Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer - 'Mr. & Mrs. Thurston Howell III'

Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer were veteran actors, both starting their careers in the 1940s. In 1964, they were teamed on the tv sitcom "Gilligan's Island", as the millionaire couple, 'Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell III', and will forever be remembered in those roles.

Mr. Backus' prior recognition was as the voice for the cartoon character, the near-sighted 'Mr. Magoo'. Ms. Schafer had been a recognizable supporting actress in many features and tv shows prior to "Gilligan".

In 1982, I wrote to both, sending each a photo. Both replied rather promptly. The photo from Mr. Backus can be seen here, and the photo from Ms. Schafer can be seen here. On the latter, Ms. Schafer misspelled my last name, and while it's a common error to omit either a "p" or "l", I sometimes wonder if she did it with a deliberate sense of humor, because I misspelled her last name (as "SchaEfer") in the letter I wrote her.