Alan Hale

In 1962, Alan appeared in an installment of The Andy Griffith Show as Jeff Pruitt, a rough, backwoods bachelor who comes to Mayberry to find a wife. In the episode, he more than once refers to actor Don Knotts' character, Barney Fife, as "little buddy," a nickname Hale would later put to use while performing as his most popular and beloved character, The Skipper, on the CBS television sitcom Gilligan's Island (1964-1967). Not only did "little buddy" become the nickname for actor Bob Denver's Gilligan character, Alan also made it Denver's off set nickname as well.