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Stan Schklar from Nashville, TN had some interesting questions for Bob:
Hi Bob, Great Website! Gosh, I feel like I already know you! I have watched
Gilligan's Island for my whole life (42 yrs.) and feel like I know every episode by
heart. I was wondering if you sit down at night and watch the show on TV Land.
If so, does it bring back memories of actually doing the scenes? Also, do you sit
there with Dreama watching the show and say things like "gosh, it took us three
times to get that scene right because we were laughing so much." Finally, Did
you guys ever think GI would become such an American institution and that
you'd be entertaining people probably forever!
Bob: Great questions, Stan! When GI started its run on TV Land, Dreama and I
hadn't seen the show in a lot of years, so yes, we did sit down and watch quite a
few of the episodes together and yes, watching brought back some good memories,
especially of Alan, Natalie and Jim. To tell you the truth, some scenes are really
clear in my memory and others I can hardly remember at all. It's been 40 years, you
know, so the old memory gets a little foggy. Believe me, Dreama has heard all the
stories over the last 28 years, but that doesn't keep us from sharing some of them
anyway. It was a good time in my life, working with talented actors whom I
enjoyed on a personal level as well as on a professional level.
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David Spuria wonders about Alan's popularity:
"I have read and heard that the GI cast members all adored Alan Hale. Why was Alan
so well liked (if it was the case) and what was your relationship with Alan like?
Bob: Alan was exactly the kind of man you'd imagine he'd be while watching all the
episodes. He was a big teddy bear, a great guy to work with. He loved the show, loved
being the Skipper, loved the fans, loved everything about GI, including the cast. He
enjoyed a good joke, something that was evident everyday on the set as he and Jim
tried to top each other, telling jokes from morning 'til night. My relationship with Alan
was a close one and I considered him a great friend. Not only did we work together
everyday, but we also made many personal appearances together through the years.
He was just a great guy with an outgoing personality and a big zest for life.
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Bob gets quite a few emails, wondering about his relationship to John Denver.
Most of you who write to ask this question think that Bob and John were brothers.
The majority of you have made a wager with someone about this, so Bob and Dreama
thought it was time to set the record straight before anyone else loses big on this question.
Okay, here's the real scoop - Bob and John were not related. Actually, John's real name
wasn't even Denver, his given name was Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. He adopted the
name Denver because of his love for the Rocky Mountains. Bob's given name is Denver.
And both Bob and Dreama have always been big John Denver fans. You wouldn't
believe how many times Bob has been asked to sing Rocky Mountain High.
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Hi, Bob,
Greetings from Washington, Indiana! I'm a regular visitor to the website and I love it.
Of course, I love Gilligan's Island. My question, though is about two of your other series
which are rarely, if ever mentioned -- Spacenuts and Dusty's Trail. Do you have any fond
memories of these shows, or are these experiences you'd rather forget? I loved them both.
Zane Rudnik
Bob: Hey Zane! I have web pages here on the site devoted to both of the shows you
mention: if you haven't seen them, you should check them out. The truth is, these two
shows didn't run as long and weren't as succesful as "GI" and "Dobie", but I did enjoy
working on both of them. Chuck McCann and I only taped 16 episodes of Spacenuts,
believe it or not, which didn't take that long or provide enough time for making lots of
memories. But even though we didn't do that many episodes, Spacenuts has a very
loyal following, which is a nice surprise to me. The kids who grew up with it seem to
have fond memories of their Saturday mornings with the Far Out Space Nuts,
"Dusty's" was a little different. I mean, can you imagine living out your childhood
cowboy dreams everyday at work? Freckles, my horse in that show, was a pure
pro, very seasoned, having done lots of westerns. He understood 'action', 'cut' and
hitting his mark as well as any actor I worked with, believe me. And, of course,
Sherwood was the creator/producer, which made it very comfortable and familiar.
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He
llo sir. I have two questions to ask you. When you think back to making
Gilligan's Island,what do you remember most? What was your very favorite
part of making that show? I would greatly appreciate any answer from you.
Ben - Lee's Summit, Missouri
Bob: Ben, the thing I remember most is looking forward to reading the next week's
script. Each week we figured we had done the silliest script imaginable, then I'd read
the next script and marvel at the writers' ability to come up with even more silly plot
lines that we'd all enjoy doing. Which brings me to my answer for your second question -
one of my favorite parts of making GI was the physical humor. I loved doing the gags
and like I said, the writers came up with great ones every week. Never a dull moment!
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Wendy Bekx from Wisconsin: "In the last Gilligan movie made, Jim's poor health kept
him out of most of the movie, and he was replaced by the character of Thurston Howell IV.
I don't remember the mention of a son by the Howells in any GI episode. So where did
this sone come from? Was he Thurston & Lovey's son or one from a different marriage?"
Bob: The movie you ask about was "Harlem Globetrotters on GI", and it got messed up
pretty much from the start. The script was written with Thurston Howell carrying the
whole plot. It was HIS story, but when it came time to begin filming, Jim was much
too ill to work. At the very last minute, much too late to come up with a whole new
script, the easiest, quickest solution was to find another Thurston to carry the plotline.
Of course, Jim Backus was irreplaceable, so Thurston Howell IV was born. Believe me,
I never knew the Howells had a son either. David Ruprecht, the actor who had the unenviable task of replacing Jim, did a bang-up job as far
as the rest of the castaways were concerned! Working with Dreama in this movie made it especially fun for me.
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Bob Lee from Pratt, KS
.: Hey Bob! I just stumbled on the website and I think it's great!
My question to you is: Do you ever have regrets about taking the role of Gilligan & being
known as Gilligan throughout history? Do you feel like it hampered your acting career?
Bob: You know, Bob, I have never regretted taking the role of Gilligan, even though
the show did typecast all of us. When you've been part of a show that has made so
many people happy and continues to do so to this day, it's hard to resent it.
Besides that, I'm also known as Maynard, which means I say 'WORK?!?!' for fans
almost as much as I say 'Skipper!' No regrets - just good memories of working
with two extremely talented casts on both series!
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Jimmy wanted to know how the whole Gilligan experience began: "Hi, Bob,
I was just wondering how you got picked to play the part of Gilligan."
Bob: I was just coming off a successful run in the series "Dobie Gillis", where I played
a character called Maynard. Because of the success of that character, I was being
offered lots of different roles. I met with Sherwood Schwartz, the producer/creator of
Gilligan's Island, and read the script for the pilot episode, which really appealed to
my love of physical comedy. That's the role I chose and I've never regretted it!
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John Massey had a different, not often asked, question for Bob:
"Can you tell me the story behind Gilligan's famous shirt? Why were the
style and color selected? Was there any significance to it?"
Bob: John, I wish I could say there was a real significance to my red shirt, but the fact
is, it was just a shirt I liked. The wardrobe person and I spent a lot of time looking at
hundreds of shirts all over LA and when I saw the one that has become so famous, I
knew it was the one. It was a red rugby shirt without the white collar - the white collar
was sewn on by the wardrobe department. Of course, red was a color I liked, but quite
honestly, the color didn't matter because in those days the show was in black & white.
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Mike Gibson had a GI question that involved one of the saddest
times in our nation's history:
"Is it true the pilot was filmed in Hawaii
on the day JFK was killed?"
Bob: The pilot for Gilligan's Island began shooting on the island of Kauai
the third week of November in 1963, so, yes, we were filming on the day
JFK was assassinated. The weirdest part was having no access to television
on the island in those days - the hotel had no TV and, of course, there were
no TVs on location at Moloaa Bay. We got the news that the president had
been shot from a limo driver, who heard it on the limo's radio. Production
shut down temporarily while we waited for news. Unlike millions of
Americans, who spent the next four days glued to their television sets,
our cast didn't see one bit of news coverage. Hearing news like that while
working in paradise was totally unreal, to say the least, and made it next
to impossible to believe the assassination had actually happened.
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Bill Green from Tennessee asked this about residuals: "I've heard that
casts from old shows don't get paid royalties for the reruns. Is this true?"
Bob: Unfortunately, for those of us starring in series up until the early part of the 70's,
that's very true. Our cast was paid off for reruns of Gilligan by 1968, which means
none of us has seen a penny in close to 40 years. Believe me, had we known about
mass syndication, videos, TV Land, cable, etc., we would have made better deals.
These days a successful series sets you up for life (think "Friends", "Frasier",
"Seinfeld", "ER" - the list goes on), but that wasn't true in the 60's!
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