'Gilligan's Island' Professor, actor Russell Johnson, dead at 89

Russell Johnson, best known for playing “The Professor” on Gilligan's Island, has died at the age of 89. Johnson, who guest-starred on dozens of shows from Dynasty to The Jeffersons to Roseanne, played his trademark role 

Russell Johnson, an actor who made a living by often playing villains in westerns until he was cast as the Professor, the brains of a bunch of sweetly clueless, self-involved, hopelessly naïve island castaways, on the hit sitcom “Gilligan's Island

Wally Fong / Associated Press Russell Johnson, as the professor, poses during filming of a two-hour reunion show, 'The Return from Gilligan's Island,' in Los Angeles in 1978. Johnson died Thursday at his home in Washington state of natural causes. He

Russell Johnson, who played the professor on "Gilligan's Island," died this morning (Jan. 16) at 89 years old.

Actor Russell Johnson, forever to be known as The Professor on the hit 1960s show “Gilligan's Island,” has died, as did Dave Madden, who played Reuben Kincaid on "The Partridge Family."