Creator of “Gilligan’s Island” and “Brady Bunch” Dies

“Gilligan little buddy come with me.”

By Rima Bek

Los Angeles, CA (Hollywood Today) 07/12/11—Sherwood Schwartz, a 94-year-old television producer and writer, best known for creating “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch” died on Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. His wife Mildred, whom he was married to for 70 years, told CNN that he had died after being hospitalized for an infection. Both she and their daughter were with him at the time.

Schwartz first started off in radio in 1938, landing a writing job for “The Bob Hope Show” and later on to “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” before he went into television.  He ended up writing for “The Red Skeleton Hour,” for which he received two Emmy Award nominations and took one award home. CBS started broadcasting “Gilligan’s Island” in 1964, while ABC aired “The Brady Bunch” between 1969 and 1974. Schwartz, in producing these two shows,  was also essentially responsible for making up the theme songs.

During a 1996 interview, Schwartz said the intention of “Gilligan’s Island,” was to send out this message: “It’s one world, and we all have to learn to live with each other.”

In 2008, Schwartz recieved a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his achievements.

Each of us is created with unique characteristics. We all are of different shapes and colors. We all have likes and dislikes. We all were born in environments and with different upbringings. We all have different beliefs.  But we are all part of this big world and need to learn to live in it with our fellow citizens.

Schwartz realized this and chose to bridge different sorts of individuals through the world of television. That’s what he will really be remembered for.