Thurston J. Howell III
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Thurston J. Howell III is a character on the CBS television sitcom Gilligan's Island, which was in first-run from 1964 to 1967, and has been rerun ever since in syndication.
Howell, portrayed by veteran actor Jim Backus, is so wealthy that he took tens of thousands of dollars in cash and several changes of clothing with him for what was intended to be only a three-hour boat tour in Hawaii, one of the sillier premises of the show. His wife, Lovey, portrayed by Natalie Schafer, is conscious of social strata, yet seems to be a good-hearted woman with a deep sense of noblesse oblige allowing her to interact with the other passengers and crew, though they are all her social inferiors. One of the implied humorous points of the show is that Thurston continually fails to realize that all of the Howells' money is essentially useless to them on the island. On the other hand, the other castaways apparently tolerate the fact that he refuses to do any work.
Howell was included on Forbes Magazine's 2005 list of the 15 richest fictional characters. Just how much money he had was never specified, but he was shown as owning several large corporations. When asked what happened to him during the Great Depression, his wife says that he lost most of his money and "became just a millionaire". Among his assets were a diamond mine, a coconut plantation, a railroad, an oil well, and 40 acres in Colorado-which included all of downtown Denver-that he bequeathed to his fellow castaways in his will.
[edit] Other references
There is also a rap artist called Thirstin Howl III whose stage persona emulates the cash-flush Gilligan's millionaire.
Thurston Howell is the name of Henry Gibson's character in the movie Magnolia. His name is only mentioned in background conversation.
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Bob Denver (Gilligan), Alan Hale Jr. (Skipper), Russell Johnson (Professor), Tina Louise (Ginger Grant), Dawn Wells (Mary Ann), Jim Backus (Thurston Howell III), |
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