel receptionist answered.

I introduced myself and asked if I could be connected to Dawn Wells’ room. One ring later, Ms. Wells answered. Again I introduced myself. The voice sounded familiar. Was this Ms. Wells?

Yes, it was Dawn Wells and we started talking, and as she spoke, I recognized the voice known and adored by millions of fans.

I was talking to Mary Ann from “Gilligan’s Island.” Never mind speaking to governors, senators or congressmen. This was a new level entirely. I was talking to the woman who gives life to an American icon on the same level with Marshal Matt Dillon of “Gunsmoke” and Mr. Spock of “Star Trek.”

I felt the same sensation of ecstasy and unreality I had felt when interviewing her co-star, the late Bob Denver of “Gilligan’s Island.” The people we see on television are usually distant, unobtainable visions we might glimpse for a moment in person, but it’s different when you actually get to speak with them one-on-one.

Ms. Wells was as charming and gracious as I had hoped she would be. She’s coming Friday to Gary Bowling’s House of Art in downtown Bluefield to help raise funds for the Denver Foundation, an organization that raises money to help families with special needs children. She’s still good friends with Dreama Denver, Bob Denver’s wife, so she offered to help out by making a personal appearance.

Starting at 6 p.m. Friday, the auction features everything from a “Twilight” movie poster signed by the cast to a guitar signed by no less than 18 country western stars.

Autographed items from celebrities such as Jerry West, Chad Pennington, Homer Hickam, Tony Romo, Brad Paisley, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Cal Ripkin, The Jonas Brother, Miley Cyrus and “American Idol’s” Taylor Hicks are on the auction block, too.

Dreama Denver said the funds raised will go to the Denver Foundation, which helps families with special needs children.

If all goes well, I’ll attend the auction Friday and hopefully talk to Ms. Wells a little more. She told me that she’s still acting in movies and plays, and she’s also a motivational speaker and a world traveler. She flew on the Concord supersonic jetliner before the French retired the model, and she visited Rwanda before the genocide there and saw mountain gorillas firsthand.

And naturally enough, Ms. Wells is still Mary Ann to millions around the world, even in places every bit as remote as the one Mary Ann called home. She told me how she once visited the capital of the Solomon Islands and encountered the chief’s wife, who cried out “Mary Ann!” The lady, who lives in a community where huts are built on stilts and where there are no lights, no cars, not a single ... ah, you get the picture ... recognized her from shows she had seen while away at school.

Even people who have been on the very periphery of the “Gilligan’s Island” phenomena can still feel the love fans have for the show and its characters. One time I was speaking to some seventh grade students in Union about life as a reporter, and one boy asked the question that always comes up — “Have you ever talked to anybody famous?”

I racked my brain for a second and came up with the obvious answer. “Oh, I’ve talked to Bob Denver a couple of times. He was Gilligan on “Gilligan’s Island.”

Those kids absolutely lit up. They leaned forward in their seats with that “Wow!” expression on their faces. Their teacher, who was standing next to me, leaned over and whispered into my ear, “You’re their hero now.”

Naturally, one girl said she could sing the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song. Like the theme from the original “Star Trek” or the theme songs from “The Flintstones” and “The Addams Family,” it’s a bit of music you can’t help but know unless you’ve been living in a cave the last 50 years. I’ll likely be thinking about it when I go to the auction whether I like it or not. Well, I’ll like it.

The auction begins 6 p.m. Friday at Gary Bowling’s House of Art, and tickets, which cost $20, are available at First Community Bank locations.

Greg Jordan is a reporter for the Daily Telegraph. Contact him at gjordan@bdtonline.com.