Bette Davis Once Pranked Alan Hale Jr. On The Gilligan's Island Set

Alan Hale, Jr., by all reports, loved playing the Skipper on "Gilligan's Island." He was always an entertainer at heart, having inherited his line of work from his father. Alan Hale, Sr. was already well-known in 1920s Hollywood and had made many famous friends. This will pertain to the headline in a moment.

Critics infamously panned Sherwood Schwartz's popular sitcom, but "Gilligan's Island" was widely celebrated by its many fans. The series was imminently unserious, never bothering to explore the horrifying trials of surviving on an uncharted desert isle, and focusing instead on broad characters and wacky slapstick antics. The cast of "Gilligan's Island" have posited that the show's popularity was due to its silliness. In a hectic world, "Gilligan's Island" was a balm of idiocy. Whatever the magical alchemy, the show became popular around the world, and it entrenched itself deep into the American consciousness. For a spell, the cast of "Gilligan's Island" was the most famous in the world. 

The Academy Award-winning actress Bette Davis was not unfamiliar with the show. This was a time when TV was considered a "lesser" medium than film, and big movie stars would rarely deign to show up on a TV show, no matter how popular it may have been. It was only when a film actor was desperate for money that they would be on TV; Davis herself once "stooped" to appear on an episode of "Gunsmoke." And, just for fun, she once visited the set of "Gilligan's Island," just to visit Alan Hale, Jr. It seems that Davis knew Hale's father from the 1934 movie "Fog Over Frisco," and wanted to pay her friend's son a surprise visit. The amusing encounter was detailed by the North Adams Transcript, handily transcribed by MeTV.

The story goes that Davis asked to visit the set of "Gilligan's Island" and was able to do so because she had an "in." Not only was Davis friends with Alan Hale, Sr., but she was also close with a man named Tom Keegan, who worked as Hale's stand-in back in the 1930s. Keegan, as it happened, also served as Alan Hale, Jr.'s stand-in on "Gilligan's Island." There is even an amusing story in the Transcript article about how Davis, back in 1934, once mixed up Keegan with Hale, Jr. who — a young man of 23 at the time — was visiting his father on set. 

Keegan was able to sneak Davis onto the set during a filming day. The story goes that she was waiting on set when Hale entered. She loudly announced, "I'm shipwrecked too, Mr. Hale!" Oh, the fun they had. Davis never appeared on "Gilligan's Island," but there's something very human in her awareness of it. 

Hale was interviewed for the same article, and he noted that "Gilligan's Island" was so huge that there were frequent visitors to the set, usually in large numbers. Hale even quibbled: 

"It's a fun show. No one takes it seriously. There's always a gag about something. They say Bob Hope's sets attract the biggest gallery of studio visitors, but I doubt that now. I think our galleries are bigger. We should have a sign outside the set reading, 'Disneyland Annex.'" 

Hale was, of course, merely alluding to crowd sizes, and not anything subtle about the Disney corporation. He would continue to celebrate "Gilligan's Island" until his death in 1990, wearing the Skipper hat to live events, and was happy to shake fans' hands. He was buried at sea and was even offered an official burial by the United States Coast Guard, a body he once served. He lived a long, jolly, happy life.