The Castaways of “Gilligan’s Island” might have been marooned for years, but they weren’t entirely cut off from civilization. Aside from the inexplicable number of visits they received from guests, there was their trusty Packard Bell model 8RT2 AM radio, which provided the stranded crew of the S.S. Minnow with a way to keep up with developments off the island. Throughout the show’s three seasons, the characters would get news and weather updates from the radio and would even listen to various shows to keep themselves occupied.
While most fans of the series will be just as familiar with the radio as they are with he cast, what they might not realize is that the Radio Announcer was played by a little-known character actor who went on to appear in an episode of “Star Trek.”
Charles Maxwell, mostly known for his appearances on Western TV series of the 1960s, provided the voice of the Radio Announcer in nine episodes of “Gilligan’s Island.” He was, of course, never actually seen, but his unmistakable tone delivering news from his Honolulu base was a big part of the series. Throughout the show’s 1964-67 run, the announcer reported on the disappearance of the Castaways, the arrest of criminal Jackson Farrell (played by voice actor Larry Storch), and the discovery of Jungle Boy, played by a young Kurt Russell.
While other announcers were heard throughout the series, Maxwell’s voice was the most consistent and familiar to viewers. Had they seen him in the flesh, however, they would have recognized him a year after “Gilligan’s Island” went off the air when he turned up in an episode of the original “Star Trek” series.
After Gilligan’s Island, Charles Maxwell played a gunslinger on Star Trek
By the end of Charles Maxwell’s career (he passed away in 1993 at the age of 79), the Radio Announcer on “Gilligan’s Island” was still his longest-running role. The trouble was, nobody really knew about it: Not only was Maxwell never seen on-screen, his contribution to the beloved sitcom — which was heavily syndicated in the years after its cancellation — went uncredited.
That’s not to say the actor struggled outside of “Gilligan’s Island.” Prior to playing the announcer, Maxwell forged a small but significant career as a bit player on multiple hit Western series including “Gunsmoke,” “The Texan,” “Lawman,” “Rawhide,” and “The Rifleman” and “Bonanza.” A year after “Gilligan’s Island” was cancelled by CBS in 1967, Maxwell joined his fellow former “Gunsmoke” actor, William Shatner, when he played the role of Virgil Earp in the 1968 “Star Trek” episode, “Spectre of the Gun.”
The Season 3 installment finds the U.S.S. Enterprise falling afoul of a telepathic species known as the Melkotians, who send Captain Kirk (Shatner) and the crew to a strange quasi-Old West where they’re fated to become involved in a re-enactment of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Maxwell’s Virgil Earp shows up in the surreal Western village as part of a trio that also includes Wyatt Earp (Ron Soble) and Morgan Earp (Rex Holman). As the big gunfight approaches, Kirk & Co. do everything they can to avert certain death, but nothing works until Spock (Leonard Nimoy) creates a gas grenade designed to knock out the Earps.
Spock is shocked to discover that his invention — of which the Professor on “Gilligan’s Island” would no doubt be proud — doesn’t work. This leads him to realize the fake Western world doesn’t conform to the laws of physics and ultimately uses his mind-meld to convince the crew members they can’t be harmed. When the gunfight ensues, the Enterprise team remains unfazed due to their belief in their invulnerability. Kirk then defeats Wyatt Earp in a fist fight and ultimately decides against killing his downed opponent. In the end, the entire bizarre escapade turns out to have been a test designed by the Melkotians to gauge Kirk and his crew’s morality. In reality, it was the perfect way to meld the sci-fi stylings of “Star Trek” with the still-popular Western genre. But it was also a nice way to showcase Maxwell’s acting talents after he’d spent three years playing an uncredited voice role on “Gilligan’s Island.”
