Alan Hale Jr.

Biography

The son of the great character actor (and Errol Flynn sidekick) Alan Hale, Alan Hale Jr. (he dropped the Jr. after his father passed away) was literally born into the movies. Hale did his first movie as a baby and continued to act until his death. Unlike other child actors, Hale made a smooth transition in the movies and starred in several classics like Up Periscope (1959), The Lady Takes a Flyer (1958) and The West Point Story (1950), as well as many westerns. He did a lot of television guest appearances as well before getting his role as The Skipper on the cult comedy Gilligan's Island (1964). After the show went off the air, Hale continued to act and even teamed up with Gilligan co-star Bob Denver in the The Good Guys (1968), a CBS-TV comedy that lasted only two years. After that ended, Hale kept busy acting in guest shots and maintained his business interests which included a restaurant and travel agency.