Richard M. Sherman
June 12, 1928 – May 25, 2024
As reported by Jeff Lundun at NPR, renowned Academy Award-winning composer Richard M. Sherman, part of the illustrious songwriting team with his late brother Robert Sherman, has passed away at the age of 95 due to age-related illness. The Sherman brothers created memorable scores for over two dozen films, many of which were Disney classics, including Mary Poppins (which earned them two Oscars), The Jungle Book, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Born in New York on June 12, 1928, Richard moved to Beverly Hills, California, with his family when he was nine. His father, Al Sherman, a popular songwriter, encouraged Richard and his older brother to collaborate. Richard fondly recalled in 2005, “He sensed that Bob and I collaborating and pooling our wits could come up with something.”
Their big break came in 1958 with the Top 10 hit “Tall Paul,” performed by Annette Funicello, which caught the attention of Walt Disney. Throughout the 1960s and into the 1980s, they were essentially Disney’s house songwriters, beginning with The Parent Trap in 1961. They created numerous film scores and even composed theme park songs like “It’s a Small World (After All).”
The score for Mary Poppins, featuring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, solidified their legacy. The film’s soundtrack includes timeless songs such as “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” One of the standout tracks, “Feed the Birds,” was Walt Disney’s favorite.
Producer Cubby Broccoli, who owned the rights to Ian Fleming‘s James Bond novels, commissioned them to adapt Fleming’s children’s book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Richard remembered the joy they found in writing the title song about the magical flying car. “We wanted the song to sound like the way the motor sounded,” Sherman explained, “because that’s the trick, the whole thing is that it backfires and goes ‘bang bang.'” The rhythmic song earned an Oscar nomination.
Despite their professional harmony, the brothers had a complex, sometimes contentious relationship, as explored in the 2009 film The Boys: The Sherman Brothers’ Story. Their final original score was for Disney’s The Tigger Movie in 2000, and both Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang were later adapted for the stage. The Sherman brothers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1976.
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