Dowbrigade

Bob
Denver, whose television roles as Gilligan, the wacky first mate in "Gilligan’s
Island," and Maynard G. Krebs, the beatnik with a bongo in "The
Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," were first hits, then cult classics,
died on Friday in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was 70.

from the New York Times

Before Gilligan set sail on the S.S. Minnow, he
was known as Maynard G. Krebs. Long before he faced the epochal question
of his times – the 60’s equivalent of "To
be or
not
to be" -
Ginger or
Mary
Ann – Bob Denver was the poster boy for the "What? Me worry?" movement.

As the first attempt to mainstream the beatnik image, Maynard G. Krebs was a role model for a generation of adolescent anarchists and nihilists who recognized in his oblique attitude towards reality a viable defense against the absurdities of our times. We emulated his facial and verbal expressions, his attitude, his slang, his slouch and his wacked-out stoner sense of humor, years before we understood where they were coming from.

He was the first freak, the first geek, and the first
hippie we had ever seen, and he was very, very cool.

He was truly a giant of American popular culture.