Tribute to Richard M Sherman, who has died aged 95

The composer-lyricist Richard M Sherman has died. Together with fellow composer-lyricist Robert, the Sherman Brothers wrote more than 150 songs for Disney, including ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’ from Mary Poppins, which won them an Academy Award.

Richard Morton Sherman was born on 12 June 1928 to Russian Jewish immigrant parents living in New York City. The family eventually settled in Beverly Hills, California, in 1937, where Sherman spent much of his youth. There was creativity in the air in the Sherman household: his father Al Sherman was a prolific Tin Pan Alley songwriter and composer known for his standards ‘You Gotta Be a Football Hero’ and ‘Now’s the Time to Fall in Love’, and his mother Rosa Sherman was a silent film actress in the early 1920s. During his time at Beverly Hills High School, Richard Sherman studied music and played the flute, piccolo and piano – he even performed alongside future Academy Award-winning composer André Previn in their graduation ceremony in 1946. At home, the Sherman Brothers were continually mentored and encouraged by their father who challenged them to write music and songs.

The Sherman Brothers’ first major hit song, ‘Tall Paul’, written in 1958 for singer Annette Funicello, caught the attention of Walt Disney. Impressed by the string of chart-topping singles written for Funicello, Disney hired the brothers to work full time as songwriters at Walt Disney Studios. The Sherman Brothers would make regular visits to Disney’s office, with Richard more often than not being the one to sit at the piano, and proved an excellent match for Disney's unique ability to conjure up magical, fantastical worlds. Said Richard in 2015 ‘Walt Disney was a story man, and he knew that we were thinking story. That’s why he dug us so much […] We always thought about the story. That was more important than any words and any music. That’s all it’s about.’

In 1964, they wrote ‘It’s a Small World’ for the New York World’s Fair which was then incorporated into the now-iconic Disneyland ride of the same name. It has been suggested that the song has been played over 50 million times worldwide, making it the most performed and most translated song ever written.

Zizi Strallen, Charlie Stemp and Company in Mary Poppins (Image credit: Johan Persson)

The following year, the Sherman Brothers took home two Academy Awards (the aforementioned Best Song, and Best Original Score – also for Mary Poppins). Starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, the much-loved motion picture would surely not have endured without the music and songs of the Sherman Brothers: ‘Feed the Birds’ (one of Walt Disney’s favourite songs of all time), ‘Step in Time’, and the longest made-up word in showbusiness ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’. The rather strenuous process of the film’s creation was immortalised in the 2013 film Saving Mr Banks starring Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and B J Novak and Jason Schwartzman as Robert and Richard Sherman respectively. A stage version of the film was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney Theatrical productions in 2004 – the original West End run went on to win two Olivier Awards (Best Actress in a Musical for Laura Michelle Kelly and Best Theatre Choreographer for co-choreographers Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear).

After Walt Disney’s death in 1966, the pair continued to work as freelance songwriters on various films, TV shows and theme-park ride soundtracks. But their next major project came in the form of Albert R Broccoli’s 1968 film adaptation of Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Walking in the familiar footsteps of Mary Poppins’s success, the brothers received their third Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for the title number. While the film didn’t enjoy the initial commercial acclaim of Mary Poppins, it later spawned a stage version and has become a firm family favourite. After its record-breaking opening run at the London Palladium from 2002 -05, it continues to tour the world.

Adam Garcia, Ellie Nunn, Ayrton English and Jasmine Nyenya in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Image credit: Paul Coltas)

The Sherman Brothers also wrote the soundtracks for The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970), The Parent Trap (1961 and 1998), Charlotte's Web (1973), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) which recently enjoyed a stage production premiering at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne in August 2021.

Over his long storied career, Richard Sherman received many accolades including being inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, presented with a National Medal of Arts in 2008 by President George W Bush and receiving 23 gold and platinum albums and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

As his death was announced, Musicals’ Edward Seckerson recalled meeting the legendary songwriter: ‘It was during rehearsals for the West End staging of Chitty Chatty Bang Bang when my erstwhile BBC radio show ’Stage & Screen’ was in full swing. Michael Ball was showing off his dancing shoes and Dick Sherman suggested we chat at the piano where he clearly felt most at home. He kept breaking into those tunes that were so much of our collective childhoods and as he did so it struck me how much more he understood about us Brits and our musical traditions than we did! What an asset he’d be in a pub singalong where numbers like ‘Me Ol' Bamboo’ and, of course, that infectious title song would have everyone joining in. The great thing about him and his brother Bob Sherman was their spontaneity – the feeling that they knocked out these indelible ditties faster than they could sing them.’

Lyricist Anthony Drewe who, alongside composer George Stiles, was tasked by Cameron Mackintosh to write additional songs and musical material for the Mary Poppins stage adaptation, described first meeting the brothers during the show’s inception: ‘They had been invited by Cameron Mackintosh and Tom Schumacher to meet with us and hear three songs – one that was pure Sherman Brothers, one that was pure Stiles and Drewe, and one that was a hybrid of both writing teams. The songs were ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’, ‘Practically Perfect’ and ‘Jolly Holiday’. It was with great trepidation that we positioned ourselves around the piano, and we will never forget the tears rolling down Richard’s face at the end. He said he had no idea that we were going preserve as much of the original as we had. He generously described “Practically Perfect” as “the best song we never wrote”.’

Stiles, meanwhile, told Musicals: ‘I continue to be sad, thinking the world has now lost these two remarkable brothers who seemed to sum up an era of American culture that was essentially optimistic, joyful and innocent. And boy, could they write a tune! Fly well, dear Dick. Wind’s in the east and the mist coming in is into my eyes.’

Richard Morton Sherman: born 12 June 1928 – 25 May 2024