Robert J. Sherwood Jr. (May 30, 1914 – January 23, 1981) was an American guitarist, trumpeter, bandleader, and radio host.

Early years

Sherwood's parents were Bob and Gail Sherwood. When they lived in Kokomo, Indiana, he operated a movie theater, and Gail Sherwood "organized an orchestra which was among the first ones to play popular syncopated music." Bobby Sherwood began playing banjo with that group when he was 12 years old.

Career

When he was twenty-two, he replaced

Eddie Lang Eddie Lang (born Salvatore Massaro, October 25, 1902 – March 26, 1933) was an American musician who is credited as the father of jazz guitar. During the 1920s, he gave the guitar a prominence it previously lacked as a solo instrument, as p ...

as the guitarist for

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

in 1933 and remained with Crosby until the early 1940s. He worked as a

studio musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a t ...

in Hollywood for MGM. Beginning on October 2, 1940, he was the bandleader for

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences ...

's radio program on NBC. During the same year, he was a regular on the ''Hillman Hour'' program on

KFWB KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs a classic Regional Mexican music format. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. Studios i ...

in Los Angeles, California. Sherwood married Dorothy Virginia Gumm, the sister of

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

, and worked as a bandleader for Garland during sessions at

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

. He started a big band that included Dave Pell and

Kitty Kallen Kitty Kallen (born Katie Kallen; May 25, 1921 – January 7, 2016) was an American popular singer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, to include the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-World War II pop scene and the early ...

and signed with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

. The band's first single, "The Elk's Parade", was a million seller. He dabbled in acting but led his big band through the 1940s. In the mid-1940s, he hosted the radio program ''Bobby Sherwood Orchestra'' on the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. ra ...

. In 1953, he had a daily early morning program on WJZ in New York City. For the latter part of his career, he worked as a disc jockey. In 1950, Sherwood was master of ceremonies on ''Variety Quiz'' (later titled ''Midnight Snack''), a late-night variety program on

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station W ...

in New York City. He was a regular performer on ''

The Red Buttons Show ''The Red Buttons Show'' premiered on the CBS television network On October 14, 1952, and ran for two years on that network, then moved to NBC for the final 1954–55 season. Red's catch phrase from the show, "Strange things are happening!" entere ...

'' on TV in the 1950s. He hosted the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

variety show '' Stars on Parade'' (1953–54), was the announcer for DuMont's '' The Morey Amsterdam Show'', and the host for the game show ''

Quick as a Flash ''Quick as a Flash'' was a 30-minute radio quiz program which featured drama segments with guest actors from radio detective shows. Created by director Richard Lewis and emcee Ken Roberts, the program debuted over the Mutual Network on Sunday, J ...

'' from March to May 1953. In the mid-1950s, he was host of ''Step This Way'', a dance-oriented program broadcast on Saturday evenings on

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neig ...

in New York City. Sherwood died of cancer January 23, 1981, at his home in Auburn, Massachusetts. His sons

Billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a yo ...

and

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

are both musicians, and his nephew is trumpeter

Carl Saunders Carl Saunders (August 2, 1942 – February 25, 2023) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator who performed with such luminaries as Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Bill Holman, Clare Fischer, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, an ...

Awards and honors

Sherwood has a star at 1825 Vine Street, in the Television section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Hoosiers in Hollywood
at WhenMoviesWereMovies.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwood, Bobby

Sherwood Sherwood may refer to: Places Australia *Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane * Sherwood, South Australia, a locality *Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland * Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district fr ...

Male actors from Indiana Musicians from Indianapolis Big band bandleaders Jubilee Records artists Savoy Records artists 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American musicians