Bob Denver, star of ‘Dobie Gillis,’ ‘Gilligan’ dies at 70

Bob Denver, who shot to fame on television in the late 1950s playing beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” but achieved enduring comedic cult status in the ‘60s starring as the lovably inept first mate on “Gilligan’s Island,” has died. He was 70.

Denver, who underwent quadruple bypass surgery earlier this year, died Friday of complications from treatment he was receiving for cancer at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina, said his agent, Mike Eisenstadt.

A graduate of Loyola University in Los Angeles (now Loyola Marymount University) with a degree in political science, Denver had five college productions behind him and had worked as a part-time teacher, sports coach and mailman before landing his role on “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,” the popular situation comedy starring Dwayne Hickman.

As Maynard, the bongo-playing, goateed, sweatshirt-wearing beatnik, Denver was the polar opposite of Hickman’s crew-cut, buttoned-down “typical” American teenager, Dobie.

“He and I were opposites on the screen and in real life in many ways, because I was an extension of Dobie and he was an extension of Maynard,” Hickman told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. “Despite our differences, we had great mutual respect, and we really had a good relationship.”

Hickman, who first met Denver when they were both students at Loyola, considers Denver an “underrated comedian,” whose catchphrases as Maynard included “You rang?” and screeching out the word “Work!” whenever that frightening prospect reared its head.

“He had a wonderful sense of comedy, great timing, and he had sweet personality on the screen,” Hickman said. “I loved working with him. I was proud to be his straight man.”

“The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” aired from 1959 to 1963. It was Denver’s next sitcom outing as one of the castaways on “Gilligan’s Island” that made him an enduring cult favorite.

The series ran on CBS from 1964 to 1967 but has aired continuously in syndication since then.

Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of “Gilligan’s Island,” said Denver was a “remarkable actor, because he was not really a comedian – he was an actor who could do comedy.”

“He was, first of all, a good friend of mine; he wasn’t just an actor who worked on my show,” Schwartz told the Times on Tuesday. “He had come from a second-banana position on ‘Dobie Gillis.’ Even though he was a second banana, I understand he got more (fan) mail than the first banana. So in my show, he was the top banana. He and the skipper, Alan Hale, were the duo who really made the big impression.

“It was like Burns and Allen, and any twosome really. They fed off each other with physical stuff and vocal.”

Who, he said, can forget the skipper’s affectionate “little buddy” nickname for Gilligan?

“He was a great actor,” Schwartz said of Denver. “People think it’s easy to fall down and get hit in the head with a coconut. And, every time, he’d find a different way to do that.”

Denver himself once attributed the enduring popularity of “Gilligan’s Island” to its “silliness” and physical comedy.

“People thank me for giving them a break from life,” he said.

Denver, who was born in New Rochelle, N.Y., left Los Angeles in the ‘70s. By then, he also had starred on CBS’ “The Good Guys,” a situation comedy that aired from 1968 to 1970, and “Dusty’s Trail,” a 1973 syndicated sitcom.

Denver, who lived for a time in Las Vegas, later performed in dinner theaters, in addition to occasional “Gilligan” reunion films and other TV appearances.

He moved to West Virginia more than a decade ago.

Denver’s third wife, Dreama, and his children, Patrick, Megan, Emily and Colin, were with him when he died. He also is survived by a granddaughter.