It would be easy, facetious, and inaccurate to say that stardom was “Easy Come, Easy Go” for Bobby Sherman, who passed away yesterday at 81. The ’70s singer and TV star rose to fame on the ABC frontier comedy/drama Here Come the Brides and had a string of top 40 hit songs. By the decade’s end he was a pop culture footnote, but Bobby would embark on a new career of public service inspired by a TV appearance.
A native Californian, Robert Cabot Sherman, Jr. was born in Santa Monica in 1943. Befriended by actor Sal Mineo as he sought to break into show business, Sherman was invited to perform at a 1964 party hosted by Mineo. Bobby’s singing earned him a contract and a regular role on ABC’s musical variety series Shindig! At the same time, he guest starred on such shows as Honey West, The Monkees, and The F.B.I.
In 1968 Sherman was cast alongside Robert Brown and David Soul as Jeremy, the shy and stuttering youngest of the Bolt brothers, on Here Come the Brides. The show, set in 1860s Seattle, only aired for two seasons but helped make Bobby a favorite with younger viewers. In fact, in early 1970 the actor was receiving more fan mail than any other star with the network.
Bobby’s recording career took off in the late ’60s, and over the next several years he would have eight gold or platinum singles and five gold albums. Among his biggest singles were “Little Woman,” “La La La (If I Had You),” “Easy Come, Easy Go,” “Julie, Do Ya Love Me?,” and “Cried Like a Baby.” If you were lucky–and had a sweet tooth and understanding parents–you could get some of these records on the backs of Post cereal boxes as a promotional giveaway.
In 1971 Bobby starred in a short-lived (14 episodes) sitcom, Getting Together, that he introduced with a guest appearance on The Partridge Family. The show’s failure did little to stop his popularity, and his face could be seen on teen magazines, comic books. posters, lunchboxes, and other merchandise. By the mid-’70s, though, Sherman began to find himself on the outside of the ever-changing music scene.
Sherman still worked as an actor, appearing on such shows as The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Murder, She Wrote. Bobby co-starred in 1974’s made-for-TV thriller, Skyway to Death, and had a recurring role in the 1986 sitcom Sanchez of Bel Air. He also turned up in two theatrical films, the South Seas adventure yarn He Is My Brother (1975) and the rock-and-roll cult comedy Get Crazy (1983). Bobby briefly returned to singing in 1998-99, teaming up with ex-Monkee Davy Jones and Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits for the aptly named Teen Idol Tour.
An unexpected career change came about as a result of Bobby’s 1974 guest spot on NBC’s Emergency! Inspired by the medical rescue drama’s real-life stories, he would study to become a paramedic and medical training officer, eventually serving as a technical reserve police officer with the LAPD. In 1999 the department named him Reserve Officer of the Year. Sherman later became a reserve deputy sheriff for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, serving from 1999 to 2010.
Earlier this year Bobby announced that he was undergoing treatment for advanced kidney cancer. He passed away at his Los Angeles home on June 24.