Sherwood Charles Schwartz, the creator of Gilligan’s Island and The Brady Brunch, died on July 12, 2011. Inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2008, Sherwood had a long and successful career in television.
Here are five facts you may not have know about the writer-producer:
STORY: Sherwood Schwartz, Creator of ‘Gilligan’s Island’ and ‘The Brady Bunch,’ Dies (Video)
1.Schwartz didn’t move to California for show business. He attended graduate school at the University of California, studying biological sciences.
2. As a starving graduate school student, Schwartz started writing jokes for Bob Hope’s radio show, where Schwartz’s brother, Albert, worked.
3. Schwartz originally intended for the character Carol Brady from the original 1969 TV series The Brady Bunch to be divorced from her first marriage, but the network made her a widow instead.
STORY: ‘Brady Bunch,’ ‘Gilligan’s Island’ Creator Sherwood Schwartz’s Posthumous Farewell Letter to Family, Fans
4. Schwartz’s nephew, Douglas Schwartz, also created a TV series, Baywatch. Douglas told the AP he considered his uncle a mentor and caring “second father” who helped guide him successfully through the industry.
5. At the time of his death, Schwartz was working a Gilligan’s Island film with his son, Lloyd Schwartz. Lloyd said that the film, which is for Warner Bros., will continue to be planned.
