Florence Rice

She married twice, with her second marriage lasting until her death in Honolulu, Hawaii from lung cancer. She died from cancer in Los Angeles, California. During the 1940s the quality of her roles steadily decreased and in 1947 she retired. Miss Wells has admitted to something of a daughter-type relationship with Miss Schafer, but has never publicly admitted to receiving anything from her estate. Her most widely seen performances were in Double Wedding (1937), in which she was billed third in the cast credits behind William Powell and Myrna Loy, and The Marx Brothers film At The Circus (1939). Differing sources state that most of this fortune was bequeathed to either her "Gilligan's Island" co-star Dawn Wells, or her cat. Rice never became a major figure in films, but achieved popularity in a number of screen pairings with Robert Young. Her astute investments, particularly in real estate made her a millionaire.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Rice became an actress during the early 1930s and after several Broadway roles, eventually made her way to Hollywood. Blonde, pretty and wholesome, Rice was cast as the reliable girlfriend in several MGM films, and during the 1930s, MGM gradually provided her with more substantial roles, occasionally in prestige productions. In real life, she was far removed from the dizzy "Lovey Howell" she had played. Florence Rice (February 14, 1911 - February 23, 1974) was a American film actress. Her most notable film appearance in later life was in The Day of the Locust (1975). She continued acting until the age of ninety and was a guest star on many TV series. She appeared in the television series Gilligan's Island from 1964 until 1967 playing the role of millionaire's wife "Lovey Howell", and reprised her role in the made-for-TV "Gilligan's Island" movies that were made after the show's demise.

She played several supporting roles during the forties and fifties and appeared most notably in The Snake Pit (1948) and Anastasia (1956) while returning to New York City to live and work between film roles.. Born in Red Bank, New Jersey, Schafer began her career as an actress on Broadway before moving to Los Angeles in 1941 to work in films. Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 - April 10, 1991) was an American actress.