While "Gilligan's Island" is remembered as a TV staple, skeptics at the time tried warning one of its stars, Russell Johnson, to steer clear after the pilot.

Actor Russell Johnson, who became known to generations of TV fans as “The Professor,” the fix-it man who kept his fellow “Gilligan’s Island” castaways supplied with gadgets, has died. He was 89.

To most of the world, Russell Johnson was the Professor on Gilligan's Island, the calm voice of reason in the middle of coconut radios, bamboo gadgets and endless rescue plans that never quite worked ...