Was the cast of “Gilligan’s Island” cheated out of royalties?

Was the cast of “Gilligan’s Island” cheated out of royalties?

Royalties were not considered a big deal back then, because syndication had not become a reality until the early 70s.

Oddly enough, the only person --aside from Sherwood Schwartz-- who negotiated royalties in their contract was the recently departed Dawn Wells. Wells was married to an agent at the time (Larry Rosen?) who had an inside tip on what a financial bonanza that syndication could be.

My basic understanding is that they signed standard contracts which, in those days, didn't pay well or provide residuals or merchandise royalties. Only the producer and his son (in this case, Sherwood and Lloyd Schwartz) made much money from the show. These days, actors are better paid but royalties and residuals don't really amount to much until a show accumulates at least 100 episodes. Compare that to with Friends, where they topped out at 500,000 per episode per actor.

They signed standard contracts negotiated by their agents, as did the stars of most shows including Star Trek. They can be bitter because their shows went on to make so much money unexpectedly, but they weren't cheated in the sense that the producers did not honor to their contracts. There were other stars that were cheated out of money, notably Daniel Boone star Fess Parker, whose landmark lawsuit dragged through the courts for many years. He was guaranteed a share of the net profit of the show (unlike a percentage of the gross profit) and the studio continually allocated make believe costs to the show, ensuring it never showed a profit no matter how much money it made in reruns.

I heard Mary Ann tell the story on video Youtube somewhere ...

She said her friend's father was a lawyer and she by chance showed her unsigned contract to him, and he just add the residuals off the top of his head. No one thought much about it then BUT - she lucked out.


Biggest Rip Off was John Fogerty who wrote ALL the successful Credence Clearwater Revival HITS - he signed away ALL Rights to his music, just got pennies per record sold, and to this day if he sings any of his songs he PAYS the record company royalties !

Royalties were not considered a big deal back then, because syndication had not become a reality until the early 70s.

Oddly enough, the only person --aside from Sherwood Schwartz-- who negotiated royalties in their contract was the recently departed Dawn Wells. Wells was married to an agent at the time (Larry Rosen?) who had an inside tip on what a financial bonanza that syndication could be.

I'm sure the Schwartzes made many MILLIONS off Gilligan's Island so don't you think he should've thrown a bone to the 6 cast members who did NOT get royalties?

He could've given the 6 remaining cast members a 1 time payment of $100K - $200K or something you know? That wouldn't have even made a dent in his bank account.

The actors on Gilligan's Island were paid to act - it was their job. Sherwood Schwartz didn't have any responsibility to support them through their iives. In any event, Gilligan's Island made their careers: they got guest shots and sequel movies, did talk shows, sold books, and made endless public appearances. The great majority of that was derived from Gilligan.

Yeah but it looks TOTALLY unfair to the general public that Sherwood got MILLIONS after Gilligan's Island ended but the cast members got JACK SQUAT!!

The only exception as discussed was Dawn Wells.

If you Google it there are articles where Dawn Wells says that story is a rumor and she did not get royalties. Not sure what YouTube interview it is that someone referred to above.

Dawn said Sherwood got $90 million from the show, but an article I saw quoted Sherwood's daughter as saying that wasn't true.

It would've been nice if the studio could've set the cast up with some sweetheart jobs like Marvel did with Stan Lee so they could get them some money for the show. But they did at least get new paychecks for the 3 TV-movies.

If you Google it there are articles where Dawn Wells says that story is a rumor and she did not get royalties. Not sure what YouTube interview it is that someone referred to above.

Dawn said Sherwood got $90 million from the show, but an article I saw quoted Sherwood's daughter as saying that wasn't true.

It would've been nice if the studio could've set the cast up with some sweetheart jobs like Marvel did with Stan Lee so they could get them some money for the show. But they did at least get new paychecks for the 3 TV-movies.

If it wasn't $90 million then don't you think he got at least $40-50 million over the life of the show?

If it wasn't $90 million then don't you think he got at least $40-50 million over the life of the show?

Google says he had a net worth of $175 million when he died. As far as I know, GI and Brady Bunch were his only really successful projects, including some of their spin-offs. I don't know if he got money for the theatrical Brady movies or not. I couldn't tell you how much of his net worth came from those projects or from investments he made with the money he earned on them later.

Don Adams said in a Get Smart documentary that he had a piece of ownership of Get Smart, which he took in lieu of a higher salary. Google said Adams had a net worth of $15 million at his death.

Google says he had a net worth of $175 million when he died. As far as I know, GI and Brady Bunch were his only really successful projects, including some of their spin-offs. I don't know if he got money for the theatrical Brady movies or not. I couldn't tell you how much of his net worth came from those projects or from investments he made with the money he earned on them later.

Don Adams said in a Get Smart documentary that he had a piece of ownership of Get Smart, which he took in lieu of a higher salary. Google said Adams had a net worth of $15 million at his death.

With a net worth of $175 million he should've given each cast member $1 million dollars as a token of his appreciation or something especially seeing how a show like Friends got a million dollars PER episode for each cast member!

It's just unfair that he's worth almost $200 million while some of the cast may have lost their homes or had trouble paying their mortgages. It's not like Sherwood was a mean guy or anything.