Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of iconic TV series The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island, died Tuesday at the age of 94.
The Emmy Award winning writer/producer -- he garnered a statuette in 1961 for his writing on The Red Skelton Show -- fell into his TV career after relocating from New York to Southern California to pursue a Master of Science degree in biology. He began writing for radio in 1938, on The Bob Hope Show, and transitioned to television in 1952 as a writer on I Married Joan.
He created Gilligan's Island in 1964, after working as script supervisor on My Favorite Martian; he followed that up with the short-lived It's About Time (1966-67), and then in 1969 tapped the zeitgeist with the launch of The Brady Bunch, the series that made blended families look easy. Schwartz also wrote the catchy theme songs for both Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch.
Schwartz had continued working throughout his 90s. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his 2004 special Still Brady After All These Years and in March 2008 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That same year he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Schwartz passed of natural causes at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Mildred, and four children, sons Lloyd J. Schwartz, Don Schwartz and Ross Schwartz, and daughter Hope Juber.
