Our Little Buddy’s Carolina Connections
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We love our home state of North Carolina. Elliot moved here from Ohio ages ago. Todd was born here even more ages ago. So, by state law Todd can make Elliot move out whenever he feels like it. Sure, it’s an odd law, but hey, we’re a proud people.
Our state’s interesting history includes agriculture – particularly tobacco, The Andy Griffith Show (and the nonexistent Mayberry) and, in the past half century or so, our state has been known as a research, technology and life sciences mecca.
When digging into research for our episodes about The Beats, we came across a few pop culture threads that tie North Carolina to one of our favorite actors. Maybe you know him as Gilligan. Maybe as Maynard. Either way, you know Bob Denver.
Sometimes confused with singer John Denver, Bob was no relation, although he did enjoy a certain other kind of…ahem…Rocky Mountain High.
Born Robert Osbourne Denver on January 9, 1935, in New Rochelle, New York, he went on to be iconic in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis as the titular character’s goofy, bumbling sidekick. Then his popularity exploded as he became the goofy, bumbling sidekick stranded on Gilligan’s Island. (One rule of show biz: play to your strengths.) Though the original series ran from 1964-67, those 98 episodes over three seasons have been in constant rotation for decades, broadcast an estimated five times a day, making it one of the most widely syndicated shows ever.
Check out Episode 48: The Beat Era: Beats, Beatniks and Myth vs. Reality as we discuss Bob Denver’s role as seminal beatnik caricature Maynard G. Krebs, Dobie Gillis’s flakey best friend. While researching Beat dos and don’ts for you, our beloved listeners, we uncovered a few extra connections everyone’s favorite little buddy had to The Tarheel State:
He was a Dud on Andy Griffith.
Immediately after he played Maynard, Denver made a one episode appearance on the set-in-North Carolina Andy Griffith Show. He played Dudley (or “Dud”) Wash, the goofy bumbling fiancé to Charlene Darling, baby girl of the less-than-couth-but-can-sing-their-asses-off Darling Family. Check him out in the episode titled “Divorce, Mountain Style.”
He liked the smokes.
During his stressful acting years, and for many years after he left Hollywood for West Virginia semi-retirement, he was known to burn through at least a pack of cigarettes a day according to his wife Dreama Perry Denver in her book Gilligan’s Dreams: The Other Side of the Island. (At the time the negative effects of smoking were just coming into focus. The health concerns would come later, too late for many, many people.)
And what was the cornerstone industry in North Carolina for much of the 20th century? Tobacco and cigarette manufacturing, with the capitals of production being Winston-Salem (Elliot’s base of operations) and Durham (about 20 or so miles from Todd’s house and closer to the town of his birth). All together, our state’s output accounted for the majority of all cigarettes sold. We’re not sure if Denver smoked Camels, Winstons, Salems or any of the dozens of other varieties originating from North Carolina, but a lot of people did. The odds are pretty good.
He spent his final days in North Carolina.
Given his connection to smoking, it’s sadly ironic that the iconic actor drew his final breath in North Carolina, also in Winston-Salem at what was then called Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. Bob Denver died of complications related to his cancer treatment while under their care. He was 70 years old. Again, from her book Gilligan’s Dreams: The Other Side of the Island, Dreama Denver wrote, “The staff at the hospital had been huge Gilligan fans, and sharing the intimacy of the end of his life was almost spiritual for them. His legacy was the love of his fans. He always said that that made him richer than any residuals could have.”
Interestingly (or perhaps ironically), this renowned teaching hospital and cancer treatment center was able to originally expand to a four-year medical school back in 1941 due to a generous gift left in the will of Bowman Gray, former president of…R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
Thanks for all the great memories, Maynard G. Gilligan. Pop culture gives you a round of applause.