Early Mandela Effect: Bob Denver's Death in 1960.
This isn't a personal effect or anything. I came across the article linked below from the TV network METV and felt it might be of some interest to the community. Bob Denver, the actor best known for playing Gilligan from *'Gilligan's Island'*, had a successful role before that playing the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the show *'The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'*. The Mandela here is that a large chunk of Americans at the time thought he'd died during the filming of the show and was replaced by another actor. Unlike many other celebrity death hoaxes, this one persisted for years. It finally died out when he began playing Skipper's "Little Buddy".
https://metv.com/stories/rumors-persisted-for-years-that-bob-denver-died-in-the-sixties-and-no-one-knows-why
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A few quotes from the story:
"I don't know where it got started, but every time I think I've got it squashed, it pops up again," Denver told The Tampa Times in 1961. ... "Experts in the matter of false rumors tell me these things usually die a normal death after six months," Denver told the papers. "The only trouble is, this story has been circulating for nearly a year now. I got on a plane one day and one of the passengers insisted I was the second fellow to play the part of Maynard Krebs." ... Other Dobie Gillis fans simply didn't recognize Denver… and ended up mourning Denver's loss right to his face. "In San Diego, someone told me I looked just like the fellow on Dobie Gillis who was killed," Denver said. "On another plane, someone else said to me, 'Isn't it too bad about that beatnik kid on Dobie Gillis?' ... Who do they think I am?" Denver asked, perplexed.
Denver never fully understood why this fake death rumor persisted as long as it did.
While Denver was busy with home repairs and motorcycle rides, the rumor of his death came roaring back to life when a fan in Tennessee sent in a question to a TV column in *The Manhattan Mercury* in 1964.
"Sometime ago, I heard that Bob Denver who played Maynard on Dobie Gillis was killed in an accident," wrote Mrs. R.T. in Memphis. "Is this just another of those awful rumors or is it true?" The columnist assured Mrs. R.T. of the truth, revealing she wasn't the only one wondering, and also sharing big news for Bob Denver fans in mourning:
"**This is one of the most persistent rumors our mailbag has ever had.** Bob Denver is hale and hearty and will be seen as the star of his own series next season titled Gilligan's Island."
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I know Reddit tends to skew young - I'm much too young to have seen the show in question when it was new myself - but is there anyone here who was alive in the early '60s or knows somebody who was? It'd be interesting to see if anyone remembers this. Remembers being surprised to see him alive playing Gilligan a few years later. That sort of thing.