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How Alan Hale, Jr. discovered Gilligan was a global phenomenon
That's some big reach from such a tiny island!
How does one measure fame? Is it in terms of recognizability? Can you quantify that? Maybe it's measurable in the dollar amount of merchandise sold. Or maybe it's a box office figure. Perhaps fame can be measured in geography: On which land masses will people know a given star?
For the cast of Gilligan's Island, fame was an international trait. What started as a black-and-white curiosity quickly became one of the most iconic and identifiable shows in TV history, and not just in the States. That red sweater and white bucket hat had worldwide renown, as did the show's supporting cast.
Alan Hale, Jr. was no stranger to fame even before he was the Skipper on Gilligan's Island. He'd found success as an actor, showing up in bit parts on loads of TV series. He was Jeff Pruitt, the farmer, on an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. He was the title star in the series Casey Jones. He guest-starred in more Westerns than you could shake a lasso at. But even before all of those, Hale was no stranger to fame because of his famous dad. But all that paled in comparison to the fame he'd find as Skipper.
In a 1979 interview with Biloxi, Mississippi Sun, Hale, Jr. spoke about when he knew his fame had crossed borders, bringing him a kind of global stardom he'd never dreamed was possible.
"In Beirut, I was trying to get off a plane, and a young soldier with a machine gun looked at me. He put the gun across the ladder, and he looked up again and broke into a big smile and said 'Skipper, please, do not come ashore.' It was a long way home at 3:30 in the morning and I didn't even have my cap on, yet he knew me immediately.
"Then I went to Thailand and I was in the airport and I heard this 'Hey, Skipper!' I turned around and there was a young Thai boy with a bunch of little girls, all waving and saying, 'Hi, Skipper!' It delights me to know that I will never be alone in the world, and the delight that shows on people's faces is a very gratifying thing."
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