Nancy McCarthy

Nancy McCarthy as 'Bunny' in the pilot episode of Gilligan's Island

Nancy McCarthy (born June 8, 1937 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American actress best known by fans of the popular TV show Gilligan's Island for her role as Bunny, the blond secretary, in the original pilot episode, Marooned. She also had a recurring role as Laurie Burns on TV's My Three Sons. During the 1960s, she guest starred on The Donna Reed Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Adventures in Paradise, Lock Up and Surfside 6 .^[1]

Career

After the Gilligan's Island pilot was made, the creator and producer Sherwood Schwartz, after many network problems, decided to change three of the characters and recast them. She also appeared in two other TV pilots: Zelda with Sheila James and on The Peter Lorre Playhouse.

She originally made her New York stage debut as Dixie Evans in The Big Knife at the Seven Arts Playhouse in 1959, which starred Carroll O'Connor and was directed by Peter Bogdanovich.^[2] She appeared in several live television plays produced in New York including True Story, Divorce Court, and Moment of Fear with Robert Redford on the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" series. On stage in Los Angeles she played Maggie in After The Fall. Her regional credits include Flirt in Dark at the Top of the Stairs with Sylvia Sydney at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis Massachusetts and as Maisie in The Boy Friend at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.

McCarthy retired from acting after suffering a back injury in 1972, but continued to work as a print and fashion model and, later, in the advertising and design field.

Background

Nancy Darlyne McCarthy grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University)with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama. She began her acting career by appearing in local theater and performing on a weekly radio play. While still a student in college, she auditioned for director Otto Preminger for the title role in his movie Saint Joan.

McCarthy married twice, first to a fellow actor, and later to a businessman to whom she is still married. They live outside of California.