Alan Hale Jr.
Hale in 1959
Born	Alan Hale MacKahan (1921-03-08)March 8, 1921 Los Angeles, California
Died	January 2, 1990(1990-01-02) (aged 68) Los Angeles, California
Occupations	Actor restaurateur
Years active	1931–1988
Known for	Gilligan's Island as CaptainJonas Grumby (The Skipper) Casey Jones Rescue from Gilligan's Island The Castaways on Gilligan's Island The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
Military Service
Allegiance	United States
Service/ branch	United States Coast Guard
Years of service	1942–1945
Rank	Seaman
Battles / wars	World War II
Spouses	Bettina Reed Doerr ​ ​ (m. 1943; div. 1963)​ Naomi Grace Ingram ​ (m. 1964)​
Children	4
Parents	Alan Hale Sr. (father) Gretchen Hartman (mother)

Alan Hale Jr. (bornAlan Hale MacKahan; March 8, 1921 – January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur.^[1] He was the son of actorAlan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role as Captain Jonas Grumby, better known asThe Skipper, on the 1960s CBS comedy seriesGilligan's Island (1964–1967),^[1] a role he reprised in threeGilligan's Island television films and two spin-off cartoon series.

Hale appeared in more than 200 films and television roles from 1941. He appeared primarily in Westerns, portraying theSundance Kid inThe Three Outlaws (1956) oppositeNeville Brand asButch Cassidy, performing withKirk Douglas inThe Big Trees (1952),Audie Murphy inDestry (1954),Ray Milland inA Man Alone (1955),Robert Wagner inThe True Story of Jesse James (1957), andHugh Marlowe inThe Long Rope (1961). He also appeared in musical comedies oppositeDon DeFore inIt Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947),James Cagney inThe West Point Story (1950), andJudy Canova inHoneychile (1951). He also appeared on several talk and variety shows.

Alan Hale MacKahan was born inLos Angeles, California. His father was character actor Rufus Edward MacKahan, who used the stage name ofAlan Hale, and his mother was silent film actressGretchen 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.^[2] Hale Jr. was in the silent movies as a baby.

Hale served in theUnited States Coast Guard duringWorld War II.^[3] He dropped the "Junior" from his name after his father died in 1950.^[4]

In 1931, Hale made hisBroadway stage debut inCaught Wet. The play opened on November 4 and closed later that month. He made his screen debut inWild 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 inTo the Shores of Tripoli (1942),Yanks Ahoy (1943),Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (1946), andWhen Willie Comes Marching Home (1950). During the late 1940s and early 1950s, he frequently appeared inGene Autry films and also had a recurring role from 1950 to 1952 onThe Gene Autry Show.^[6]

By the early 1950s, Hale began to work in television. In 1952, he landed the starring role in CBS'sBiff Baker, U.S.A. (TV series). 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 asThe Range Rider (five times),Annie Oakley,Fireside Theater,Frontier,Matinee Theater,Fury,Northwest Passage, andThe 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 theWesternWanted Dead or Alive, he played a folksy rancher, Les Bridgeman, in "Hired Gun", an episode of theABC/Warner Brothers seriesCheyenne. Later that year Hale landed another starring role in thesyndicated television seriesCasey Jones, which lasted for thirty-two half-hour episodes before its cancellation in 1958. Then, from 1958 to 1960, he was cast in a recurring role onRory Calhoun's CBSWesternThe Texan. Hale also returned to the seriesCheyenne in 1960 to portray the character Tuk in the episode "Road to Three Graves".

Throughout the early 1960s, Hale continued in guest-starring roles on episodes ofGunsmoke,Bonanza,Rawhide,The Real McCoys,Mister Ed,Green Acres,Assignment: Underwater,Hawaiian Eye,Adventures in Paradise,Lock Up,The Andy Griffith Show,Lassie,Tales of Wells Fargo,Route 66 and 2 episodes ofHazel. He was featured in two episodes ofPerry 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".

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 includeThe Gunfighter (1950) withGregory Peck,At Sword's Point (1952) withCornel Wilde andMaureen O'Hara,The Man Behind the Gun (1953) withRandolph Scott,Silver Lode (1954) withJohn Payne andDan Duryea,The Sea Chase (1955) withJohn Wayne andLana Turner,The Three Outlaws (1956) withNeville Brand asButch Cassidy and Hale as theSundance Kid,The True Story of Jesse James (1957) withRobert Wagner asJesse James andJeffrey Hunter asFrank James,Up Periscope (1959) withJames Garner andEdmond O'Brien,Thunder in Carolina withRory Calhoun (1960),The Long Rope withHugh Marlowe (1961),Bullet for a Badman (1964) withAudie Murphy andDarren McGavin,Advance to the Rear (1964) withGlenn Ford andStella Stevens, andHang 'Em High (1968) withClint Eastwood.^[6]

In 1964, Hale won the co-starring role asthe Skipper on theCBS sitcomGilligan'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 showtypecast its actors, making it difficult for them to successfully pursue different roles. Hale did not mind being so closely identified with the Skipper.^[7] According to series creatorSherwood 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), andThe 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 andGilligan's Planet from 1982 to 1983. In 1987, Hale appeared as the Skipper in two unrelated sitcoms,The New Gidget with his childhood friend and classmateWilliam Schallert and former co-starBob Denver, and an episode ofALF with several former cast members. Also in 1987, Hale played a Skipper look-a-like taxi cab driver named J. Grumby onGrowing Pains. He also promotedGilligan's Island reruns onTBS, alongside Bob Denver. Denver and Hale also appeared as their characters at various promotional events.^[1]

After the end ofGilligan's Island, Hale continued his career in television. He guest-starred on several more series, includingThe Wild Wild West,Here Come the Brides,Batman,Land of the Giants,The Virginian,Here's Lucy,Marcus Welby, M.D.,The Paul Lynde Show,The Love Boat,Crazy Like a Fox andMurder, She Wrote.^{[citation needed]}

Hale performed as well in additional feature films during the 1970s and the 1980s. He starred inThe Giant Spider Invasion (1975) andAngels Revenge (1978). In 1983, Hale co-starred in comedy-drama filmHambone and Hillie, starringLillian Gish. The following year, he had a role in the comedyJohnny Dangerously and became a spokesman for a car dealership inVictoria, British Columbia.^[8] In 1987, Hale starred in the horror filmTerror Night. Later that same year, he made his final film appearance in a cameo role withBob Denver inBack to the Beach.

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 onLa 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.^[1]

Hale was married twice; his first marriage was on March 12, 1943,^{[3][better source needed]} in Hollywood to Bettina Reed Doerr, with whom he had four children: Alan Brian, Chris, Lana, and Dorian. The couple later divorced.^[4][9] In 1964, Hale married former singer Naomi Grace Ingram, to whom he remained married until his death.^[10][11]

Hale died on January 2, 1990, ofthymus cancer atSt. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles at age 68. His body was cremated, and his ashes were sprinkled into the Pacific Ocean.^[2][12] HisGilligan's Island co-starDawn 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 theHollywood Walk of Fame located at 6653 Hollywood Boulevard.^[13]

• Alan Hale Jr. atIMDb
• Alan Hale Jr. at theInternet Broadway Database
• Alan Hale Jr. at theTCM Movie Database
• Alan Hale Jr. atRotten Tomatoes
• Hale and his father

• Deaths from thymus cancer
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• 20th-century American businesspeople
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• Deaths from cancer in California
• Male actors from Los Angeles
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• United States Coast Guard enlisted
• United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II

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