GILLIGAN'S ISLAND TV CAST CO-SIGNED BY: BOB DENVER, TINA LOUISE and NEHEMIAH PERSOFF
Screen shot of Gilligan's dream sequence from the episode "The Little Dictator".
Photograph signed: "Bob Denver/'Gilligan'", "Tina Louis [heart]" and "Nehemiah Persoff", B/w 8x10. Episode three from season two "The Little Dictator" aired on September 30, 1965. Persoff guest starred as a dictator exiled on the island. After attempting to assume command of the cast he appoints Gilligan as his puppet leader setting up Gilligan's hilarious dream sequence shown in the photograph. Comic actor Bob Denver (1935-2005) is best known for two roles: Maynard G. Krebs on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959-1963) and bumbling first mate Willie Gilligan on Gilligan's Island (1964-1967). Denver, who would reprise his latter role in several made-for-TV movies, had made his film debut in 1959 (A Private's Affair). His film credits also include Take Her, She's Mine (1963) and Back to the Beach (1987), and Denver also appeared on Broadway in Play It Again, Sam (1969-1970). He also made several guest starring appearances on television, from Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall (1960) to ET in TV Land (2003), including multiple roles on Love, American Style and Fantasy Island. "Titian-haired" is the manner in which actress Tina Louise is usually described. Despite her numerous comic performances, she prefers to be regarded as a serious actress. Louise is fondly remembered for her three-year (1964 through 1967) stint as Marilynesque movie star Ginger Grant on Gilligan's Island, though she despised the role and made no secret of it on the set. Nor did she wish to have anything to do with the Gilligan cartoon and TV movie follow-ups of the 1970s and 1980s, choosing instead to carve a reputation as a versatile, no-nonsense actress. Nehemiah Persoff (b. 1920 in Jerusalem) moved with his family to the US in 1929. He made his Broadway debut in 1940, but became primarily a film and television actor. Persoff's appearance and talent for dialect led to casting in ethnic, and often villainous roles. He was frequently a mobster or despot (Stalin, Mussolini, Herod). His image softened in later roles, including the voice of Papa Mousekowitz in the American Tail films. Though the production is not specified here, this contract was probably for an appearance on the United States Steel Hour. Persoff gave five performances on that TV playhouse between 1955 and 1958. Fine condition.