The Actor Behind The Gorilla On Gilligan’s Island Had A Key Role On Star Trek

It’s astonishing how many gorillas turned up on “Gilligan’s Island.” Gorillas are native to central, Western, and Eastern Africa, so it would be highly unlikely that one would organically find its way to the South Pacific, where Gilligan’s Island is likely located. Gorillas, however, were common fodder for 1960s comedy writers, and they were employed frequently. Or rather, actors in gorilla costumes were employed frequently, and created an absurd subset of ape tropes that we, as a culture, still haven’t fully and philosophically unpacked.

Apes were featured heavily in the “Gilligan’s Island” episodes “Diamonds Are an Ape’s Best Friend” (February 27, 1965), “Beauty Is as Beauty Does” (September 23), “The Chain of Command” (December 2), “Forward March” (February 17, 1966), and “Our Vines Have Tender Apes” (January 30, 1967). It was a profuse plethora of primate pransktership.

In all of the above cases, the apes were played by prolific Hollywood stuntman Janos Prohaska, an experienced Hungarian circus performer who started appearing in movies and on TV in the early ’60s. Prohaska was, for many years, Hollywood’s go-to ape performer, donning a series of silly-looking suits to play gorillas, chimps, and orangutans, all with commitment and enthusiasm. His first primate performance was playing a chimpanzee in a 1963 episode of “The Outer Limits.” He also played a few aliens on the same show, including a blob-like alien called the Mikie. In 1965, he played gorillas on both “The Lucy Show” (in the episode “Lucy and the Monkey”) and on “Perry Mason” (in the episode “The Case of the Grinning Gorilla”).

Trekkies, however, may know Prohaska from multiple episodes of the original “Star Trek.” Prohaska played several notable aliens and creatures on Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi classic, including the ape-like Mugato, the floor-crawling Horta, and the molten monster Yarnek.