What Happened to Alan Hale Jr. After Gilligan’s Island? – Slash Film

Alan Hale, Jr. came. as a performer as part of his family’s legacy. His mother was the actress Gretchen Hartman who appeared in many films in the 1910s, and his father, Alan Hale (real name: Rufus Edward MacKahan) scored hundreds of credits in the silent era, usually as Errol Flynn’s trusted sidekick. . Hartman retired from acting in 1929, and Hale, Sr. continued. working until his death in 1950. Alan Hale, Jr. became appeared on screen as an infant for the first time, “starring” opposite his mother. Hale made his Broadway debut in 1931, when he was just 10 years old, appearing in a short-lived show called “Caught Wet” (it opened and closed in the same month). In 1933, Hale played an uncredited role in William Wellman’s depression-era drama “Wild Boys of the Road,” which may be the first film he would be recognized by a casual viewer.

Starring in 1941, Hale began his acting career in earnest, racking up six credits that year alone. Hale served in the Coast Guard from 1942 to 1945, but still managed to expand his performance résumé, and immediately returned to acting in 1947 when the war was over. He was in a few dozen more films in the late 40s before landing his first television gig, playing various roles in an episode of “The Gene Autry Show” in 1950. His first regular television gig came in 1952 when he was cast he as the title character. “Bill Barker, United States of America,” and he got another leading role in the 1957 series “Casey Jones.” There was never a time when Hale was not working.

It would not be until 1964, after hundreds of roles, that Hale would be cast as the Skipper in “Gilligan’s Island,” the hit sitcom about seven castaways stranded on a desert island. To this day, it remains Hale’s highest profile gig.

After “Gilligan’s Island” was canceled in 1967, Hale continued to work. Although many may only know him as the Skipper, he refused to be typecast, and remained a television staple for years to come.

Several of Hale’s “Gilligan’s Island” co-stars have been blessed and cursed by the success of the series. It is worth remembering that “Gilligan’s”, although it was widely watched, was critically lambasted, with some people finding that the series was the main example of a blemish on television. Bob Denver and Dawn Wells had great difficulty finding work after 1967 because they were too strongly attached to their parts.

Hale, probably because he was already twenty or thirty years a showbiz veteran, understood that a job was a job, and he never stopped auditioning for whatever roles came his way. In 1967, he turned up on “Batman,” playing a fun character named Gilligan. In fact, from 1967 to 1969, he appeared in the television versions of “Hondo,” in the Western “Hang ‘Em High,” and in episodes of “Daktari,” “Green Acres,” “The Flying Nun,” “The Wild Wild West,” “The Good Guys,” “Here Comes the Bride,” “The Virginian,” and “Land of the Giants.” It pays to be an easy-going character actor who is willing to put in the work. Think of a popular TV series in the 1970s or 1980s, and Hale may have been on it.

He was in “Ironside,” “Gunsmoke,” “Magnum PI,” “Murder She Wrote,” “The Love Boat,” “Growing Paint,” and “Simon & Simon.” That’s between all the TV movies, Afterschool Specials, and feature films.

In fact, Hale would continue to accumulate multiple TV and film credits each year until 1985, the only year he seems to have taken off. Here’s some fun trivia: Alan Hale played the Musketeer Porthos in both the 1952 film “At Sword’s Point,” and then again in the unrelated 1979 film “The Fifth Musketeer.”

Hale also wasn’t above returning to play Skipper when the franchise needed him. Hale returned for all the “Gilligan’s Island” spinoffs, including the animated “The New Adventures of Gilligan” and the bonkers “Gilligan’s Planet.” He was in the TV movies “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island,” “The Castaways of Gilligan’s Island” and “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island” in 1978, 1979, and 1981 respectively. Hale also returned to play the Skipper in an episode of “ALF” in 1987, where the titular alien imagines himself to be on Gilligan’s Island.

Hale was well known as the Skipper in various other projects. As mentioned, he played a character named Gilligan in “Batman,” but he also played a ship captain and other roles like Skipper in other projects. He played Captain Hale in a 1987 episode of “The New Gidget” (and if you remember “The New Gidget,” I’m sorry you didn’t have friends in high school). He also appeared in the 1987 Frankie Avalon / Annette Funicello throwback “Back to the Beach,” playing one character credited as “Bartender’s buddy.” Bob Denver, Gilligan himself, played the bartender in that film.

Hale’s final credit came in 1989, when he appeared in the low-budget horror film “Terror Night,” playing opposite Cameron Mitchell. The film was co-directed by the venerable André De Toth in his last directorial effort. By then, however, Hale was very ill with cancer of the thymus. The story goes that Hale received his diagnosis, but didn’t tell anyone, not even his wife. He didn’t realize he was sick until he got together at the “Gilligan’s Island” convention.

Hale died in 1990. He was 68. He was cremated, and his ashes sprinkled in the Pacific Ocean. A captain until the end.