Photo Credit: ABC Television, 1971
Bobby Sherman, a teen idol of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s who also rose to fame as a TV actor, has passed away at age 81.
Bobby Sherman’s slew of hit songs in the late 1960s and early 1970s left teens swooning as an early king of pop. His rise to fame saw him star on the TV sitcom “Here Come the Brides.” Sherman passed away on June 24 at his Los Angeles home. He was 81.
His death was confirmed by his son, Tyler Sherman, though a cause of death was not disclosed. However, Sherman’s wife, Brigitte Poublon, shared on Facebook back in March that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. The specific type of cancer was not revealed.
From 1968 to 1970, Sherman co-starred as Jeremy Bolt on the TV sitcom “Here Come the Brides,” a Western set in Seattle during the logging boom. The plot involved logging executives deciding to recruit marriageable women to help stave off loneliness among the town’s lumberjacks.
But his work in television led to an even more successful career in music, beginning with a stream of hits in 1969, including “Little Woman,” “La La La (If I Had You),” “Easy Come, Easy Go,” “Julie, Do Ya Love Me,” and “Cried Like a Baby.” These catchy pop hits led to his nickname of Bubblegum Bobby—a reference to the bubblegum pop genre that was in full swing.
At the peak of his career, Sherman’s face was everywhere—on posters, T-shirts, cereal boxes, lunchboxes, and everything in between. His fans were so intensely eager that after one musical performance, Sherman told The Los Angeles Times that he rode away in a hearse while fans trailed a decoy limousine.
The son of a milkman, Sherman grew up in Hollywood and had been trying (without success) to break into show business. At 21, a date invited him to a cast party for then-soon-to-be-released 1965 biblical epic, “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” Hosted by actor Sal Mineo at his beach house, the gathering drew many of Hollywood’s elite—and entertainment provided by members of Sherman’s old high school band. As they needed a singer, Sherman ended up joining them on stage for a number.
That impromptu performance caught the attention of stars Natalie Wood and Jane Fonda, who, alongside Mineo, approached him at the end of the song. One of them remarked, “You’re very good. Who’s handling you?” Sherman, who had no management and lacked experience, did not understand the question.
Soon after, he received a phone call from an agent, and became a house singer on the variety show, “Shindig!,” and began making guest appearances on other programs, like as “The Monkees,” and an episode of “The Partridge Family.”
His time in television was relatively short-lived, but Sherman revealed that he was not entirely sorry to pivot away from the screen. Indeed, the rapid ascent of his fame as a pop star left him feeling relieved when it finally began to wane. He told The Washington Post that he had started to see his career as “a conglomerate of fast-thinking and wheeler-dealer kinds of people,” who capitalized on the excitement of his teen fans.
After marrying and having two children, Sherman pivoted professionally yet again, devoting his career to emergency medicine. His interest in the field was piqued after taking a Red Cross class to learn how to help his sons if they became injured. Sherman received his certification as an EMT and delivered at least five babies, in addition to other work as a medic. This included instructing police academy trainees at the Los Angeles Police Department in first aid and CPR.
His last onstage act took place in the ‘90s, when he joined Peter Noone (Herman’s Hermits) and Davy Jones (The Monkees) on a nostalgic “Teen Idols” tour.
Music Industry News, Obituaries, Pop Culture
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