Tina Louise

Tina Louise (born February 11, 1934) is an American actress, singer and author. She played the "movie star" Ginger Grant on the television situation comedy Gilligan's Island. Tina Blacker was born in New York City. She was raised by her mother, Betty Horn, a fashion model. The name "Louise" was supposedly added during her senior year in high school when she mentioned to her drama teacher that she was the only girl in the class without a middle name. He immediately picked the name "Louise" and it stuck. She attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. At the age of 17, Louise began studying acting, singing and dancing. During her early acting years, she was offered modeling jobs and appeared on the cover of several pinup magazines such as Adam, Sir! and Modern Man. Her later pictorials for Playboy (May 1958, April 1959) were arranged by Columbia Pictures studio in an effort to further promote the young actress. Her acting debut came in 1952 in the Bette Davis musical revue Two's Company, followed by roles in other Broadway productions, such as John Murray Anderson's Almanac, The Fifth Season, and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?.  In 2004 she received the coveted TVLand Pop Culture Icon Award in Los Angeles, which was aired nationally. She has made numerous TV appearances from Rosie O'Donnell to Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, CNN and others.A unique opportunity pursued Tina in 2005 with IGT (International Game Technology) in conjunction with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, when she inked a six-figure deal in exchange for 80 lines of voice-over work for a highly publicized gaming machine, a MegaJackpots product with the chance to win $1 million. The slot machines appeared in casinos from coast-to-coast as well as internationally.Tina is an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a lifetime member of the Actors Studio.