Summer Fun: Remembering Gilligan’s Island

The Skipper Broke His Arm on Set but Didn’t Tell Anyone

We’re not sure the Skipper got away with this one, but it proves he was insanely dedicated to his job. One day during filming, Alan Hale broke his arm falling out of a coconut tree. He didn’t even mention it to the film crew because he didn’t want to disrupt filming. During the next scenes, he had to literally lift Gilligan and heavy coconuts with a broken arm.

Schwartz asked Hale, “How did you manage to heave coconuts and lift Bob Denver with a broken arm?” Hale replied, “It wasn’t easy.”