Alan Hale, Sr.
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Alan Hale Sr. (born Rufus Edward Mackahan, February 10, 1892-January 22, 1950) was an American movie actor and director, best known for his many supporting character roles, in particular as frequent sidekick of Errol Flynn. He was the father of lookalike actor Alan Hale Jr., best known as "the Skipper" on television's Gilligan's Island.
He was born in Washington, D.C.. His first film role was in the 1911 silent movie The Cowboy and the Lady. He played "Little John" in the 1922 film Robin Hood with Douglas Fairbanks and Wallace Beery, reprised the role sixteen years later in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone, then played Little John again in Rogues of Sherwood Forest in 1950 with Bo Derek's future husband John Derek as Robin Hood, 28 years after his initial performance in the original Fairbanks classic (this might be the longest period for any actor to appear in the same role in movie history). His other films include It Happened One Night (1934) with Clark Gable, the sound version of Stella Dallas (1937), High, Wide, and Handsome (1937), and he also appeared as the cantankerous Sgt. McGee in the 1943 movie This Is the Army. He directed eight movies during the 1920s and 1930s.
Hale's son Alan Hale, Jr. played the Skipper in Gilligan's Island on television, and the two blond and heavy-set actors closely resembled each other. Oddly, while the father had a long and extremely successful movie career as a supporting actor, his son might actually be seen by more people over time as the Skipper, his only major role aside from a few other television appearances.
Alan Hale died in Hollywood, California following a liver ailment and viral infection and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
