Richard Morton Sherman (June 12, 1928 – May 25, 2024) was an American songwriter who specialized in musical films with his brother Robert B. Sherman. According to the official Walt Disney Company website and independent fact checkers, "The Sherman Brothers were responsible for more motion picture musical song scores than any other songwriting team in film history."[1]
Their best known work is "It's a Small World", written for the theme park attraction of the same name. According to Time, it may be the most publicly performed song in history.[2][3]
Early life
Richard Morton Sherman was born on June 12, 1928, in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants, Rosa (Dancis) and Al Sherman.[4][5][6][7] Sherman and his older brother Robert eventually followed in their songwriting father's footsteps to form a long-lasting songwriting partnership.[8]
Following seven years of frequent cross-country moves, the Sherman family finally settled down in Beverly Hills, California in 1937. During Richard's years at Beverly Hills High School, he fell in love with music and studied piano, flute and piccolo. At his 1946 high school graduation, Sherman and classmate André Previn played a musical duet with Previn on piano and Sherman on flute.[9] Coincidentally, both would go on to win Academy Awards for music in 1964, with Previn winning for Scoring of Music – Adaptation or Treatment for My Fair Lady,[10] while the Sherman Brothers won for Music Score – Substantially Original for Mary Poppins,[11] as well as a second for Best Original Song for "Chim Chim Cher-ee".[12]
Army service and education
In 1953, Sherman was drafted into U.S. Army, being assigned to the Army Band and glee club. Serving as musical conductor for both groups from 1953 until his honorable discharge in 1955, he was stationed solely in the United States during his time in the service. During this time, his brother Robert worked with other songwriters.[4]
As a student at Bard College, Sherman majored in music, writing numerous sonatas and "art songs".[4]
Robert and Richard Sherman worked directly for Walt Disney until Disney's death in 1966. After leaving the company, the brothers worked freelance as songwriters on scores of motion pictures, television shows, theme park exhibits and stage musicals.[6]
Their first non-Disney assignment came with Albert R. Broccoli's motion picture production Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 1968 which garnered the brothers their third Academy Award Nomination. In 1973, the Sherman Brothers made history by becoming the only Americans ever to win First Prize at the Moscow Film Festival for Tom Sawyer for which they also authored the screenplay.[17]
Outside the motion picture realm, their Tony-nominated Over Here! (1974)[19] was the biggest-grossing original Broadway Musical of that year. The Sherman Brothers have also written numerous top-selling songs, including "You're Sixteen", which holds the distinction of reaching Billboard's Top Ten twice; first with Johnny Burnette in 1960 and then with Ringo Starr fourteen years later.[20] Other top-ten hits include, "Pineapple Princess", "Let's Get Together" and more.[21]
In 2000, the Sherman brothers wrote the song score for Disney's blockbuster film: The Tigger Movie (2000). This film marked the brothers' first major motion picture for the Disney company in over 28 years.[22]
Robert (left) and Richard in 2002
In 2002, the stage musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang premiered in London. It was the most successful stage show ever produced at the London Palladium, boasting the longest run in that century-old theatre's history. In early 2005 a second Chitty company premiered on Broadway (New York City) at the Foxwoods Theatre (then the Hilton Theatre). The Sherman Brothers wrote an additional six songs specifically for the new stage productions.[23]
In 2003, four Sherman brothers' musicals ranked in the "Top 10 Favorite Children's Films of All Time" in a (British) nationwide poll reported by the BBC. The Jungle Book (1967) ranked at #7, Mary Poppins (1964) ranked at #8, The Aristocats (1970) ranked at #9 and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) topped the list at #1.[24]
In June 2005, Richard M. Sherman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with his brother. Chitty opened on Broadway in 2005 and commenced its first full UK tour in December 2005 with subsequent tours and/or tour dates in each year since. Mary Poppins opened on Broadway in 2006.[26]
Recently, Sherman once again collaborated with Disney in three of its live-action films, having rewritten the song "I Wan'na Be Like You" for Jon Favreau's 2016 remake of The Jungle Book. As the film featured the song's performer, King Louie, as a Gigantopithecus, Sherman rewrote it to fit the character's depiction.[27] He also wrote three new songs for the 2018 film Christopher Robin,[28] titled "Goodbye Farewell", "Busy Doing Nothing", and "Christopher Robin",[29] the last two performed by Sherman.[29] Sherman also acted as a music consultant for Mary Poppins Returns, the sequel to Mary Poppins.[30] Sherman also wrote new songs for the upcoming musical stage adaptation of The Jungle Book.[31]
By May 2023, a feature film development deal on the Sherman Brothers' animation musical Inkas the Ramferinkas was announced.[32]
Personal life
In the late 1940s, while Richard was attending Bard college, he was briefly married to Corrine Newman. They had one child, Lynda. In 1957, Richard married Ursula Elizabeth Gluck; the couple had two children, Gregory Vincent and Victoria Lynn. Sherman had six grandchildren.[33]
Following Robert Sherman's relocation from Beverly Hills to London, England, the brothers continued to collaborate musically. They credited the ability to do so long-distance to technology via fax, e-mail, and the low-cost international telephone service. Both brothers frequently traveled between Los Angeles, New York, and London working together on various musical plays[34] until Robert's death in 2012.
Although the brothers always continued collaborating on music, they often had major disputes and their families hardly knew one another.[35] While attending public premieres, they and their families would sit on opposite sides of the theater and when their father died they held two separate shivas.[36]
Richard and Elizabeth were married for over 67 years, until his death. They lived in Beverly Hills, California. He died of "age-related illness" at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, on May 25, 2024, at the age of 95, just 18 days before his 96th birthday.[4][5]
In 2000, the Sherman Brothers wrote the award-winning score to The Tigger Movie which achieved number one status in both theatrical box office and video sales.[38]
The Sherman Brothers' classic motion picture, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was adapted into a LondonWest EndMusical in 2002 and premiered at the London Palladium on April 16, 2002, featuring many new songs and a reworked score by both Sherman Brothers. It was nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best New Musical.[39] The Sherman Brothers each received the "Musical Theatre Award" from the Variety Club of Great Britain that year as well for Chitty.[40]Chitty finished a record-breaking, three-and-a-half-year run at the Palladium, becoming the longest-running show in the theatre's century-long history.[41] 2004 saw the premiere of Mary Poppins on the stage. In 2005, Poppins was nominated for nine Olivier Awards. In 2005 Chitty went to Broadway and was nominated for 9 Tonys and also began its nationwide (UK) tour.[42]
During a London press junket promoting the 40th anniversary DVD rerelease of The Jungle Book, Robert and Richard Sherman were witnessed by press working on a new song for Inkas in the same Brown's Hotel room where The Jungle Book was originally penned by the British writer, Rudyard Kipling, over a hundred years earlier.[45]
In May 2009, a documentary called The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story was released. In October 2009, Disney released a 59 track, two CD compendium of their work for the studio spanning forty-two years. The CD is entitled "The Sherman Brothers Songbook".[48]
On March 11, 2010, the Sherman Brothers were presented with a Window on MainstreetDisneyland in Anaheim, California in honor of their contribution to Disney theme parks. On May 17, 2010, the "Career Achievement Award" at The Theatre Museum's 2010 Awards Gala.[citation needed]
On May 21, 2011, the Sherman Brothers were each awarded honorary doctorate degrees in Fine Arts from their alma mater, Bard College. This was Robert's second honorary doctorate. His first was granted by Lincoln College on May 12, 1990.[49]
In 2013 Richard was musical consultant for the live-action production of The Jungle Book at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, IL.[50]
In 2021/22 the stage adaptation of Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks toured the UK and Ireland produced by Michael Harrison with additional music, new songs and lyrics by Neil Bartram and book by Brian Hill.[62]
^Hutchinson, Lydia (August 29, 2014). "The Sherman Brothers". Performing Songwriter. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
^Musel, Robert (May 24, 1967). "Song Writing Team Eschews Gimmicks". Los Angeles Times. p. e9.
^Freedland, Michael (March 6, 2012). "Robert Sherman obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
^Leitch, Luke (May 17, 2005). "Chitty Chitty Bye Bye". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
^McPhee, Ryan (May 15, 2020). Disney Theatrical Productions Reveals Next Steps for Hercules and The Jungle Book Musicals, Aida Revival, More. Playbill.
^Fox, Mark (January 1, 2016). "London Palladium History". reallyusefultheatres.co.uk. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
^Cheesman, Neil (December 20, 2017). "First Tour Dates Announced for A Spoonful of Sherman". London Theatre 1. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved December 22, 2017. Robert J Sherman, son of Robert B. Sherman and a successful composer in his own right brings the utterly compelling story of one family's century-long, award-winning musical journey to UK audiences in 2018.
^Carter, Roz. "REVIEW: A SPOONFUL OF SHERMAN (Greenwich Theatre) ★★★★★". West End Wilma. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2018. The whole show is filled with whimsy, magic and some of the most memorable songs ever written; it does the Sherman family proud. I can't remember when I spent a more joyful or moving evening at the theatre.
