I want to know how old all of the charaters are suppose to be? Like there ages on the show not there real ages!

I could be wrong, and please correct me if I am, yet I don't recall any references made on the show regarding the character's ages. I can only speculate. When the show premiered in 1964, the actor's actual ages were:

Alan Hale Jr,46--Bob Denver,28
Jim Backus,51--Natalie Schafer,64
Tina Louise,30--Dawn Wells,26
Russell Johnson,40

My guess is that the characters were playing fairly close to their actual ages with the exception of Mrs. Howell, who would be her husband's age or slightly younger. I'd put the Professor in his mid 30s and I'd trim 5 years off Ginger's age, making her 25. The Skipper was probably meant to be around 40.

Okay, some of these I've heard from different sources, and some of these I'm guessing, but here's my version:

Ginger: 26
Professor: 35
Mary Ann: 23
Gilligan: 20-22
Skipper: 41-46
Mr Howell: 48
Mrs. Howell: 49

I thought I heard somewheres that Mary Ann was supposed to be 19 in the first season and Gilligan about 20-ish. She looked older than 19, but that's what I heard... Forget where though.

~Courtney

In one episode, Mary Ann says something about women and children first and that she qualifies for both. So, that would mean she was supposed to be 19 or 18 or maybe even 17.

Originally posted by Fleet:
In one episode, Mary Ann says something about women and children first and that she qualifies for both. So, that would mean she was supposed to be 19 or 18 or maybe even 17.

I think she just said that because she was the youngest.

Originally posted by JOblairJOblair:
I think she just said that because she was the youngest.



What I mean is I don't think they wanted her to be 17 maybe the youngest she would have been is 19 even though i thought she would have been like 22 or 23.

Gilligan:25
Skipper:45
Mr. Howell:55
Mrs. Howell: 50
Ginger:30
Professor:35
Mary Ann:20

Gilligan said his age in the episode:Meet the meteor.In the last scene,when he looked at the mirror he said:I look
no so bad for 72.So,in the dream sequence,they said they celebrated the 50th anniversary of the shipwreck...So,that means is 22 years old...
The Skipper:45
Mr.Howell:59
Mrs.Howell: 55
Ginger:28
The professor:35(Sherwood Schwartz mentionned it)
Mary Ann:20

Gilligan: 19 years old
Maryann: 18 years old
Ginger: 24 years old
Proffesser: 27 years old
Skipper: 40 years old
Mrs. Howell: 51 years old
Mr. Howell: 53 years old


I always thought Gilligan was around 18 or 19 because they always said "He's just a boy." Plus it didn't sound like it had been too long since he graduated from high school. But I do think Maryann was at least one year younger than Gilligan.

I think Skipper was at least 44, since he was supposed to have seen a lot of action in WW II; that would make him about 21 to 25 during the war, and he seemed to be the senior NCO in his memories of 'repairing the transmitter.' And it seems likely that he put in a full 20 years in the navy, got his pension, and started his island charter business with the Minnow as a "second career." Gilligan, one of the earliest eps implies, knew the skipper in the navy, so he should be older than 21; called a "boy" because he thinks like one, not because of his actual age.

Ginger, probably 27 or older; not younger since she refers to so many movies she was in. Mary Ann, unquestionably the youngest castaway, but apparently mature enough to be in her 20's. The professor, mid 30's.

I think Mrs. Howell may have been supposed to be a little older than Mr. Howell (but not 13 years, of course). And they say in an early ep they have been married for 20 years. So I think anywhere from 45 to 55 seems likely..

Well, since Dawn Wells will be 65 tomorrow (Oct.18), I'll point out that Mary Ann was around 17-19, just outta high school, and Gilligan (Bob Denver, 1935- )and Ginger (Tina Louise, 1934- ) in their erarly twenties.

Skipper had seen a lot during WWII, so he was about 45 (actor ALan Hale's age then as well--1920-1990).

The Professor (Russell Johnson, 1924- )was said to be in his 40s as well,and the Howells about 50-60, just like Jim Backus (1913-1989) and Natalie Schafer (1900-1990) who played them

I would put the characters' ages:
Gilligan: 16-18 (due to the constant refrences to "boy" and in one point, the Skipper having to talk to him about "the birds and the bees")
Skipper: 45-50 (due to his constant refrences to World War II and his many flashbacks, which probably were a few decades old)
Thurston Howell III: 50-55
Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell: 45-48
Ginger Grant: late 20s
Professor: early 30s
Mary Ann Sommers: 16-20

Originally posted by algebra74
I would put the characters' ages:
Gilligan: 16-18 (due to the constant refrences to "boy" and in one point, the Skipper having to talk to him about "the birds and the bees")
Skipper: 45-50 (due to his constant refrences to World War II and his many flashbacks, which probably were a few decades old)
Thurston Howell III: 50-55
Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell: 45-48
Ginger Grant: late 20s
Professor: early 30s
Mary Ann Sommers: 16-20

Gilligan at leasst had tq be 17 cuz he joined the Navy.

Gilligan 19-22
Skipper 45
Mr. Howell 55
Mrs. Howell 53
Ginger: 25
Proffesser: 30-35
Maryann: 17-20

Gilligan-20
Skipper 45
The Howells-45-50
Professor-mid-late 30's
Ginger-27 or 28
Mary Ann-18:)

Based on the show, I would say the Skipper, Professor and Mr. Howell could be the age of the actors playing them. So the Skipper could have been in WWII.

Gilligan was supposed to younger than Bob Denver, say early 20s.

Mary Ann was slightly younger than Gilligan.

Ginger was probably meant to younger than Tina Louise, who was quite youthful. Say mid-late 20s.

Ditto for Mrs. Howell, who was probaly meant to be Mr. Howell's age, maybe slightly younger.

Gilligan: 20
Skipper: 43
Mr. Howell: 55
Mrs. Howell: 53
Ginger: 24
Professor: 35
Mary Ann: 19

Gilligan: 20
Skipper: 43
Mr. Howell: 55
Mrs. Howell: 53
Ginger: 24
Professor: 35
Mary Ann: 19

I have to agree with you Tibbs thats about what I would guess maybe 22 for Gilligan and 20 or 21 for Mary Ann but the rest is what I was thinking

Gilligan: 20
Skipper: 43
Mr. Howell: 55
Mrs. Howell: 53
Ginger: 24
Professor: 35
Mary Ann: 19


Assuming we're talking about first season, I think you've nailed it. It's fun to see what a cross-section of ages we've got among the castaways, as well as walks of life. I'm certain Sherwood planned it that way.