Iconic TV role: Alan Hale, Jr.

One of those long-time character actors who has had more roles than Domino's has delivered pizzas, Alan Hale, Jr. is nevertheless tightly identified with only one of those roles: the Skipper on that silliest of sitcoms, "Gilligan's Island."

Hale was born into the acting business; both parents worked as Hollywood actors. The senior Hale might be recalled as Little John opposite Errol Flynn in "Robin Hood."

After serving in the Coast Guard during World War II, Hale Jr. began acting in some of Gene Autry's Western movies. In the early 1960s, he also played on TV in "The Andy Griffith Show."

Celebrity was his, however, as Jonas Grumby, better known as The Skipper, on "Gilligan's Island," which ran from 1964 to 1967 and thereafter continued to appear in re-run.

In that role, Hale portrayed the hulking yet benign captain of The Minnow and father figure to the bumbling Gilligan.

The burly Hale's many TV credits over the years include "The Texan," "JOhnny Ringo," "Cheyenne," "HAwaiian Eye," "Mister Ed," "Death Valley Days," "Perry Mason," "Rawhide," "Wagon Train," "Maverick," "77 Sunset Strip," "Route 66," Perry Mason," "Batman," "The Virginian," "Gunsmoke" and many, many other shows.

Hale owned a Hollywood restaurant in his later years. The veteran actor died of cancer in 1990 at age 68.