LONDON — How do you sum up the work of songwriter Robert B. Sherman? Try one word: “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
The tongue-twisting term, sung by magical nanny Mary Poppins, is like much of Sherman’s work — both complex and memorable, for child and adult alike. Once heard, it was never forgotten.
Sherman, who died in London at age 86, was half of a sibling partnership that put songs into the mouths of nannies and Cockney chimney sweeps, jungle animals and Parisian felines.
Sherman and brother Richard composed scores for films that included “The Jungle Book,” “The Aristocats,” “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” They also wrote the most-played tune on Earth, “It’s a Small World (After All).”
Sherman’s agent, Stella Richards, said Tuesday that Sherman died peacefully in London on Monday.
Son Jeffrey Sherman paid tribute to his father on Facebook, saying he “wanted to bring happiness to the world, and, unquestionably, he succeeded.”
Jeffrey Sherman told The Associated Press that his father had learned the craft of songwriting from his own father, Tin Pan Alley composer Al Sherman.
Three Broadway marquees — including The New Amsterdam Theatre, where “Mary Poppins” is playing — were set to dim their lights Tuesday night in Sherman’s honor.
The Sherman brothers’ career was long, prolific and garlanded with awards. They won two Academy Awards for Walt Disney’s 1964 smash “Mary Poppins” — best score and best song, “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” They also picked up a Grammy for best movie or TV score.
Their hundreds of credits as joint lyricist and composer also include the films “Winnie the Pooh,” “The Slipper and the Rose,” “Snoopy Come Home,” “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Magic of Lassie.”
Robert Bernard Sherman was born in New York on Dec. 19, 1925, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Sherman’s affection for Britain was nurtured during his service with the U.S. Army in World War II. One of the first American soldiers to enter the Dachau concentration camp — and, his son said, the only Jewish serviceman there — he was shot in the knee in Germany in 1945. Recovering in hospitals in England, he developed a fondness for and familiarity with the country that stuck with him.
