Sherwood Schwartz, Brady Bunch & Gilligan’s Island Creator, Dead at 94

A Hollywood Icon, creator of the most enduring shows of my youth, Sherwood Schwartz died today at the age of 94 in Los Angeles. Creator of The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island, Schwartz was a legend. He died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by his loving family and wife Mildred.

Schwartz was a native of New Jersey that relocated to Southern California and began his career in show biz by writing jokes for Bob Hope’s radio show. His brother, Al Schwartz worked for the show and got his brother his big break. From there, he wrote for many other radio shows before making the move into television. He won an Emmy Award in 1961 as a writer for comedian Red Skelton. This success led to his biggest breakthrough of all when he created Gilligan’s Island in 1964. The show only ran a few short years, but it still in syndication world wide. The show was heavily panned by critics, but Schwartz always maintained that he “wrote for audiences, not critics.” We are glad he did.

In 1969, he created the iconic show The Brady Bunch. It ran until 1974, and again, is still in syndication world wide. This show too was panned by critics, but the audience loved the innocent nature by which this show followed a family growing up in the 70′s. I have to say, this was by far one of my favorite shows growing up.

His other notables include writing for My Favorite Martian in 1963, Producer and Writer for Harper Valley PTA and Together We Stand. Schwartz was honored in 2008 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. An Icon, a legend, he will be missed.