The Skipper is the title and nickname of Jonas Grumby, a fictional character from the 1960s situation comedy Gilligan's Island

Gilligan's Island

Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...

. Played by Alan Hale, Jr.

Alan Hale, Jr.

Alan Hale, Jr. was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Skipper on the popular sitcom Gilligan's Island. Hale was the lookalike son of popular supporting film actor Alan Hale, Sr....

, the Skipper (the character's actual name was rarely used after the show's pilot episode) was the owner and captain of the S. S. Minnow

S. S. Minnow

The S. S. Minnow is a fictional charter boat on the hit 1960s television sitcom Gilligan's Island.The ship ran aground on the shore of "an uncharted desert isle" , setting the stage for this popular situation comedy....

 on its "three-hour tour" in Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 when he, first mate Willy Gilligan

Gilligan (fictional character)

Gilligan is a fictional character played by Bob Denver on the 1960s TV show Gilligan's Island and its many sequels. It starred Bob Denver as "Gilligan", the bumbling, dimwitted, accident-prone crewman of the S.S. Minnow...

 (portrayed by Bob Denver

Bob Denver

Robert Osbourne "Bob" Denver was an American comedic actor known for his roles as Gilligan on the television series Gilligan's Island and the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 TV series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.-Early life:Denver was born in New Rochelle, New York, and raised in...

), and their tourist passengers were caught in a violent storm and stranded on a deserted island. He acts often in his legal role as the group's leader, albeit with a decidedly collegial and democratic bent; the only individual whom he routinely orders about is Gilligan. In times of crisis, the Skipper tends to defer to the more level-headed and educated passenger, Professor Roy Hinkley

The Professor (Gilligan's Island)

- External links :*...

 (portrayed by Russell Johnson

Russell Johnson

Russell David Johnson is an American television and film actor best known as "The Professor" on the CBS television sitcom Gilligan's Island...

). He is sort of a strongman succumbed to lack of exercise, despite doing most of the physical work on the island or making Gilligan do it. He is also the most superstitious castaway, sometimes putting him in conflict with the Professor's rationalistic ideology.

The Skipper is lovable but is irritated continually by the clumsiness and ineptitude of his "little buddy" Gilligan, despite that they are good friends. A running gag

Running gag

A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....

 is that whenever Gilligan messes up a rescue, the skipper conks Gilligan on the head with his hat; a variation of this gag is that whenever Gilligan is in a tree as a lookout and falls down, he usually lands on the Skipper.

In the 2003 book Gilligan's Wake

Gilligan's Wake

Gilligan's Wake is a 2003 parallel novel loosely based on the 1960s CBS sitcom Gilligan's Island from the viewpoints of the seven major characters, written by Esquire film and television critic Tom Carson....

(ISBN 0-312-29123-X), Esquire

Esquire (magazine)

Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...

film and television critic Tom Carson writes a backstory that the Skipper served with John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

 of the PT-109

Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109

PT-109 was a PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant, junior grade John F. Kennedy in the Pacific Theater during World War II...

 and McHale of McHale's Navy

McHale's Navy

McHale's Navy is an American television sitcom series which ran for 138 half-hour episodes from October 11,1962, to August 31, 1966, on the ABC network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated in a one-hour drama called Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962...

. The book was acclaimed critically, drawing comparisons to the works of Thomas Pynchon

Thomas Pynchon

Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...

. John F. Kennedy was also skipper of his boat, and the 1964 Gilligan's Island would follow the 1961 pilot episode

Television pilot

A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 of McHale's Navy, the 1962 series, and the 1963 movie PT 109

PT 109 (film)

PT 109 is a 1963 biographical film which depicts the actions of John F. Kennedy in command of Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 as an officer of the United States Navy during World War II. The movie was adapted by Vincent Flaherty and Howard Sheehan from the book PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II by...

as films about PT-sized boats that were shipwrecked with Navy sailors on board. Little was ever learned about his past, but in several episodes he mentions variously having several ships blown out from under him, and his veteran's status, implying that he'd served in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. One episode indicates the Skipper was a veteran of the Battle of Guadalcanal. In another episode he gets amnesia, and thinks he's on a covert mission behind enemy lines, mistaking the others to be Japanese soldiers, including Ginger, whom he mistakenly believes to be a ventriloquist. He claims to be the CO of the 177th Infantry Regiment, which is a U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 regiment, but whether that actually happened or was just a wish-fulfilling fantasy is open to debate, for later on in the series he says he was simply a cook. In one episode he claimed to have been a Navy Bandmaster and in another he claims to have been the best card player in the US Navy.

Before the producers settled for Alan Hale Jr., Carroll O'Connor

Carroll O'Connor

John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...

was considered for the role of the Skipper.