Sherwood Schwartz
Sherwood Charles Schwartz (/ʃwɔːrts/ SHWORTS; November 14, 1916 – July 12, 2011) was an American television screenwriter and producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, but he now is best known for creating the 1960s television series Gilligan's Island on CBS and The Brady Bunch on ABC. On March 7, 2008, Schwartz, at the time still active in his 90s, was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[1] That same year, Schwartz was also inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.[2]
Early life
Schwartz was born in Passaic, New Jersey, to a Jewish family.[3] His parents were Herman and Rose Schwartz. He was a younger brother of writer Al Schwartz. His younger brother, Elroy Schwartz (1923–2013), a comedy writer, became a principal screenwriter for Gilligan's Island and other series.[4] Sherwood Schwartz is the uncle of Douglas Schwartz (who created the Baywatch TV series), Bruce Schwartz and Judithe Randall.
Career
Schwartz had hoped to become a doctor, but found that he was unable to be admitted to medical school at that time, due to a quota limiting the number of Jewish students.[5][6]
He went on to write for Ozzie Nelson's The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and other radio shows. Schwartz served in the United States Army for over four years. While serving, he was a writer on the Armed Forces Radio Network before he got his break in television. From 1956 to 1962, Schwartz was head writer for The Red Skelton Show, for which he won an Emmy Award in 1961. He went on to create and produce Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch. He wrote the theme song for three of his shows: Gilligan's Island (co-wrote), It's About Time, and The Brady Bunch.
Syndication turned his two major successes into TV institutions with cultural relevance. He made them icons and as a result became a television icon himself.[7]
TV appearances
During the late 1990s and the 2000s, he made many appearances on TV talking about his series, on shows such as the CBS Evening News, 20/20, TV Land's Top Ten and A&E's Biography. He also took part in a "Creators" marathon on Nick at Nite in the late 1990s.[8] He was also a guest at the 2004 TV Land Awards.
In 1988, Schwartz appeared on The Late Show with Ross Shafer for a Gilligan's Island reunion, along with all seven castaways from Gilligan's Island. This was the last time they were all together on television. He also appeared as himself in a 1995 episode of Roseanne titled "Sherwood Schwartz, A Loving Tribute", which also featured the four surviving "Gilligan's Island" cast members.
Personal life
On December 21, 1941, Sherwood Schwartz married Mildred Seidman, and together they had four children: Donald Schwartz, who became an ophthalmologist; Lloyd J. Schwartz, who worked with his father in show business as a writer and producer in his own right; Ross Schwartz, who became an attorney; and Hope Juber, a writer and producer. His granddaughter is singer-songwriter Ilsey Juber, the daughter of Hope and guitarist Laurence Juber, the former lead guitarist for the band Wings.
Sherwood Schwartz's play, Rockers, a comedy-drama, had a production at Theatre West in honor of his 90th birthday.
Death
- American television producer Sherwood Schwartz dies aged 94
On July 12, 2011, Sherwood Schwartz died of natural causes in his sleep.[9]
Portrayals
Schwartz was portrayed by Aaron Lustig in the TV movie Surviving Gilligan's Island and by Michael Tucker in Growing Up Brady.
Filmography
Schwartz produced a number of radio and TV shows during his career.
Series | Years | Job |
---|---|---|
The Bob Hope Show | 1938–1942 | Writer for radio version |
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet | 1940s | Writer for radio version |
The Alan Young Show | 1940s | Writer for radio version |
I Married Joan | 1952–1955 | Writer |
The Red Skelton Show | 1956–1962 | Writer |
My Favorite Martian | 1963 | Script supervisor |
Gilligan's Island | 1964–1967 | Writer, creator, producer |
It's About Time | 1966–1967 | Writer, creator, producer |
The Brady Bunch | 1969–1974 | Writer, creator, producer |
Dusty's Trail | 1973–1974 | Writer, creator, producer |
Big John, Little John | 1976 | Producer |
Harper Valley PTA | 1981–1982 | Writer, producer |
Together We Stand | 1986–1987 | Writer, producer |
Stage productions
In 1990, he wrote Gilligan's Island: The Musical, still in production as of 2011. His son Lloyd, daughter Hope, and son-in-law Laurence Juber worked on the play as well. [citation needed]
On November 10, 2006, his play Rockers opened in Theatre West in California. The play concerns the lives of three women living in a retirement home. The cast included Pat Crawford Brown, Lee Meriwether, and Elsa Raven.
Unsold pilots
He wrote and executive produced two unsold television pilots:
- Scamps (1982)—starring Bob Denver, Dreama Denver, and Joey Lawrence
- The Invisible Woman (1983)—starring Alexa Hamilton, Bob Denver, and Harvey Korman
Awards
- Won the 1961 Emmy Award for his writing on The Red Skelton Show.
- Was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his 2004 special Still Brady After All These Years
- On March 7, 2008, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Actresses Dawn Wells and Florence Henderson, who appeared in Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, respectively, accompanied Schwartz when he received his star. Also present was Patrick Denver, son of actor Bob Denver from Gilligan's Island, and Christopher Knight and Susan Olsen, the child stars of The Brady Bunch.
- Was also inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2008.
References
- ^ "Brady Bunch & Gilligan's Island Creator Receives Hollywood Walk of Fame Star". TV Series Final. March 7, 2008. Archived from the original on March 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ "Honorees". Television Academy.
- ^ Bloom, Nate (December 19, 2006). "The Jews Who Wrote Christmas Songs". InterfaithFamily.com. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- ^ "Elroy Schwartz, TV writer, dies at 89". The Desert Sun. 2013-06-17. Archived from the original on 2024-05-26. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
- ^ "Sherwood Schwartz: The Med-School Reject Who Created 'Gilligan's Island'". 4 March 2014.
- ^ "Sherwood Schwartz Interview / TVparty!". www.tvparty.com.
- ^ "'Gilligan's Island' & 'The Brady Bunch' Creator Dies". KHITS Chicago. July 13, 2011. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
- ^ "Sitcom producers pick favorites for Nick at Nite 15th anniversary". CNN. The Associated Press. 2000-07-28. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ "Sherwood Schwartz dies: Creator of TV's "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch" was 94". Washington Post. July 12, 2011.
External links
- Sherwood Schwartz in The Comedy Hall of Fame Archives
- An interview from 2011 with Sherwood Schwartz
- Sherwood Schwartz at IMDb
- Signature of Sherwood Schwartz from Here on Gilligan's Isle
- Sherwood Schwartz at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
- Sherwood Schwartz at Find a Grave
- v
- t
- e
- James Allardice & Jack Douglas & Hal Kanter & Harry Winkler for The George Gobel Show (1955)
- Arnold M. Auerbach & Barry Blitzer & Vincent Bogert & Nat Hiken & Coleman Jacoby & Harvey Orkin & Arnold Rosen & Terry Ryan & Tony Webster for The Phil Silvers Show (1956)
- No Award (1957)
- Billy Friedberg & Nat Hiken & Coleman Jacoby & Arnold Rosen & A.J. Russell & Terry Ryan & Phil Sharp & Tony Webster & Sydney Zelinka for The Phil Silvers Show (1958)
- George Balzer & Hal Goldman & Al Gordon & Sam Perrin for The Jack Benny Show (1959)
- George Balzer & Hal Goldman & Al Gordon & Sam Perrin for The Jack Benny Show (1960)
- Dave O'Brien & Martin Ragaway & Sherwood Schwartz & Al Schwartz & Red Skelton for The Red Skelton Show (1961)
- Carl Reiner for The Dick Van Dyke Show (1962)
- Carl Reiner for The Dick Van Dyke Show (1963)
- No Award (1964)
- No Award (1965)
- Sam Denoff & Bill Persky for "Coast to Coast Big Mouth" (1966)
- Buck Henry & Leonard B. Stern for "Ship of Spies: Parts 1 and 2" (1967)
- Allan Burns & Chris Hayward for "The Coming Out Party" (1968)
- No Award (1969)
- No Award (1970)
- James L. Brooks & Allan Burns for "Support Your Local Mother" (1971)
- Burt Styler for "Edith's Problem" (1972)
- Lee Kalcheim & Michael Ross & Bernie West for "The Bunkers and the Swingers" (1973)
- Treva Silverman for "The Lou and Edie Story" (1974)
- Stan Daniels & Ed. Weinberger for "Will Mary Richards Go to Jail?" (1975)
- David Lloyd for "Chuckles Bites the Dust" (1976)
- James L. Brooks & Allan Burns & Stan Daniels & Bob Ellison & David Lloyd & Ed. Weinberger for "The Last Show" (1977)
- Harve Brosten & Barry Harman & Bob Schiller & Bob Weiskopf for "Cousin Liz" (1978)
- No Award (1979)
- R.J. Colleary for "The Photographer" (1980)
- Michael J. Leeson for "Tony's Sister and Jim" (1981)
- Ken Estin for "Elegant Iggy" (1982)
- Glen Charles and Les Charles for "Give Me a Ring Sometime" (1983)
- David Angell for "Old Flames" (1984)
- Ed. Weinberger & Michael J. Leeson for "Pilot" (The Cosby Show) (1985)
- Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan for "A Little Romance" (1986)
- Gary David Goldberg & Alan Uger for "A, My Name is Alex" (1987)
- Hugh Wilson for "The Bridge" (1988)
- Diane English for "Pilot" (Murphy Brown) (1989)
- Bob Brush for "Good-bye" (1990)
- Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman for "Jingle Hell, Jingle Hell, Jingle All the Way" (1991)
- Elaine Pope & Larry Charles for "The Fix-Up" (1992)
- Larry David for "The Contest" (1993)
- David Angell & Peter Casey & David Lee for "The Good Son" (1994)
- Chuck Ranberg & Anne Flett-Giordano for "An Affair to Forget" (1995)
- Joe Keenan & Christopher Lloyd & Rob Greenberg & Jack Burditt & Chuck Ranberg & Anne Flett-Giordano & Linda Morris & Vic Rauseo for "Moon Dance" (1996)
- Ellen DeGeneres & Mark Driscoll & Dava Savel & Tracy Newman & Jonathan Stark for "The Puppy Episode" (1997)
- Peter Tolan & Garry Shandling for "Flip" (1998)
- Jay Kogen for "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz" (1999)
- Linwood Boomer for "Pilot" (Malcolm in the Middle) (2000)
- Alex Reid for "Bowling" (2001)
- Larry Wilmore for "Pilot" (The Bernie Mac Show) (2002)
- Tucker Cawley for "Baggage" (2003)
- Mitchell Hurwitz for "Pilot" (Arrested Development) (2004)
- Mitchell Hurwitz & Jim Vallely for "Righteous Brothers" (2005)
- Greg Garcia for "Pilot" (My Name Is Earl) (2006)
- Greg Daniels for "Gay Witch Hunt" (2007)
- Tina Fey for "Cooter" (2008)
- Matt Hubbard for "Reunion" (2009)
- Steven Levitan & Christopher Lloyd for "Pilot" (Modern Family) (2010)
- Steven Levitan & Jeffrey Richman for "Caught in the Act" (2011)
- Louis C.K. for "Pregnant" (2012)
- Tina Fey & Tracey Wigfield for "Last Lunch" (2013)
- Louis C.K. for "So Did the Fat Lady" (2014)
- Simon Blackwell & Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche for "Election Night" (2015)
- Aziz Ansari & Alan Yang for "Parents" (2016)
- Aziz Ansari & Lena Waithe for "Thanksgiving" (2017)
- Amy Sherman-Palladino for "Pilot" (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) (2018)
- Phoebe Waller-Bridge for "Episode 1" (2019)
- Dan Levy for "Happy Ending" (2020)
- Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky for "There Is No Line" (2021)
- Quinta Brunson for "Pilot" (Abbott Elementary) (2022)
- Christopher Storer for "System" (2023)
- Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky for "Bulletproof" (2024)