Elroy Schwartz



Born June 23, 1923, Elroy Schwartz was an American comedy and television writer. Schwartz, who wrote for some of the best known comedians of the Forties and Fifties, including Lucille Ball, Groucho Marx, and Bob Hope. Schwartz was also one of the head writers for Gilligan's Island, a CBS sitcom which was created by his late brother, Sherwood Schwartz. His brothers included Al Schwartz and Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of "Gilligan's Island," for which he was one of the head writers along with his brother, Al Schwartz. Born in Passaic, New Jersey, he moved to the Bronx with his family, where he attended school and attended New York University. He was also enlisted in the United States Air Force for two years, moving to Los Angeles with his family afterward where he wrote for radio in California. In New York City, he wrote for game shows in New York during the 1950s before returning to Los Angeles. Elroy wrote for countless TV shows and game shows during his career, including "You Bet Your Life," hosted by Groucho Marx, "The $64,000 Question," "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "It Takes a Thief," but he is best known for his work as a principal writer for Gilligan's Island, which aired from 1964 to 1967. In 1964, Schwartz's brother, Sherwood Schwartz, hired his brothers to write and edit the scripts for all three seasons and the three following reunion movies. Outside of television, Schwartz was a licensed hypnotherapist with an office in Palm Springs, where he lived and pursued in past life regressions, painted, and authored several non-fiction and fictional books. He died from complications of surgery at Odyssey House in Palm Desert, California, on June 14, 2013, at the age of 89, just nine days short of his 90th birthday. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and one grand-daughter.

Episode(s)

 * Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk
 * The Castaways on Gilligan's Island
 * Diamonds Are an Ape's Best Friend
 * The Friendly Physician
 * The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
 * Marooned (Unaired Pilot)
 * Meet the Meteor
 * A Nose by Any Other Name
 * Pass the Vegetables, Please
 * Plant You Now, Dig You Later
 * Rescue from Gilligan's Island
 * Seer Gilligan
 * Topsy-Turvy
 * Voodoo Something to Me
 * X Marks the Spot
 * You've Been Disconnected