"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" published 1886

A poster from the 1880s

Robert Louis Stevenson published his classic gothic horror novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, January 5, 1886 by publishers Longmans, Green & Co. It is one of the most famous and popular pieces of English literature and it continues to have a prolonged effect on popular culture.  

The story follows Gabriel Utterson, a legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange events in London.  

The story first appeared on stage in 1887 in Boston and was adapted to film in 1908. It has been produced, adapted, spoofed, and re-broadcast countless times since its publication.

Happy birthday, Mary Ann!

Dawn Wells, born October 18, 1938 in Reno, Nevada, is best known as Mary Ann Summers on everyone's favorite sitcom Gilligan's Island.  After graduating from Reno High School, she attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri where she graduated with a chemistry degree in 1960.  But in 1959, she was crowned Miss Nevada.

She made her television debut in 1961 in The Roaring Twenties, and landed the role of Mary Ann Summers in Gilligan's Island in 1964.  The rest is history.  In some ways, she's still marooned on that desert island.

She and Tina Louise, with whom she doesn't get along, are the only surviving cast members.

This is one of my favorite clips from the show.  How the writers managed to incorporate Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins into one skit, I'll always be amazed.