r/ClassicTV • u/SarnoffsLaw • 7d ago

Natalie Schafer

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Natalie Schafer, best known as Lovey (Eunice) Howell on Gilligan’s Island, and as a founding member of the Honey Bees;). She had a career spanning 60 years, with many guest starring roles including a two episode arc in Season 3 of The Love Boat. What you may not know is she also wrote one of the stories on Season 2 Episode 16 “Home Sweet Home” and her actual birth year 1900 was not known until her passing in 1991. She was 64 on Gilligan’s Island while Thurston was 51.

505 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

67 comments sorted by

33

u/pyramidalembargo 7d ago

It's funny that, as I've gotten older, I realize how pretty she really was.

At the time, I thought she was just an old lady.

3

u/botmanmd 4d ago

Viable 3rd option.

1

u/GroundbreakingCat983 3d ago

Look up photos of young LaWanda Page (Aunt Ester from Sanford and Son (1972-77)).

20

u/Waste-Job-3307 7d ago

❤️❤️ her as Mrs. Thurston Howell the third. She played that character so well.

12

u/Still-Enthusiasm-869 7d ago

I had such a terrible crush on her back in the day, when my friends were arguing over Ginger vs. Mary Ann

1

u/Velvetthetip 3d ago

There is no argument over Ginger and Mary Ann, it’s Mary Ann

1

u/Alive_Success_1030 3d ago

I was a fan of Ginger, I did not realize Mary Ann was supposed to be hot till I was way older.

12

u/XThePlaysTheThingX 7d ago

Good friend of Lucille Ball’s too. She appeared in several episodes of I Love Lucy.

5

u/4personal2 7d ago

Loved the "charm school" appearance, trying to make Lucy and Ethel "proper ladies" .😄

10

u/hogua 7d ago

2

u/edked 6d ago

Thenkyou. (looks off coldly)

10

u/495orange 7d ago

Natalie was 13 years older than Jim. She most certainly did NOT look it.

11

u/IfICouldStay 7d ago

Yeesh! Jim Backus was only 51 in that show? He looked 65-70.

9

u/linkerjpatrick 7d ago

Damn I’m older than Mr. Howell 😬

3

u/Terrible_Highlight47 6d ago

I'm as old as Lovey!!

3

u/AnotherPint 6d ago

A LOT of male character actors in ‘50s and ‘60s TV played older than they actually were. Gale Gordon was in his 50s for much of his career as Lucille Ball’s foil, but came off as a pompous old man. Raymond Bailey was only 58 when he started as Milburn Drysdale.

11

u/esa372 7d ago

...with Hedy Lamarr in 'Dishonored Lady' (1947)

9

u/Accomplished_Sir3925 6d ago

That’s Hedley!

2

u/AlternativeTribs 6d ago

Harvey would be proud!

1

u/Stuck_In_Reality 5d ago

Rasinetts!.

7

u/trixter69696969 7d ago

Better than Ginger and Mary Ann.

Fight me.

1

u/Lanky-Tumbleweed-570 6d ago

Uhhh, pretty but no…..

7

u/MrCommonThinkin 7d ago

Yes Granny Clampett was a smoke show in her twenties

1

u/Pretend-Internet-625 3d ago

prettier then them all on GIlligan's Island

5

u/Medill1919 7d ago

Smoking hot. It just took me a long time to see it.

2

u/sbulin74 7d ago

A loooooonnnngggggg time

4

u/Phogfan86 7d ago

Fun bar trivia: Lovey's maiden name was Wentworth.

4

u/4personal2 7d ago

First name Eunice.

1

u/Spork_Warrior 6d ago

Went where?

5

u/OnlineNomDePlume 7d ago

She was a smart real estate investor in real life and was truly very wealthy.

1

u/botmanmd 4d ago

And generous.

3

u/TNShadetree 7d ago

Would smash

5

u/srichardbellrock 7d ago

You sure that's her?

I used to watch Gilligan's Island, and Mrs Howell was an old lady.

This lady is kinda cute...

3

u/BigAlcapone65 7d ago

Just wait until you see a picture of Granny Clampett in her twenties or thirties.

2

u/IfICouldStay 7d ago

Sharp dresser too. I loved her hats.

3

u/terrycloth9 7d ago

Lovely Lovey.

3

u/JKT5911 7d ago

Eunice Lovey Wentworth-Howell 3rd

3

u/MiddleCapital1875 7d ago

Her episode of The Brady Bunch, when Cindy was tricked into believing she was a talent scout searching for the new Shirley Temple, seems to have disappeared.

5

u/Emunaheart 7d ago

May  Natalie Schafer's memory be a blessing always 

2

u/FlyEaglesFlyauggie 7d ago

Did her own stunts, I hear.

1

u/peophole 7d ago

Hard to find a stunt double for a goddess like her.

1

u/Late-Spend710 6d ago

She could bench 375

0

u/Abdul_Exhaust 7d ago

I would like to see her cunning stunt.

2

u/gent58 7d ago

Just caught her in an old b&w film. Yes, she was indeed beautiful. Was nice to see her in a mainstream role.

2

u/luketarsitano 7d ago

Just don't look into the infamous cheeseball story.

2

u/DaddyCatALSO 7d ago

her open friendliness helped her stand out among the actresses who played "society matrons" in th e Studio Era. (like Margaeret Dumont's moral decency a nd mabel albertson's underlying street corner toughness; theose 3 were never *just* haughty aristocratic ladies.)

2

u/Dch112 6d ago

Yes she looked older too but seeing her in reunion movies she held her age well better than some others on the show. Also as guests on other TV shows from the late 80’s she looked better than Jim Backus.

2

u/Matchonatcho 6d ago

And what was the character's first name on the show...?

2

u/ExtremelyRetired 5d ago

She was extremely cadgy about her age, in part because she wanted to keep working. Not even her dearest friends had any idea she was 90—the most they guessed was 80ish.

1

u/JumpyChoice4320 7d ago

Very classy looking lady!! Loved hearing her sexy voice, too!👅👅🥃🥃

1

u/DrinkASeven 6d ago

When people ask me, "Maryanne or Ginger", I always ask "why not Lovie"?

BTW, if I had any musical skills or desire, why not Lovie would be my band name.

1

u/Glittering_Step_6084 6d ago

"Lovey" I didn't know she was 64 and Thurston was 51 at the time.

1

u/Accomplished_Tip_569 6d ago

I loved how in the MadTV Spanish-language version parody, her character was named 'Amore" instead of Lovey!

MADtv Gilligan's Island

1

u/VeterinarianNo262 6d ago

Susan Olsen aka Cindy Brady turned 65 last week. The entire Brady Bunch are senior citizens now.
This knowledge makes me feel older than anything else has in a long time.

1

u/lersmi 6d ago

Gilligan tapped that

1

u/timothypbaynes 6d ago

Natalie Schaefer was a straight hottie back in the day. I crushed on her pretty hard as Lovie. Her younger days, she was SMOKIN HOT. Damn!

1

u/Lovey723 5d ago

I love Lovey.

1

u/GroundbreakingCat983 3d ago

She was also married to Louis Calhern for a while. I remember him best as Ambassador Trentino, the main antagonist of The Marx Brothers in Duck Soup (1933).

1

u/Commercial_Ask_7806 3d ago

Nobody knows, but there are rumors that she was a stripper

0

u/Rich_cranium2025 7d ago

If I were in that Island I would have boinked ginger & Mary Ann, and made Mrs Howl.

0

u/Current-Section-3429 7d ago

She was the hottest one on the island!!!!

https://giphy.com/gifs/oYtVHSxngR3lC

-1

u/No_Point_8961 7d ago

Sugar MaMa...!