How Bob Denver Became a Real-Life Hero With a Simple Act of Kindness

Gilligan's Island Bob Denver, 1964-1967 — Everett Collection

Everett Collection

What To Know

In the late 1960s, a group of Vietnam veterans toured CBS studios and met several famous TV stars, including Bob Denver.
Bob Denver quietly bought the veterans a new color TV when he learned they were about to lose their old one.

It is funny where you find some of the best, most heartwarming true stories. Sometimes they’re not in history books but tucked away in small places like the comment section of a YouTube video. That’s where Brian Bommarito shared a simple, wonderful memory with me about his father and a TV star that we all know.

In his YouTube comment, Brian said that in the late ’60s, his dad and a group of Vietnam vets, all of them amputees, were given a special tour of CBS TV studios. Way back then, this was like visiting the center of the universe. This was where the magic came from, beamed right into our living rooms.

During that tour, the vets got to meet a whole bunch of famous people. It was a real who’s who of 1960s television: Don Adams from Get Smart, Doris Day, who was a huge movie and music star, but also had a TV show on CBS at the time, comedian Phyllis Diller and the beloved character actor, Arthur O’Connell.

Afterward, they were invited to go to Alan Hale Jr.‘s restaurant. What a really cool day that must have been for those men! It was a chance to be seen and thanked, to just feel normal and have a little fun.

During that whirlwind day, there was one more celebrity that Brian’s father never forgot. Brian wrote in his comment, “Dad remembered Bob Denver the fondest.”

Bob was, of course, Gilligan. And before that, he was Maynard on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Gilligan’s Island had been a popular show on CBS, and after it was cancelled, syndicated reruns were broadcast daily by local stations, and it became even more beloved.

At that time, Bob was one of the most recognizable people in America, but, on that specific day, the reason he was so memorable had nothing to do with the show. Why? Well, because as Brian explained, “Bob actually bought a color TV set for the veterans when he heard they were going to lose their old black-and-white TV.”

Everett Collection

Why was this such an awesome thing? Well, way back then, as Brian points out in his comment, color TVs were very expensive. In the late 1960s, a color TV was a true luxury. It wasn’t something that you just picked up on a whim. A new one typically ran around $400, which, if adjusted for inflation, would be, as this Reddit discussion points out, a little over $4000 today.

At some point during that fateful studio tour, Bob Denver must have overheard that this group of wounded veterans was about to lose their TV, probably in a hospital ward or a rec room, something like that. It was their main link to the outside world, their entertainment, and a real source of comfort. Because of that, he didn’t just think to himself, “Oh, that’s a shame,” and do nothing. Instead, Bob, on his own, quietly went out and bought them a brand-new color TV.

For Brian’s father, a man who had been through so much, that single act meant more than all the handshakes and autographs from the other stars combined. The fame didn’t matter. What mattered was the heart. Brian’s comment concludes with a simple, perfect summary: “Bob really went the extra mile.”

That act of pure, simple kindness was Bob Denver in a nutshell. No cameras, no publicity, just a good person seeing a need and taking care of it.