Dawn Elberta Wells (born October 18, 1938) is an American actress who is best known for her role as Mary Ann Summers on the classic CBS sitcom Gilligan's Island. She and Tina Louise are the last surviving cast members from that series, not counting the three original actors for The Professor, Ginger and Mary Ann in the unaired pilot.

Biography

She married Larry Rosen, a talent agent, in 1962. The couple had no children and were divorced in 1967.


Community involvement
In Idaho, Wells runs a successful business, Wishing Wells Collections, making clothing for people with limited mobility. She is the founder of the Idaho Film and Television Institute, a not-for-profit (501c3) educational organization with "a vision of education, technical training and economic development in Southeastern Idaho." She organized SpudFest, a regional annual family movie festival, and has been a spokeswoman for Idaho Potatoes.

Wells continues to lend her support to the Denver Foundation, a charity chaired by Dreama Denver, widow of Wells' Gilligan’s Island co-star Bob Denver. In November 2009, she appeared at the Denver Foundation's Christmas Wish Celebrity Auction, helping to raise funds for the disabled and disadvantaged in West Virginia.


Reckless driving incident
While driving home from her birthday party celebration on October 18, 2007, Wells was observed swerving across the roadway, was found in possession of marijuana and was arrested by Idaho police. A third party, who had been in possession of Wells' car that day and had left the joints behind, came forward and claimed full responsibility for the marijuana. Wells pled guilty to one count of reckless driving, was fined and served six months' unsupervised probation.

In a statement, Wells admitted swerving, saying she was reaching for her car heater controls. Wells lost a speaking engagement because of the incident. After the fact, she made light of the situation, saying "I think it is so hysterical that people went nuts over it. I am what, now, 102 years old? I get booked for the first time in my life and suddenly I am a drug-using bum? I have told people the facts, but facts don't interest people or the media. They only trust headlines. The only reason I even cared was because it negatively affected my film festival and film school, and my sponsors were concerned.