Robert Cabot Sherman Jr. (born July 22, 1943) is an American singer and actor who was a teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He had a series of successful singles, notably the million-seller "Little Woman" (1969). Sherman left show business in the 1970s for a career as a paramedic and a deputy sheriff, but performed occasionally into the 1990s.[1]
Entertainment career
Music
In 1962, Sal Mineo wrote two songs for Sherman and arranged for Sherman to record them. In 1964, Mineo asked Sherman to sing with his band at a Hollywood party where many actors and agents were in attendance. After this, Sherman signed with an agent and soon landed a part on the ABC television show Shindig! as a house singer and member of the cast.[2][3]
Sherman made several records with Decca and another smaller label and appeared in teen magazines. In early 1968, he was selected for the role of Jeremy Bolt, a bashful, stammering logger, in the ABC television series Here Come the Brides (1968–1970). As of 1970, Sherman had received more fan mail than any other performer on the ABC-TV network.[3]
Sherman appeared on an episode of Honey West titled "The Princess and the Paupers" as a kidnapped band member. He also appeared on The Monkees in the episode "Monkees at the Movies", playing a conceited surfer-singer named Frankie Catalina (in the model of Frankie Avalon) and performing the song "The New Girl in School" (the flip of Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve").
Sherman released 107 songs, 23 singles and 10 albums between 1962 and 1976; seven of his songs were top 40 hits. He earned seven gold singles, one platinum single, and five gold albums. In 1969, he signed with Metromedia Records and released the single "Little Woman", which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100chart (#2 in Canada) and spent nine weeks in the Top 20. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in October 1969.[4]
His other hits were "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" (written by Tom Bahler), "Easy Come, Easy Go", "Jennifer", "La La La (If I Had You)", and "The Drum"(written by Alan O'Day). Some of these songs were produced by Jackie Mills, who also produced the Brady Bunch Kids. In Canada, "Hey, Mister Sun" reached #19, "Cried Like a Baby" reached #10, and "Waiting at the Bus Stop" reached #31. "La, La, La," "Easy Come, Easy Go," and "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" all sold in excess of a million copies and earned more gold discs for Sherman.[4] "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" was Sherman's sole entry in the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at #28 in November 1970.[5] The song competed there for chart space with White Plains' cover version, which placed at #8.[6]
Sherman toured extensively through the United States and the world in support of his records and albums. He gave many concerts to sellout crowds of mostly screaming young women from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s.[3] The screaming of the young women was so loud that Sherman experienced hearing loss.[7][8]
Television and film
Sherman was a regular star on the weekly ABC television network show Here Come the Brides from September 25, 1968, to September 18, 1970. He played the youngest brother, Jeremy Bolt.[9]
Sherman was a regular cast member on the television show Sanchez of Bel Air in 1986.
Although most of Sherman's acting career was on television, he also appeared in two movies. In 1975, Sherman starred in the family film He Is My Brother, directed by Edward Dmytryk.[10] In 1983, Sherman appeared alongside fellow teen idol Fabian as the villain's henchmen in the cult filmGet Crazy, directed by Allan Arkush.[11]
Comeback and retirement
In 1998, after an absence of 25 years, Sherman appeared in "The Teen Idol Tour" with Peter Noone and Davy Jones. (Micky Dolenz replaced Davy Jones on the tour in 1999.) Sherman performed his last concert as a solo performer in Lincoln, Rhode Island on August 25, 2001. Although retired from public life, he still appeared at corporate and charity events. He was ranked No. 8 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 25 Greatest Teen Idols" (January 23, 2005, issue).
Post-entertainment career
In 1974, Sherman guest-starred on an episode of the Jack Webb television series Emergency! ("Fools", season 3, episode 17, aired January 19, 1974), and found a new calling. Eventually, he left the public spotlight and became a paramedic. He volunteered with the Los Angeles Police Department, working with paramedics and giving CPR and first aid classes. He became a technical Reserve Police Officer with the Los Angeles Police Department in the 1990s, a position he still held as of 2017.[8] For more than a decade he served as a medical training officer at the Los Angeles Police Academy, instructing thousands of police officers in first aid and CPR. He was named LAPD's Reserve Officer of the Year in 1999.
Sherman also became a reserve deputy sheriff in 1999 with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, continuing his CPR and emergency training of new deputy hires. He retired from the sheriff's department in 2010.[8]
Sherman and his wife co-founded the Brigitte & Bobby Sherman Children's (BBSC) Foundation.[12] The foundation's mission is to provide motivated students in Ghana with a high quality education and music program, and to provide tools to pursue higher education.[13]
Published accounts indicate that Sherman's relationship with Sal Mineo was personal as well as professional.[14][15]
Sherman's first wife was Patti Carnel; the couple had two sons before they divorced.[16] Sherman married Brigitte Poublon on July 18, 2010, in Las Vegas.
NOTE: Metromedia released 2 versions of Christmas Album: one contained "Prologue"; the other replaced it with "Goin' Home (Sing A Song Of Christmas Cheer)"—rest of LP is identical.
Compilation LPs
1971 Bobby Bobby Bobby (promo only) (Metromedia Special Products)
1972 Bobby Sherman's Greatest Hits (Metromedia), US No. 83[21]
1972 Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Bobby Sherman (Superstar Records)
1975 Remembering You (Phase One) (This album contains 7 previously released songs (Mr. Success, Julie Do You Love Me, Runaway, Easy Come Easy Go, Early In The Morning, Cried Like A Baby, Our Last Song Together) and 5 new songs not available anywhere else (Beginnings Are Easy, Fresh Out Of Love, I'll Never Stop Singing My Song, Here With You, Just Ask Me I've Been There)).
CDs
1990 What Came Before (Teen Ager #622) ("Just For You" with bonus tracks)
1991 The Very Best of Bobby Sherman (Restless)
1992 Christmas Album (Restless)
1995 All-Time Greatest Hits (K-tel) (contains 2 previously unreleased songs, "Where There's A Heartache" and "I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow")
1995 Bobby Sherman (K-tel)
1995 Here Comes Bobby (K-tel)
1995 With Love, Bobby (K-tel)
1995 Portrait of Bobby (K-tel)
1995 Getting Together (K-tel)
1999 My Christmas Wish (KRB) (reissue of Christmas Album)
2000 The Very Best of Bobby Sherman (Varese)
2001 Here Comes Bobby / With Love, Bobby (Collectables Records) (2 albums on 1 CD)
2001 Bobby Sherman / Portrait of Bobby (Collectables Records) (2 albums on 1 CD)
2008 Just For You (K-tel)
2010 Love Songs (K-Tel)
2015 The Partridge Family: Missing Pieces (Bell) (one track is Bobby Sherman singing "Stephanie")
2017 Singles (Four-Teen) (contains 6 previously unreleased songs, "Stop The Music", "Old Girlfriends", "Over Here", "The New Girl In School", "Beautiful Doll" and "Today I Chipped A Piece Off Of The Sun")
Songs included on various artists compilation CDs
1993 Yesterday's Heroes: Teen Idols of the 70's (Rhino)
1994 Have a Nice Christmas: Christmas in the 70's (Rhino)