In 1964, she left the Broadway musical "Fade Out – Fade In" to portray movie star Ginger Grant on the situation comedy "Gilligan's Island", after Jayne Mansfield turned it down. Over time, she became unhappy with the role and was worried that it would typecast her. When the series ended in 1967, she was unable to resume her career as an upcoming major film star since those roles were no longer being offered to her. Although she continued to work in film and made guest appearances on television, she claimed repeatedly that playing Ginger ruined her movie career. She did not appear in any of the subsequent Gilligan's Island movies "Rescue from Gilligan's Island", "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island", or "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island". She did appear in the Matt Helm spy spoof "The Wrecking Crew" (1969) with Dean Martin and in "The Stepford Wives" (1975).