Sherwood Schwartz, who created two of the most popular sitcoms of the ’60s and ’70s, “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch”, died Tuesday in Los Angeles of natural causes, surrounded by his family. He was 94.
Not only did Schwartz send the passengers and crew of the Minnow on a 3-hour tour, that lasted from 1964 to 1967, but he also wrote the Gilligan’s theme song.
He did the same for the 1969-74 Brady Bunch, about a widow and a widower with a lot of kids – and a sagacious housekeeper.
And while critics threw bricks at both shows, the public loved them.
A 1966 news story in the Los Angeles Times served as his inspiration, Schwartz recounted the story read, “In the year 1965, more than 29% of all marriages included a child or children from a previous marriage.”
Said Sherwood: “I knew instinctively that statistic was the key to a new and unusual TV series. It was a revelation! The first blended family! His kids and her kids! Together!”
Schwartz also wrote the gimmicky but memorable My Favorite Martian, in 1963.
Besides son Lloyd, Sherwood Schwartz is also survived by his wife of 69 years, Mildred Schwartz, and sons Don Schwartz and Ross Schwartz, and daughter Hope Juber, who reportedly was named for Bob Hope.
