What are the characters' (not actors') real names on Gilligan's Island?

April 14, 2004 7:47 AM

Sorry is this has been asked before, but what were the *real* character names on Gilligan's Island. Not the actors names (Bob Denver, Alan Hale, et.c), but the non-nickname names of the skipper, Gilligan, Professor,etc. I seem to remember that the Skipper's name was something like Jonas Grumby....
posted by jimbler to Grab Bag (14 answers total)

here ya go
posted by GeekAnimator at 7:54 AM on April 14, 2004

So, as far as the show was concerned, Gilligan had but a single name. No other name was ever associated with character within the context of the series, and whether 'Gilligan' was his given name or his surname was never established. Some conceptual material for the series did make reference to the name 'Willy Gilligan,' which indicates that Gilligan's Island creator Sherwood Schwartz did give some consideration to a full name for the character, and that 'Gilligan' was once considered as being a surname. However, that full name was apparently one of the many details that never made it past the conceptual stage and into the show. Moreover, when Sherwood Schwartz later explained how he came to choose the characters' names, he made it clear that 'Gilligan' had to have been the character's first name, because the Howells were the only characters ever referred to by their last names

Gilligan has no last name because he is the archetypal trickster, sent from the Gods. Had he and Mary Ann coupled, their godling offspring would have ruled the island for a thousand years.
posted by mecran01 at 8:00 AM on April 14, 2004 [1 favorite]

Off the top of my head, spellings may be incorrect or just plain wrong:

Willie Gilligan (never mentioned on the show, but I think one of the writers said it off the air once)

Skipper Jonas Grumby

Thuston and Lovell Howell

Ginger Grant

Professor Roy Hinkley

Mary Ann Sommers
posted by bondcliff at 8:01 AM on April 14, 2004

I'm wondering, how did google fail you in this instance?
posted by milovoo at 8:27 AM on April 14, 2004

Response by poster: milovoo, a confession: I didn't use Google because a) I'm a lazy, lazy man b) I was curious to see how fast this site "works" for lazy guys like me (7 minutes) and c) I wanted to get the commentary from a generally smart, funny audience:

"Gilligan has no last name because he is the archetypal trickster, sent from the Gods. Had he and Mary Ann coupled, their godling offspring would have ruled the island for a thousand years"

I'm sure Google would have worked just fine, as your links show. But, this site is really, really useful too. And, honestly, it offers a better likelihood of generating some new wacky insights than using Google. Plus, people are funnier than Google.
posted by jimbler at 9:11 AM on April 14, 2004

a confession: I didn't use Google because a) I'm a lazy, lazy man b) I was curious to see how fast this site "works" for lazy guys like me (7 minutes) and c) I wanted to get the commentary from a generally smart, funny audience:


Personally, I want to see

(d) how fast this thread gets called out to MetaTalk (if it does at all). Such a blatant failure to Google before posting really is the cardinal sin of AskMe, but calling out a thread on a subject as trivial as Gilligan's Island has a high probability of highlighting the ease with which some MeFites call out threads for the most trivial of reasons, or because they don't personally believe the thread should belong on their idea of MeFi/AskMe. It is a dastardly trap, jimbler, and the insouciance with which you flaunt the nature of your deed is merely the evil icing on a cake of pure wickedness! I admire your cunning, even as I am horrified by your motiveless malignity.
posted by Prospero at 10:15 AM on April 14, 2004

jimbler: I'd like to go on record as saying that I utterly dislike your (ab)use of AskMe.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:48 AM on April 14, 2004

trivial as Gilligan's Island

Bite your tongue. Nothing is less trivial than Gilligan's Island. Except for the eternal question of what Ward Cleaver did for a living. Nobody's ever been able to answer that to my satisfaction.
posted by jonmc at 4:31 PM on April 14, 2004

Mrs. Howell's maiden name was Wentworth.
posted by thomcatspike at 4:46 PM on April 14, 2004

In the highly trivial category, the main character in the show The Greatest American Hero was named Ralph Hinkley. In one episode, there is some discussion about his father who was a college professor who was lost on a cruise. You connect the dots.
posted by plinth at 5:59 PM on April 14, 2004

plinth : >
posted by amberglow at 6:22 PM on April 14, 2004

Except for the eternal question of what Ward Cleaver did for a living.

He sold insurance. (I have watched way, way, way too much Nick at Night.)
posted by dejah420 at 8:43 PM on April 14, 2004

In the highly trivial category, the main character in the show The Greatest American Hero was named Ralph Hinkley. In one episode, there is some discussion about his father who was a college professor who was lost on a cruise. You connect the dots.

And in the even highlier-trivial category, the character's name was changed to Ralph Hanley without explanation when another Hinckley shot President Reagan.

If there were only a way to dump worthless trivia like this from my brain, I'd have room to learn Japanese.
posted by mmoncur at 3:57 AM on April 15, 2004

Also interesting is Gilligan, Maynard & Me, Bob Denver's book about his two big roles.
( I guess "far out space nuts" doesn't count - and hey, if you want trivia,
try to name those characters without looking it up )
posted by milovoo at 9:11 AM on April 15, 2004