He was a featured player or lead on four sitcoms and appeared in a handful of stupid films.  But, he did have a certain comic talent.  He was a old-style viper of the first order, dear fellow.

i remember thinking "oh no not Gilligan" i got the feeling he was nice guy. Never saw him end up in the news for anything bad. I had fond memories of seeing him on Gilligans Island.

As ridiculous as most of the story lines generally were, I enjoyed the show and "Gilligan" always made me smile.

IJR said it very well. gilligans island was a show the whole family could watch and enjoy. gilligan was a lovable character and bob denver/gilligan will be missed.

Upate----I just wanted to clarify...it's not that I thought Gilligan was a great show or a quality production, but that it did give me great pleasure when I was an undiscriminating child. I stopped watching it when I was a teen, but my memories of it are fond, in the same way as the cartoons that I once watched as a child but haven't in years.----I was too young to catch him on Dobie Gillis but as a kid I loved Gilligan and the show gave me much joy. Bob always seemed like a gentle soul. Rest in peace, Bob.

Sorry. Not to rain on anyone's parade, and I don't hate the guy by any means, but Gilligan's Island....how shall I put this.....well....really, really, sucked. I'm not glad he's dead, but he's just another has been comic from a bad TV show. I can't say it registers for me.

That is a tough way finally to get off that island! Only the professor, Ginger and Maryanne are left!

Although he will always be remembered as Gilligan, my introduction to Bob Denver was when he played Maynard G Krebs, the best friend of Dobie Gillis on the TV show The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis which ran from 1959 until 1963. In that series he played a beatnik (pre hippie counter culture figure) who wanted only to listen to jazz music, play the bongos, and hang out at coffeehouses. His favorite phrase was you're a real human being and he would shriek whenever the word work was mentioned. (Thank you Solenoid. I had forgotten that he did the same thing with the word married. ) Denver started out in law school and was an athletic coach and math teacher before he broke into acting. His personal problems which had come to light in recent years were miniscule compared to others in the show business field. The Gilligan character is a television icon but for me, I will always remember him as the guy in the sweat shirt and a little beard helping Dobie find the girl of his dreams. Now that he is gone from this Earthly island I hope that he is playing heavenly bongos in God's coffeehouse.

It's too bad he is always associated with Gilligan, because the other parts he played were better. He was terrific as Maynard G. Krebs, a unique person unlike any other on any show. As Maynard, he was quick-minded and clever. I liked the way he cried out in despair whenever he heard the words work or married. In later years, he played a restaurant worker named Butterworth in a show called The Good Guys. I personally liked it but it only lasted 2 seasons. Sorry to see this man die - he wasn't old enough.

Rest in peace Little Buddy!

Its a sad day to know that Gilligan is no longer with us.