The Skipper
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- See main article: Gilligan's Island
The Skipper is the title and nickname of Jonas Grumby, a fictional character from the hit 1960s sitcom Gilligan's Island. Played by Alan Hale, Jr., the Skipper was the captain of the S.S. Minnow on its "three hour tour" in Hawaii when he, first mate Gilligan (played by Bob Denver), and their tourist passengers were caught in a violent storm and stranded on a deserted island. He often acts as leader until times of crisis when he usually defers to The Professor.
The Skipper is lovable but is continually irritated by the clumsiness and ineptitude of his "little buddy" Gilligan, despite the fact that they are good friends. Though Gilligan is usually devoid of any malicious intent, the Skipper is occasionally the butt of his weight jokes.
In the 2003 book Gilligan's Wake (ISBN 0-312-29123-X), Esquire film and television critic Tom Carson writes a backstory that the Skipper served with John F. Kennedy of the PT-109 and McHale of McHale's Navy. The book was critically acclaimed, drawing comparisons to the works of Thomas Pynchon. John F. Kennedy was also skipper of his boat, and the 1964 Gilligan's Island would follow the 1961 pilot episode of McHale's Navy, the 1962 series, and the 1963 movie PT 109 as movies about PT-sized boats that were shipwrecked with Navy sailors onboard. Little was ever learned about his past, but in several episodes he variously mentions having several ships blown out from under him, and his veterans status, implying that he'd served in WWII. In another episode he gets amnesia, and thinks he's on a covert mission behind enemy lines, but whether this actually happened or was just a wish fulfilling fantasy is open to debate, for later on in the shows run he says he was simply a cook.
