Tina Louise

Short Biography

Tina Blacker in New York City on February 11, 1934, gorgeous Tina Louise has worked as a model, singer, and actress during her lengthy career. At 17, she made her acting debut in summer stock, and then quickly moved to Broadway, taking small roles. She was also once a featured singer at Ciro's, the famous Hollywood nightclub. As her aspirations became more focused on acting, Louise enrolled in Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. Her big break came in a January 1956 appearance on the hour-long dramatic anthology television series Studio One. She also landed a spot on Jan Murray Time as a singer. She followed this up with more guest appearances on Studio One, Climax!, and Joe and Mabel, meanwhile still taking roles on Broadway. With her success in the Broadway production of Li'l Abner (cast as "Apassionata Von Climax") beginning in 1956, Louise made her way to Hollywood.Cast as Griselda in the United Artists' release God's Little Acre (1958; with Fay Spain, Aldo Ray, and Lance Fuller), in 1959 Louise won a Golden Globe for most promising newcomer. She followed up with roles in the Paramount film noir thriller The Trap (1959; with Richard Widmark and Lee J. Cobb) and Paramount's western The Hangman (1959; with Robert Taylor and Jack Lord). In 1960, like many other actors, she went to Italy to star in several films, including The Warrior Empress (1960; with Kerwin Mathews). After her return, Louise continued her association with the Actors Studio and, as a lifetime member, is a method acting devotee. Meanwhile, she kept her career going with guest-starring roles on popular television series, such as Route 66 and Checkmate, and was cast in Allied Artist's Armored Command (1961; with Howard Keel) and For Those Who Think Young (1964; with James Darren and Pamela Tiffin). While starring on Broadway in the play Fade Out, Fade In with Carol Burnett, Louisen accepted the role of sexy actress Ginger Grant in the CBS television comedy Gilligan's Island (1964-1967; with Russell Johnson).During her stint on Gilligan's Island, Tina Louise married talk-show host Les Crane in 1966. Their daughter, Caprice, was born in November 1970, just a month before their divorce was finalized. During the 1970s and 1980s, Louise made several films and appeared on numerous TV series, including a recurring role on the CBS nighttime drama Dallas during its first season. Into the 1990s, she cooled her acting career. Residing in New York City for years, she is due to appear in a new film for late 2014 titled Tapestry (2014; with Stephen Baldwin and Burt Young). She recently acted in the horror film Late Phases (2014; with Karen Lynn Gorney and Rutanya Alda) and the family drama Tapestry (2016; with Burt Young and Stephen Baldwin) .