Friend Starts GoFundMe for Gilligan's Island Star Dawn Wells

Dawn Wells is not doing so well, according to the friend who launched a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign for the Gilligan's Island actress. Wells, 79, who played Mary Ann on the show, lost almost everything in the 2008 financial crisis, the friend tells TMZ. This year, while already recovering from a major surgery and complications resulting from it, she broke her knee. She now needs to move to an assisted living facility, but it won't take her because she's nearly $200,000 in debt, the friend says. "Dawn needs $194,000 to alleviate penalties by the IRS (which are compounded daily) and to pay her hospital costs," the GoFundMe campaign says, though it's seeking to raise just $180,000.

In a campaign update, the friend quotes Wells as saying, "I just don’t know what happened! I thought I would be just fine, but apparently I’m not. I’ve found myself with no home, husband, or kids. I thank god every day that I have friends and fans who care or this whole thing would be too overwhelming." The campaign asks the public to help "YOUR favorite castaway," noting that she is "a woman who gave so many people Joy over the years." As of this writing, it has raised more than $46,000. People notes that the campaign is run by someone calling himself Dugg Kirkpatrick, and points to a Twitter photo seeming to indicate he is a hairstylist who has worked with Wells. (More Dawn Wells stories.)