Meet Gilligans Island Star Tina Louises Only Daughter Caprice Crane

Caprice Crane, the look-alike daughter of "Gilligan’s Island" star Tina Louise, inherited not only her mother's good looks but also her talent. She's a renowned book author and screenwriter, and also has her own family now.

Tina Louise, better known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the ‘60s CBS’s situation comedy “Gilligan's Island,” is the proud mother of 49-year-old Caprice Crane and grandmother of two adorable kids.

Tina Louise in 1964 | Photo: Wikimedia Commons Images

The 85-year-old has been an active part of Hollywood for more than six decades, and her most recent work was in the 2017 film “Tapestry.”

Here’s a look into her career, and her daughter’s family.

Working her way to the top

Louise showed an interest in the scenic arts from a young age. She thoroughly enjoyed her drama classes and being on her school plays, but she never dreamt of becoming an actor.

Louise In "The Happy Ending" (1969) | Photo: Wikimedia Commons Images

After graduating from high school, she enrolled at Miami University but only for six months. While being there, Louise heard one of her friends had gotten a part in a play on Broadway, and that sparked her interest in the industry.

“My mother took me backstage and I just really enjoyed it,” she recalled in an interview with Authority Magazine. And continued:

“The very fact that my friend was in it gave me a little push to just proceed. I told my mother that I wanted to leave the University because the drama department wasn’t sufficient for me.”

So, her supportive mother helped Louise enroll at the Neighborhood Playhouse in Manhattan, where she learned acting, singing, and dancing.

Louise started by taking modeling jobs and then went on to land roles on several Broadway shows until she made her film debut in “God's Little Acre” in 1958.

Afterward, she made more Broadway, some Italian movies, and at her return to the U.S, started studying with director Lee Strasberg and joined the Actor’s Studio.

“Gilligan’s Island” success

In 1964, the casting director from “Gilligan’s Island” contacted Louise about the role of movie star Ginger Grant on the series.

They said the character was a mix of Marilyn Monroe and Lucile Ball, and that it was one of seven characters.

“And you know what happened there,” Louise said. “I mean, it became an instant success. People just really loved it and liked it.”

“Gilligan’s Island” ran from 1964 to 1967 and had three seasons, but by the end of it, Louise felt like she would be typecast thanks to her character.

However, Louise admits the show came in a time where people needed some comic relief, and she and the rest of the cast were willing to help. And she added:

“It kept growing, and one day someone said to me, ‘Tina, you are an icon.’ I said, ‘Really? What do you mean?’ It’s kind of surprising to me. But I do have a lot of friends out there, and they do write to me. Today, it’s more fun receiving mail from them than it ever was.”

After “Gilligan’s Island,” Louise went back and forth between television and film, wrote three books, and also created her own family when she married TV announcer Les Crane in 1966.

They had one daughter, Caprice, and divorced in 1971.

Meet Caprice Crane

Caprice is the vivid image of her mother, and like Tina, she’s also outspoken and has a talent for writing.

After graduating from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, she started working with MTV as a writer and producer for different music and game shows, reviews, rock-star biographies, and more.

Caprice published her first novel, “Stupid & Contagious,” in 2006. Her second book, “Forget About It,” became an international bestseller in 2007, and two years later, she released her third book, “Family Affair.”

Despite her new status of published best selling author, Caprice kept working as a screenwriter for the new versions of TV series “90210” and “Melrose Place.”

She also wrote the original screenplay for a movie called “Keep It Together,” which was rewritten and released under the name “Love, Wedding, Marriage,” starring Mandy Moore and Kellan Lutz.

Her fourth book, “With a Little Luck,” was well received by the critics; and her debut on the young adult range with “Confessions of a Hater” was a complete success.

Crane is the co-author of the 2016 book "Esther the Wonder Pig: Changing the World One Heart at a Time", whih was a New York Times Best Seller.

These days, Caprice is still working on other books but spends most of her time focusing on raising her adorable 2-year-old twins Clementine and Kingston.

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