Bob Denver, TV s Gilligan, is dead at 70 * New *

9/6/2005

LOS ANGELES Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy first mate Gilligan on the 1960s television show Gilligan s Island made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died, his agent confirmed today. He was 70.

Denver, who underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery earlier this year, died Friday at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina, according to agent Mike Eisenstadt. Denver s death was first reported by Entertainment Tonight.

Denver also played the title character s beatnik pal, Maynard G. Krebs, on TV s The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Read more in later editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com.