Alan Hale Jr.

Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; March 8, 1921 – January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur.[1][2] He was the son of character actor Alan Hale Sr.[1] His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his co-starring role as Captain Jonas Grumby (The Skipper) on the 1960s series Gilligan's Island. He also appeared on several talk and variety shows.

Alan Hale Jr.
Alan Hale Jr. in 1959
Born	Alan Hale MacKahan March 8, 1921 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	January 2, 1990 (aged 68) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, restaurateur
Years active	1931–1988
Known for	Gilligan's Island as Captain Jonas Grumby (The Skipper)
Spouse(s)	Bettina Reed Doerr ​ ​ (m. 1943; div. 1963)​ Naomi Grace Ingram ​ (m. 1964)​
Children	4
Parents	Alan Hale Sr. (father) Gretchen Hartman (mother)

Hale appeared in more than 200 films and television roles from 1941. He appeared primarily in Westerns, performing with Kirk Douglas in The Big Trees (1952), Audie Murphy in Destry (1954), Ray Milland in A Man Alone (1955), Robert Wagner in The True Story of Jesse James (1957), Hugh Marlowe in The Long Rope (1961), and Sheriff Jones in The Giant Spider Invasion (1975). He also appeared in musical comedies opposite Don DeFore in It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947), James Cagney in The West Point Story (1950), and Judy Canova in Honeychile (1951). He achieved continuing success on the CBS comedy Gilligan's Island (1964–1967), playing the secondary lead role of the Skipper. Hale reprised the role of Skipper in three Gilligan's Island television films and two spin-off cartoon series.

Early life

Alan Hale MacKahan was born in Los Angeles, California on March 8, 1921.[1] His father was character actor Rufus Edward MacKahan,[1] who used the stage name of Alan Hale, and his mother was silent film actress Gretchen Hartman.[1] His father appeared in more than 235 films and had a successful screen career, both as a leading man in silent films and as a supporting actor in sound movies.[3] Hale Jr. was in the silent movies as a baby.

Hale served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II.[1] He dropped the "Junior" from his name after his father died in 1950.[4]

Career

Hale and Celeste Holm in Follow the Sun (1961)

In 1931, Hale made his Broadway stage debut in Caught Wet. The play opened on November 4 and closed later that month. He made his screen debut in Wild Boys of the Road which was released in 1933. Although his role was deleted from that film's final release, he still received screen credit for his performance.[5] He later appeared in roles in To the Shores of Tripoli (1942), Yanks Ahoy (1943), Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (1946), and When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950). During the late 1940s and early 1950s, he frequently appeared in Gene Autry films and also had a recurring role from 1950 to 1952 on The Gene Autry Show.[6]

By the early 1950s, Hale began to work in television. In 1952 he landed the starring role in CBS's Biff Baker, U.S.A., but the series was canceled in 1954. He continued his career on the small screen by appearing in guest spots on a variety of other series, such as The Range Rider (five times), Annie Oakley, Fireside Theater, Frontier, Matinee Theater, Fury, Northwest Passage, and The Man from Blackhawk.

The year 1957 proved to be an especially busy one for Hale on television series. In addition to performing the role of Shawnee Bill on the Western Wanted Dead or Alive, he played a folksy rancher, Les Bridgeman, in "Hired Gun", an episode of the ABC/Warner Brothers series Cheyenne, with Clint Walker in the title role. Later that year Hale landed another starring role in the syndicated television series Casey Jones, which lasted for thirty-two half-hour episodes before its cancellation in 1958.[7] Then, from 1958 to 1960, he was cast in a recurring role on Rory Calhoun's CBS Western The Texan. Hale also returned to the series Cheyenne in 1960 to portray the character Tuk in the episode "Road to Three Graves".[7]

Throughout the early 1960s, Hale continued in guest-starring roles on episodes of Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Rawhide, The Real McCoys, Mister Ed, Assignment: Underwater, Hawaiian Eye, Adventures in Paradise, Lock Up, The Andy Griffith Show, Lassie, Tales of Wells Fargo, Route 66 and Hazel. He was featured in two episodes of Perry Mason, first as murderer Lon Snyder in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Unwelcome Bride", and then in 1963 as Nelson Barclift in "The Case of the Bouncing Boomerang".[7]

Despite his growing commitment to roles on television, Hale throughout the 1950s and into 1960s continued his work in supporting roles in feature films. Some of those include The Gunfighter (1950), At Sword's Point (1952), The Man Behind the Gun (1953), Silver Lode (1954), The Sea Chase (1955), The Three Outlaws (1956), The True Story of Jesse James (1957), Up Periscope (1959), Thunder in Carolina (1960), The Long Rope (1961), Bullet for a Badman (1964), Advance to the Rear (1964), and Hang 'Em High (1968).[6]

Gilligan's Island

In 1964, Hale won the co-starring role as the Skipper on the CBS sitcom Gilligan's Island. The series aired for a total of 98 episodes from 1964 to 1967. His character proved to be the most prominent role of Hale's career, as the show continued in reruns. The popularity of the show typecast its actors, making it difficult for them to successfully pursue different roles. Hale did not mind being so closely identified with the Skipper.[8] According to Sherwood Schwartz, he often visited children in hospitals dressed as the Skipper.

Hale reprised the role of the Skipper in three television films, Rescue from Gilligan's Island (1978), The Castaways on Gilligan's Island (1979), and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island (1981). He also voiced the Skipper in two cartoon versions of the series, The New Adventures of Gilligan from 1974 to 1977 and Gilligan's Planet from 1982 to 1983. Hale also appeared as the Skipper in two unrelated sitcoms, The New Gidget in 1987 and ALF in 1989. He also promoted Gilligan's Island reruns on TBS, alongside Bob Denver. Denver and Hale also appeared as their characters at various promotional events.[9]

Dawn Wells said in a 2014 interview on CRN.com with Larry and Nancy Manetti, when asked if Alan Hale Jr. was the consummate professional of the Gilligan's Island series: "Well, that is so interesting, because Alan Jr. and his father looked so much alike, you don't know, who was who. His father did all the Errol Flynn ... I used to say to Alan, 'How was it growing up in a household, with all those movie stars?' Alan was absolutely, the consummate professional, wonderful gentleman, jovial, never complained ... he was the exact same size of my dad. Every time he picked me up and hugged me, I thought he was my father, he was my dad." Wells also responded to the question if she ever went to her acting mentor's restaurant (that Hale once owned in Los Angeles): "It was a lobster house on La Cienega Blvd., and he would greet you with his sea hat on, as you can.... but that was after the show; and he had his friend, Anthony, there, with some good food, too." The last question asked of Dawn was if Gilligan's Island, was nearly his (Hale's) show: "No, no... as a matter of fact, it was interesting when you go back and find the people that they should thought say the other characters, and I understand Alan was doing a movie in Utah and they wanted to bring him to audition and he couldn't get a flight out, so ... he hitchhiked, hitchhiked on the highway and then, he came in to audition."[10] After the show's cancellation, and until Hale's death, Wells not only stayed in touch with him but they were also frequently neighbors. After Hale's mother Gretchen died in 1979 the friendship between Hale and Wells grew closer.

Later years

After the end of Gilligan's Island, Hale continued his career in television. He guest-starred on several more series, including The Wild Wild West, Here Come the Brides, Land of the Giants, The Virginian, Here's Lucy, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Paul Lynde Show, The Love Boat and Crazy Like a Fox.

Hale performed as well in additional feature films during the 1970s and the 1980s. He starred in The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) and Angels Revenge (1978). In 1983, Hale co-starred in comedy-drama film Hambone and Hillie, starring Lillian Gish. The following year, he had a role in the comedy Johnny Dangerously and became a spokesman for a car dealership in Victoria, British Columbia. In 1987, Hale starred in the horror film Terror Night. Later that same year, he made his final film appearance in a cameo role with Bob Denver in Back to the Beach. Also in 1987, he reprised his role as the Skipper on The New Gidget with his childhood friend and classmate William Schallert and Bob Denver, and on an episode of ALF.

Other ventures

In addition to acting, Hale co-owned Alan Hale's Lobster Barrel, a restaurant he opened in the mid-1970s. The Lobster Barrel was located on La Cienega Boulevard on Los Angeles's Restaurant Row. According to Hale's agent, Hale was "phased out" of the business in 1982. He later opened Alan Hale's Quality and Leisure Travel office.[9]

Personal life

Hale was married twice; his first marriage was on March 12, 1943[1] in Hollywood[1] to Bettina Reed Doerr,[1] with whom he had four children: Alan Brian, Chris, Lana, and Dorian. The couple later divorced.[4][11] In 1964, Hale married former singer Naomi Grace Ingram, to whom he would remain married until his death.[12][13]

Death

Hale died on January 2, 1990, of thymus cancer at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles at age 68. His body was cremated, and his ashes were sprinkled into the Pacific Ocean.[3][14] His Gilligan's Island co-star Dawn Wells was in attendance, representing the surviving members of the cast.

For his contribution to the television industry, Alan Hale Jr. has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6653 Hollywood Boulevard.[15]

Stage career

Date	Production	Role
1931	Caught Wet	Brewster
1934–1935	Small Miracle	George Nelson
1935	Ceiling Zero	Tay Lawson
1937	Red Harvest	Private Breen
1940	The Scene of the Crime	Bob Hanley
1952	Hook n' Ladder	Mr. Gilkens

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1933	Wild Boys of the Road	One of the Boys	Uncredited
1941	I Wanted Wings	Cadet	Uncredited
1941	Dive Bomber	Pilot Trainee	Uncredited
1941	All-American Co-Ed	Tiny
1942	To the Shores of Tripoli	Tom Hall
1942	Eagle Squadron	Olsen
1942	Rubber Racketeers	Red
1943	No Time for Love	Union Checker	Uncredited
1943	Watch on the Rhine	Boy	Uncredited
1946	Monsieur Beaucaire	Courtier	Uncredited
1946	Sweetheart of Sigma Chi	Mike Mitchell
1947	It Happened on Fifth Avenue	Whitey Temple
1947	The Spirit of West Point	Oklahoma Cutter
1948	Homecoming	Military Policeman	Uncredited
1948	One Sunday Afternoon	Marty
1949	It Happens Every Spring	Schmidt
1949	Rim of the Canyon	Matt Kimbrough
1950	The Blazing Sun	Ben Luber
1950	The Gunfighter	Brother
1950	Kill the Umpire	Harry Shea	Uncredited
1950	The Underworld Story	Shaeffer, Durham Warehouse Thug
1950	The West Point Story	Bull Gilbert
1951	Home Town Story	Slim Haskins
1951	Honeychile	Joe Boyd
1952	The Big Trees	Tiny
1952	Springfield Rifle	Mizzell
1952	At Sword's Point	Porthos Jr.
1952	Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie	George Oliphant
1953	The Man Behind the Gun	Cpl. Olaf Swenson
1953	Captain John Smith and Pocahontas	Fleming
1954	Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl	Jay Simpson
1954	Rogue Cop	Johnny Stark
1954	Destry	Jack Larson
1954	Young at Heart	Robert Neary
1955	The Sea Chase	Wentz
1955	A Man Alone	Acting Sheriff Jim Anderson
1956	The Indian Fighter	Will Crabtree
1956	The Killer Is Loose	Denny	1956 Canyon River -Cattle hand character
1957	Battle Hymn	Mess Sergeant
1957	The True Story of Jesse James	Cole Younger
1957	All Mine to Give	Tom Cullen
1958	The Lady Takes a Flyer	Frank Henshaw
1959	Up Periscope	Lt. Pat Malone
1960	Thunder in Carolina	Buddy Schaeffer
1962	The Iron Maiden	Paul Fisher
1963	The Crawling Hand	Sheriff Townsend
1964	Advance to the Rear	Sgt. Beauregard Davis
1964	Bullet for a Badman	Leach	Alternative title: Renegade Posse
1968	Hang 'Em High	Matt Stone, Cooper Hanging Party
1970	Tiger by the Tail	Billy Jack Whitehorn
1970	There Was a Crooked Man...	Tobaccy
1975	The Giant Spider Invasion	Sheriff Jones
1979	The North Avenue Irregulars	Harry, the Hat
1979	Angels Brigade	Manny	Alternative titles: Angels Revenge Seven from Heaven
1979	The Fifth Musketeer	Porthos
1983	Hambone and Hillie	McVickers
1984	The Red Fury[16]	Doc Kaminsky
1984	Johnny Dangerously	Desk Sergeant
1987	Terror Night	Jake Nelson	Alternative title: Bloody Movie
1987	Back to the Beach	Bartender's Buddy

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950–1952	The Gene Autry Show	Tiny – Sidekick	9 episodes
1953	Man Against Crime	Lt. Olmstead	Episode: "Hide and Seek"
1952–1954	Biff Baker, U.S.A.	Biff Baker	26 episodes
1955	The Public Defender	Sparky Albright	Segment: "The Hitchhiker"
1955	Stage 7	Herb 'Bad News' Loftus	Episode: "The Traveling Salesman"
1955	Navy Log	Beartracks	Episode: "The Pollywog of Yosu"
1956	The Red Skelton Show	Muldoon	Episode: "Cookie Returns"
1956	Screen Directors Playhouse	Bowen	Episode: "A Ticket for Thaddeus"
1957	The Millionaire	Bill "Buffalo" Walker	Episode: "The Professor Amberson Adams Story"
1957	The Alcoa Hour	Red Regan	Episode: "The Animal Kingdom"
1957	Cheyenne	Les Bridgeman	Episode: "Hired Gun"
1957–1958	Casey Jones	Casey Jones	32 episodes
1958	Northwest Passage	Sam Beal	Episode: "The Red Coat"
1958	Wanted: Dead or Alive	Dan Poe	Episode: "Passing of Shawnee Bill"
1958–1960	The Texan	Sculley	6 episodes
1959	Bat Masterson	Bailey Harper	Episode: "A Personal Matter"
1959	Bonanza	Swede Lundberg	Episode: "The Saga of Annie O'Toole"
1959	The Untouchables	Big Bill Phillips	Episode: "Tri-State Gang"
1960	The Alaskans	Hap Johnson	Episode: "Partners"
1960	Shotgun Slade	Sheriff Sloan	Episode: "Lost Gold"
1960	Maverick	Captain Jim (US Marshal)	Episode: "Arizona Black Maria"
1960	Cheyenne	Tuk	Episode: "Road to Three Graves"
1961	The Jack Benny Program	McGuire	Episode: "Jack Goes to Gym"
1961	The Real McCoys	Harry Keller	Episode: "Season 5 Ep 2: The Trailer Camp"
1961	Hawaiian Eye	Big Mac McConnel	Episode: "Dragon Road"
1961	Adventures in Paradise	Captain Arthur Butcher	2 episodes, "Captain Butcher" and "The Serpent in the Garden"
1961	Gunsmoke	Jake Higgins	Episode: "Minnie"
1961	Rawhide	Lucas	Episode: "The Woman Trap"
1961	Perry Mason	Lon Snyder	Episode: "The Case of the Unwelcome Bride"
1962	The Andy Griffith Show	Jeff Pruitt	Episode: "The Farmer Takes a Wife"
1962	Wagon Train	Kirby	Episode: "The Lonnie Fallon Story"
1962	Follow the Sun	Charlie	Episode: "The Irresistible Miss Bullfinch"
1962	Maverick	Big Jim Watson (as Alan Hale)	Episode: "The Troubled Heir"
1963	77 Sunset Strip	Baxter	Episode: "Tarnished Idol"
1963	Empire	Fletcher	Episode: "The Convention"
1963	The Lucy Show	Fire Academy instructor	Episode: "Lucy Puts Out a Fire at the Bank"
1963	Perry Mason	Nelson Barclift	Episode: "The Case of the Bouncing Boomerang"
1964	The New Phil Silvers Show	Charlie	Episode: "Pay the Two Dollars"
1964	My Favorite Martian	Omar M. Keck	Episode: "The Disastro-Nauts"
1964–1967	Gilligan's Island	Jonas Grumby (The Skipper)	98 episodes
1966	Gunsmoke	Bull Bannock	Episode: "Champion of the World"
1967	Batman	Gilligan	Episode: "The Ogg and I" Uncredited
1967	Hondo	Ben Cobb	Episode: "Hondo and the Death Drive"
1968	The Wild Wild West	Ned Brown	Episode: "The Night of The Sabatini Death"
1968	Daktari	Big Joe Wonder	Episode: "African Showdown"
1969	Green Acres	Sheriff	Episode: "A Prize in Every Package"
1969	The Flying Nun	Uncle Reggie Overton Perkins	2 episodes
1969	The Good Guys	Big Tom	3 episodes
1970	The Andersonville Trial	The Board of Military Judges	Television movie
1970	Here's Lucy	Moose Manley	Episode: "Lucy and Wally Cox"
1970	Ironside	Laurence Drescher	Episode: "The People Against Judge McIntire"
1971	Alias Smith and Jones	Andrew J. Greer	Episode: "The Girl in Boxcar #3"
1971	The Doris Day Show	Charlie Dinser	Episode: "Have I Got a Fellow for You!"
1971	O'Hara, U.S. Treasury		Episode: "Operation: Moonshine"
1972	Gunsmoke	Dave Chaney	Episode: "Jubilee"
1973	McMillan & Wife	Port Captain	Episode: "The Fine Art of Staying Alive"
1974–1975	The New Adventures of Gilligan	The Skipper (Voice)	24 episodes
1975	The Wonderful World of Disney	Cholly	2 episodes
1978	Rescue from Gilligan's Island	The Skipper	Television movie
1979	The Castaways on Gilligan's Island	The Skipper	Television movie
1979	ABC Weekend Special	Mayor	Episode: "The Revenge of Red Chief"
1979	The Littlest Hobo	Harry	Episode: "Stand-in"
1979	The Love Boat	Jack Tigue	Episode: "The Harder They Fall"
1980	Fantasy Island	Judge Winston	Episode: "Rogues to Riches/Stark Terror"
1981	The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island	The Skipper	Television movie
1982	The Love Boat	Gus Dolan	Episode: "Meet the Author"
1982–1983	Gilligan's Planet	The Skipper (Voice)	13 episodes
1983	Matt Houston	Rawson Harmon IV	Episode: "The Yacht Club Murders"
1986	Murder, She Wrote	Fenton Harris	Episode: "Trial by Error"
1986	Magnum, P.I.	Russell Tate	Episode: "All Thieves on Deck"
1987	Simon & Simon	Silk McNabb	Episode: "For Old Crime's Sake"
1987	ALF	Skipper Jonas Grumby	Episode: "Somewhere Over the Rerun"
1987	Growing Pains	The Cabbie	Episode: "This Is Your Life"
1988	The Law & Harry McGraw	Herb Loftus	Episode: "Gilhooey's Is History"

References

1. "Alan Hale (Jr.) MacKahan & Bettina Reed Doerr Marriage Certificate". Familysearch.org.
2. "U.S. Census 1940". Familysearch.org.
3. Flint, Peter B. (January 4, 1990). "Alan Hale Jr., Who Was Skipper on 'Gilligan's Island,' Dies at 71". The New York Times. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
4. "Alan Hale's Resemblance To His Father Confusing". The Washington Reporter. June 8, 1965. p. 8. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
5. Aaker, Everett (2006). Encyclopedia Of Early Television Crime Fighters: All Regular Cast Members In American Crime and Mystery Series, 1948–1959. McFarland. p. 246. ISBN 0-7864-2476-1.
6. "Alan Hale Jr.", Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner, New York, N.Y. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
7. "Alan Hale Jr.", Internet Movie Database (IMDb), a subsidiary of Amazon, Seattle, Washington. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
8. Largo, Michael (2007). The Portable Obituary: How the Famous, Rich, and Powerful Really Died. HarperCollins. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-06-123166-7.
9. Lee, John H. (January 4, 1990). "Alan Hale Jr., 68; Skipper on TV's 'Gilligan's Island'". latimes.com. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
10. "PM Show with Larry Manetti - CRN". Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
11. Thomas, Nick (2011). Raised by the Stars: Interviews with 29 Children of Hollywood Actors. Mcfarland. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7864-6403-6.
12. Shain, Percy (November 21, 1965). "Stars Palsy-Walsy On Gilligan's Isle". Boston Globe. p. B35.
13. "Alan Hale Jr., Gillian's big buddy, dies". Ocala Star-Banner. January 4, 1990. p. 2A.
14. "Actor Alan Hale Jr., Gilligan's Skipper". The Vindicator. January 3, 1990. p. 34. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
15. Lee, John H. (January 4, 1990). "Hollywood Star Walk: 6653 Hollywood Blvd". latimes.com. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
16. "The Red Fury (1984)". New York Times. Retrieved December 13, 2013.

External links

• Alan Hale Jr. at IMDb
• Alan Hale Jr. at the Internet Broadway Database
• Alan Hale Jr. at the TCM Movie Database
• Alan Hale Jr. at AllMovie
• Alan Hale Jr. at Find a Grave
• Hale and his father