Sherwood Schwartz
13 years 4 months ago #1
by riada
Nor but in sleep findeth a cure for care.
Incertainty that once gave scope to dream
Of laughing enterprise and glory untold,
Is now a blackness that no stars redeem.
Sherwood Schwartz was created by riada
Sherwood Charles Schwartz (November 14, 1916 – July 12, 2011) was an American television producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, and created the 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.
Schwartz's entertainment career came "by accident." He relocated from New York to southern California to pursue a master of science degree in biology. In need of employment, he began writing jokes for Bob Hope's radio program, for which Schwartz's brother, Al Schwartz, worked. Schwartz recalled that Hope "liked my jokes, used them on his show and got big laughs. Then he asked me to join his writing staff. I was faced with a major decision — writing comedy or starving to death while I cured those diseases. I made a quick career change."
He went on to write for Ozzie Nelson's The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and other radio shows. He was a writer on the Armed Forces Radio Network before he got his break in television. 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. Actresses Dawn Wells and Florence Henderson, who appeared in Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, respectively, accompanied Schwartz when he received his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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. 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; actors Jim Backus, Alan Hale Jr., Natalie Schafer, and Bob Denver have since died, leaving only three surviving actors from the show.
Schwartz was born in Passaic, New Jersey to a Jewish family.
In his 1988 book, Inside Gilligan's Island, Schwartz mentions he did not get along well with Red Skelton. In his early years as head writer, it was in his contract that Schwartz would not have to meet face-to-face with Skelton.
On July 12, 2011, Sherwood Schwartz died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Mildred Schwartz and their four children: Donald, Lloyd (the creator of The Munsters Today), Ross, and Hope (Mrs. Juber; reportedly named after Bob Hope).
JULY 15...
Bert Convy – Actor/Game Show Host
Dana Hill – Actress (European Vacation)
Rudolph Schildkraut – Actor (A Ship Comes In)
Bobby Day – Singer
Florence Halop – Actress (St. Elsewhere)
Henry Kolker – Actor (Bluebeard)
Benny Rubin – Actor (Here Comes Mr. Jordan)
William Selig – Producer (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
Lawrence Tibbett – Actor (New Moon)
Guy Wilkerson – Actor (Death Valley Days)
Eunice Woodruff – Silent Film Actress (Virtuous Sinners)
David Brian – Actor (Intruder in the Dust)
Margaret Lockwood – Actress (Justice)
Elizabeth Welch – Actress (Song of Freedom)
1933 - Irving Babbitt, US writer (Democracy & Leadership), dies at 67
1933 - Freddie Keppard, American musician (b. 1890)
1937 - Walter Gay, artist, dies
1939 - Johon Mellanby, physiologist, dies
1939 - Percy Scott Worthington, architect, dies
1940 - Donald Calthrop, dies at 52
1940 - Robert Wadlow, world's tallest man (8'11.1"), dies at 32
1947 - Henry Kolker, dies at 76
1947 - Walter Donaldson, American songwriter (b. 1893)
1948 - John J Pershing, [Black Jack], US general (Mexico, WW I), dies at 87
1957 - George Cleveland, actor (Grampa-Lassie), dies at 74
1957 - James M. Cox, American politician (b. 1870)
1957 - Vasily Maklakov, Russian orator and liberal politician (b. 1869)
1958 - Julia Lennon, John Lennon's mother dies in a car accident
1959 - Ernest Bloch, Swiss/US composer (Macbeth), dies at 78
1965 - Francis Cherry, American politician (b. 190
1969 - Peter Van Eyck, dies after long illness at 56
1971 - Guy Wilkerson, dies of cancer at 71
1974 - Christine Chubbuck, television news reporter (b.1944)
1975 - Charles Weidman, US dancer/choreographer (Fables for Our Time), dies
1976 - Paul William Gallico, writer, dies at 78
1980 - Eddie Jackson, comedian (Jimmy Durante Show), dies at 84
1980 - Henri Martelli, composer, dies at 85
1982 - Wendy Caulfield, 1st Green River victim, found near Seattle
1982 - Bill Justis, American musician and producer (b. 1926)
1983 - Eddie Foy Jr, actor (Eddie-Fair Exchange), dies of cancer at 78
1986 - Benny Rubin, actor/comedian (Benny Rubin Show), dies at 87
1986 - Billy Haughton, American harness driver and trainer (b. 1923)
1987 - Alfie Bass, actor (Moonraker, Are You Being Served), dies at 66
1988 - Eleanor Estes, author (Ginger Pye, Moffats), dies at 82
1990 - Alison Leggatt, actress (Day of Triffids, Cows), dies at 86
1990 - Margaret Mary Lockwood, actress (Man in Grey, Wicked Lady), dies at 73
1990 - Troy Dixon, rapper (Trouble T-Roy of Heavy D), dies at 22 of a fall
1993 - David Brian, US actor (Damned Don't Cry, Fort Worth), dies at 78
1993 - Bobby Kent, alleged Florida bully murdered by his friends (b. 1973)
1995 - Eddie J Bush, golf professional, dies at 83
1995 - Willie George "Bill" Woodruff Sr, vocalist, dies at 6
1997 - Alan Chaig, paleontologist (Carl Sagan of BBC), dies at 70
1997 - Gianni Versace, designer, shot to death by Andrew Cunanan at 50
2003 - Tex Schramm, American football team president and general manager (b. 1920)
2006 - Robert H. Brooks, founder of Hooters of America (b. 1937)
2008 - Gyorgy Kolonics, Hungarian canoeist, Olympics medalist. (b. 1972)
2010 - James E. Akins, American diplomat and advisor to Richard Nixon (b. 1926)
JULY 14...
1908 - William Mason, composer, dies at 79
1954 - Jackie Saunders, American silent screen actress (b. 1892)
1965 - Adlai Stevenson, US amb to UN/pres candidate (D, 1952, 56), dies
at 76
1970 - Preston S Foster, actor (Waterfront, Gunslinger), dies at 69
1973 - Clarence White, guitarist (Byrds), killed by a car
1974 - Carl A Spaats, 1st chief of staff of USAF, dies at 83
1974 - Carl Spaatz, American Air Force general (b. 1891)
1975 - Zutty Singleton, US jazz drummer, dies at 77
1979 - George De Witt, TV host (Name that Tune), dies at 56
1982 - George Amadee Tremblay, composer, dies at 71
1984 - Al Schacht, [Clown prince of baseball], baseball player, dies at 91
1984 - Kenny Delmar, comedian (School House), dies at 74
1984 - Philippe Wynne, US soul singer (I'll Be Around), dies at 43
1984 - Ernest Tidyman, American writer (b. 192
1986 - Raymond Loewy, US industrial designer, dies at 92
1995 - Michael Naylor, insurance broker, dies at 59
1996 - Frederick Angus Armstrong, journalist, dies at 82
1996 - Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge, physicist, dies at 91
1996 - Kim Besly, activist, dies at 69
1996 - Jeff Krosnoff, CART driver (b. 1964)
1998 - Richard McDonald, American fast food pioneer (b. 1909)
2000 - William Roscoe Estep, American Baptist historian (b. 1920)
2000 - Meredith MacRae, American actress (b. 1944)
2005 - Joe Harnell, American musician, composer and arranger (b. 1924)
2010 - Gene Ludwig, American jazz organist (b. 1937)
July 13...
1922 - Martin Dies, American politician (b. 1870)
1946 - Alfred Stieglitz, US photographer/art dealer (Camera Work), dies at 82
1951 - Arnold Schoenberg, Austria/US composer (Verklärte Nacht), dies at 76
1955 - Beulah Ecton Woodard, US sculptor, dies at 59
1955 - Ruth Ellis, last English woman (murderess), executed by hanging
1960 - Joy Gresham, American writer (b. 1915)
1973 - Lon Chaney Jr, actor (Hawkeye, Pistols 'n' Petticoats), dies at 67
1973 - Martian Negrea, composer, dies at 80
1976 - Max Butting, composer, dies at 87
1976 - Frederick Hawksworth, GWR Chief mechanical engineer. (b. 1884)
1979 - Corine Griffith, dies at 84
1980 - Seretse Khama, 1st president of Botswana, dies
1982 - Edith Heerdegen, dies at 69
1982 - John Alexander, actor (Alien PI), dies at 85
1988 - Huub Bals, Dutch film promotor, dies at 51
1988 - Samuel L Mendel, oldest US war veteran, dies at 104
1990 - Lois Moran Young, dies of cancer at 81
1991 - Cor Ria Leeman, Flemish (youth)writer, dies
1992 - Alex Wojciechowicz, NFLer (Philadelphia Eagles), dies at 76
1993 - Davey Allisson, race car drive, dies in a plane crash at 32
1993 - Edwin "Rick" Bakker, author (Rick's Report/AIDS Diary), dies at 31
1994 - Eddie Boyd, blues vocal/pianist, dies at 79
1994 - Robert Michael Payton, pizza magnate, dies at 50
1995 - Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish toy manufacturer (Lego Group) (b. 1920)
1996 - Joyce Buck, actress/interior designer, dies at 71
1996 - Pandro S Berman, film producer, dies at 91
1996 - Walter Hassan, engineer, dies at 91
2003 - Compay Segundo, Cuban musician (b. 1907)
2004 - Arthur Kane, American musician (b. 1949)
2006 - Red Buttons, American comedian (b. 1919)
2010 - George Steinbrenner, American businessman and owner of the New York Yankees (b. 1930)
Schwartz's entertainment career came "by accident." He relocated from New York to southern California to pursue a master of science degree in biology. In need of employment, he began writing jokes for Bob Hope's radio program, for which Schwartz's brother, Al Schwartz, worked. Schwartz recalled that Hope "liked my jokes, used them on his show and got big laughs. Then he asked me to join his writing staff. I was faced with a major decision — writing comedy or starving to death while I cured those diseases. I made a quick career change."
He went on to write for Ozzie Nelson's The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and other radio shows. He was a writer on the Armed Forces Radio Network before he got his break in television. 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. Actresses Dawn Wells and Florence Henderson, who appeared in Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, respectively, accompanied Schwartz when he received his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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. 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; actors Jim Backus, Alan Hale Jr., Natalie Schafer, and Bob Denver have since died, leaving only three surviving actors from the show.
Schwartz was born in Passaic, New Jersey to a Jewish family.
In his 1988 book, Inside Gilligan's Island, Schwartz mentions he did not get along well with Red Skelton. In his early years as head writer, it was in his contract that Schwartz would not have to meet face-to-face with Skelton.
On July 12, 2011, Sherwood Schwartz died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Mildred Schwartz and their four children: Donald, Lloyd (the creator of The Munsters Today), Ross, and Hope (Mrs. Juber; reportedly named after Bob Hope).
JULY 15...
Bert Convy – Actor/Game Show Host
Dana Hill – Actress (European Vacation)
Rudolph Schildkraut – Actor (A Ship Comes In)
Bobby Day – Singer
Florence Halop – Actress (St. Elsewhere)
Henry Kolker – Actor (Bluebeard)
Benny Rubin – Actor (Here Comes Mr. Jordan)
William Selig – Producer (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
Lawrence Tibbett – Actor (New Moon)
Guy Wilkerson – Actor (Death Valley Days)
Eunice Woodruff – Silent Film Actress (Virtuous Sinners)
David Brian – Actor (Intruder in the Dust)
Margaret Lockwood – Actress (Justice)
Elizabeth Welch – Actress (Song of Freedom)
1933 - Irving Babbitt, US writer (Democracy & Leadership), dies at 67
1933 - Freddie Keppard, American musician (b. 1890)
1937 - Walter Gay, artist, dies
1939 - Johon Mellanby, physiologist, dies
1939 - Percy Scott Worthington, architect, dies
1940 - Donald Calthrop, dies at 52
1940 - Robert Wadlow, world's tallest man (8'11.1"), dies at 32
1947 - Henry Kolker, dies at 76
1947 - Walter Donaldson, American songwriter (b. 1893)
1948 - John J Pershing, [Black Jack], US general (Mexico, WW I), dies at 87
1957 - George Cleveland, actor (Grampa-Lassie), dies at 74
1957 - James M. Cox, American politician (b. 1870)
1957 - Vasily Maklakov, Russian orator and liberal politician (b. 1869)
1958 - Julia Lennon, John Lennon's mother dies in a car accident
1959 - Ernest Bloch, Swiss/US composer (Macbeth), dies at 78
1965 - Francis Cherry, American politician (b. 190
1969 - Peter Van Eyck, dies after long illness at 56
1971 - Guy Wilkerson, dies of cancer at 71
1974 - Christine Chubbuck, television news reporter (b.1944)
1975 - Charles Weidman, US dancer/choreographer (Fables for Our Time), dies
1976 - Paul William Gallico, writer, dies at 78
1980 - Eddie Jackson, comedian (Jimmy Durante Show), dies at 84
1980 - Henri Martelli, composer, dies at 85
1982 - Wendy Caulfield, 1st Green River victim, found near Seattle
1982 - Bill Justis, American musician and producer (b. 1926)
1983 - Eddie Foy Jr, actor (Eddie-Fair Exchange), dies of cancer at 78
1986 - Benny Rubin, actor/comedian (Benny Rubin Show), dies at 87
1986 - Billy Haughton, American harness driver and trainer (b. 1923)
1987 - Alfie Bass, actor (Moonraker, Are You Being Served), dies at 66
1988 - Eleanor Estes, author (Ginger Pye, Moffats), dies at 82
1990 - Alison Leggatt, actress (Day of Triffids, Cows), dies at 86
1990 - Margaret Mary Lockwood, actress (Man in Grey, Wicked Lady), dies at 73
1990 - Troy Dixon, rapper (Trouble T-Roy of Heavy D), dies at 22 of a fall
1993 - David Brian, US actor (Damned Don't Cry, Fort Worth), dies at 78
1993 - Bobby Kent, alleged Florida bully murdered by his friends (b. 1973)
1995 - Eddie J Bush, golf professional, dies at 83
1995 - Willie George "Bill" Woodruff Sr, vocalist, dies at 6
1997 - Alan Chaig, paleontologist (Carl Sagan of BBC), dies at 70
1997 - Gianni Versace, designer, shot to death by Andrew Cunanan at 50
2003 - Tex Schramm, American football team president and general manager (b. 1920)
2006 - Robert H. Brooks, founder of Hooters of America (b. 1937)
2008 - Gyorgy Kolonics, Hungarian canoeist, Olympics medalist. (b. 1972)
2010 - James E. Akins, American diplomat and advisor to Richard Nixon (b. 1926)
JULY 14...
1908 - William Mason, composer, dies at 79
1954 - Jackie Saunders, American silent screen actress (b. 1892)
1965 - Adlai Stevenson, US amb to UN/pres candidate (D, 1952, 56), dies
at 76
1970 - Preston S Foster, actor (Waterfront, Gunslinger), dies at 69
1973 - Clarence White, guitarist (Byrds), killed by a car
1974 - Carl A Spaats, 1st chief of staff of USAF, dies at 83
1974 - Carl Spaatz, American Air Force general (b. 1891)
1975 - Zutty Singleton, US jazz drummer, dies at 77
1979 - George De Witt, TV host (Name that Tune), dies at 56
1982 - George Amadee Tremblay, composer, dies at 71
1984 - Al Schacht, [Clown prince of baseball], baseball player, dies at 91
1984 - Kenny Delmar, comedian (School House), dies at 74
1984 - Philippe Wynne, US soul singer (I'll Be Around), dies at 43
1984 - Ernest Tidyman, American writer (b. 192
1986 - Raymond Loewy, US industrial designer, dies at 92
1995 - Michael Naylor, insurance broker, dies at 59
1996 - Frederick Angus Armstrong, journalist, dies at 82
1996 - Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge, physicist, dies at 91
1996 - Kim Besly, activist, dies at 69
1996 - Jeff Krosnoff, CART driver (b. 1964)
1998 - Richard McDonald, American fast food pioneer (b. 1909)
2000 - William Roscoe Estep, American Baptist historian (b. 1920)
2000 - Meredith MacRae, American actress (b. 1944)
2005 - Joe Harnell, American musician, composer and arranger (b. 1924)
2010 - Gene Ludwig, American jazz organist (b. 1937)
July 13...
1922 - Martin Dies, American politician (b. 1870)
1946 - Alfred Stieglitz, US photographer/art dealer (Camera Work), dies at 82
1951 - Arnold Schoenberg, Austria/US composer (Verklärte Nacht), dies at 76
1955 - Beulah Ecton Woodard, US sculptor, dies at 59
1955 - Ruth Ellis, last English woman (murderess), executed by hanging
1960 - Joy Gresham, American writer (b. 1915)
1973 - Lon Chaney Jr, actor (Hawkeye, Pistols 'n' Petticoats), dies at 67
1973 - Martian Negrea, composer, dies at 80
1976 - Max Butting, composer, dies at 87
1976 - Frederick Hawksworth, GWR Chief mechanical engineer. (b. 1884)
1979 - Corine Griffith, dies at 84
1980 - Seretse Khama, 1st president of Botswana, dies
1982 - Edith Heerdegen, dies at 69
1982 - John Alexander, actor (Alien PI), dies at 85
1988 - Huub Bals, Dutch film promotor, dies at 51
1988 - Samuel L Mendel, oldest US war veteran, dies at 104
1990 - Lois Moran Young, dies of cancer at 81
1991 - Cor Ria Leeman, Flemish (youth)writer, dies
1992 - Alex Wojciechowicz, NFLer (Philadelphia Eagles), dies at 76
1993 - Davey Allisson, race car drive, dies in a plane crash at 32
1993 - Edwin "Rick" Bakker, author (Rick's Report/AIDS Diary), dies at 31
1994 - Eddie Boyd, blues vocal/pianist, dies at 79
1994 - Robert Michael Payton, pizza magnate, dies at 50
1995 - Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish toy manufacturer (Lego Group) (b. 1920)
1996 - Joyce Buck, actress/interior designer, dies at 71
1996 - Pandro S Berman, film producer, dies at 91
1996 - Walter Hassan, engineer, dies at 91
2003 - Compay Segundo, Cuban musician (b. 1907)
2004 - Arthur Kane, American musician (b. 1949)
2006 - Red Buttons, American comedian (b. 1919)
2010 - George Steinbrenner, American businessman and owner of the New York Yankees (b. 1930)
Nor but in sleep findeth a cure for care.
Incertainty that once gave scope to dream
Of laughing enterprise and glory untold,
Is now a blackness that no stars redeem.
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