Gilligan's Island's Alan Hale Hid A Set Injury From The Cast And Crew For Weeks
Alan Hale is probably best known for playing Jonas Grumby, a.k.a. The Skipper, on the 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island." He was, however, an experienced stage and TV performer prior to "Gilligan's," having made his Broadway debut in 1931 in a play called "Caught Wet." Hale also appeared in over 50 films before 1964, across all genres and budgets. He had a recurring role on "The Gene Autry Show" and played the title characters on "Biff Baker, U.S.A." and on "Casey Jones." He was in single episodes of most of the hit Western TV shows of the 1950s and '60s. When it came time to play The Skipper, Hale was wholly dedicated to the role, trying to be as funny as possible.In the world of adventure TV, Hale was a major presence and a consummate professional.
Hale was so professional, in fact, that he once refused to report a personal injury to the staff of "Gilligan's Island" for fear of throwing off the show's shooting schedule.
According to the book "Inside Gilligan's Island," written by show creator Sherwood Schwartz, Hale once suffered a rather serious accident that Schwartz had to call out. While Schwartz doesn't list the name of the episode, there was a stunt that Hale had to perform sometime partway through the show's first season that required him to fall out of a tree. Evidently, Hale missed the crash pad and landed on his wrist, breaking it. Schwartz described Hale as one of those "the show must go on" actors, who will continue to act, even through injury. It wouldn't be until many weeks later that Schwartz would notice that Hale's wrist was swollen.
Who knew "Gilligan's Island" was so dangerous?
'It wasn't easy'
When Schwartz finally asked Hale about his wrist, he received a simple yet shocking answer. "'Oh, I broke it a few weeks ago," Hale said. It was his sense of professionalism that prevented Hale from reporting his injury. It seemed he just wanted to take care of his arm himself. This was during the season one wrap party, mind you, so Hale had been filming with a broken wrist for weeks. Schwartz recalled asking "How did you manage to haul coconuts and lift Bob Denver with a broken arm?" Hale just replied, "It wasn't easy." Ouch. It was then that Hale was taken immediately to the doctor and outfitted with a cast up to his elbow. From what I have been able to gather, Hale made a full recovery.
This wasn't the only time Hale got injured on set either. In the episode "Angel on the Island" (December 12, 1964), the castaways agree to fund a future stage play as a favor to Ginger (Tina Louise), an actress who misses performing. In one scene, Gilligan (Bob Denver) carries a bamboo ladder over his shoulder, clumsily bumping into things in his own inimitable fashion. He eventually stumbles right into the Skipper's face, and all the rungs of the ladder snap over his neck. To achieve the slapstick stunt, the rungs on the bamboo ladder were sliced to break away.
Sadly, the cuts were made at an angle, causing one of them to break into a pointed shape. The ladder poked into Hale's ear, cutting him. A handy video essay by Rick Nineg contains more details about the injury, as well as on-set photos showing that Hale was indeed wearing a bandage on his ear.
Hale suffered for his art. We should appreciate his sacrifices.