Alan MacKahan (went by the stage name Alan Hale, Jr.) was born on March 8, 1921, in Los Angeles, California. He worked as an actor beginning as a child from 1931 until he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard at the Coast Guard Recruiting Station, San Francisco, California, on September 15, 1942. MacKahan attended basic training at Coast Guard Training Station Alameda, California, from September to October 1942, and then served as a Port Security Specialist with the Captain of the Port Battalion, San Francisco, from October 1942 to April 1944. SP(PS)2c MacKahan next attended Fire School and Port Security School at Coast Guard Training Station Fort McHenry, Maryland, from April to May 1944, followed by service as a Port Security Specialist and Guard at Coast Guard Barracks, San Francisco, from May to November 1944. He served with the Fire Boat Detail and then Permanent Detail at Coast Guard Training Station Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn, New York, from November 1944 to September 1945, and he then transferred to San Francisco where he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard on October 5, 1945. After leaving active duty, he returned to his acting career with the name Alan Hale, Jr., from 1945 to 1988. His most famous role was as The Skipper on the television series Gilligan's Island from 1964 to 1967, and in a series of television films from 1978 to 1981. Alan Hale died on January 2, 1990, and he chose to have his remains cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.