Roberta Sherwood

Roberta Sherwood

Roberta Sherwood 1963

Sherwood in 1963.
Background information
Birth name Roberta Sherwood
Born July 1, 1913
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Died July 5, 1999(1999-07-05) (aged 86)
Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
Genres Torch song
Occupation(s) Nightclub performer
Years active 1956–1980s
Labels Decca

Roberta Sherwood (July 1, 1913, St. Louis, Missouri – July 5, 1999, Sherman Oaks, California) was an American singer, notable in part for her sudden rise to fame at the age of 43.[1]

Early life and rise to stardom

Roberta's father Robert Sherwood was the manager of a traveling minstrel show; she and her sister Anne were raised on the road after their mother died. Roberta started performing in vaudeville at age 11, and the sisters soon became a vaudeville and nightclub act. In 1932 they met Broadway actor Don Lanning, who mentored Roberta and ultimately married her in 1938. They both abandoned careers to settle in Miami, opening a small nightclub where she continued to perform. After the restaurant lost its lease, they got a concession to operate a hotel lounge. In 1953 Don was diagnosed with lung cancer and lost their concession. After an attempt to start another nightclub failed, Sherwood began to seriously pursue her career.

For several years she met with little success. A trip to Las Vegas, where she stayed with family friend Gene Austin, failed to advance her career. In September 1955 a chance meeting led to a nightclub gig in a Miami Beach club, and in January 1956 she suddenly became a success. The comedian Red Buttons became a fan and brought columnist Walter Winchell to see her; he gave her rave reviews. Soon she was performing in clubs nationwide and had a contract with Decca Records. She was profiled in Life magazine in October.[2] A November 1956 Billboard poll of DJs picked her as the 19th most popular "album artist" and #8 on a list of "Most Promising Female Vocalists".[3]

Style

Sherwood was usually described as a torch singer; she appeared on stage in a sweater and glasses, and used a cymbal held in her hand for accompaniment.[1] Life described her as "flashy, richly sentimental, as unsubtle as her crashing cymbal and as unpretentious as her $49.50 dress".[2]

Later career

Sherwood's recordings were not tremendous successes; her only charting hit was "Lazy River", which hit #57 on the Hot 100 in 1956 – but she continued to have a singing and recording career into the 1970s. Her recordings apparently did well in jukeboxes, which perhaps explains why they continued to appear.[4][5] She appeared four times on The Ed Sullivan Show and on many other variety shows of the late 1950s. She appeared on The Jackie Gleason Show, as a singer. She was interviewed by Edward R. Murrow on Person to Person.[6]

In the 1960s she appeared once on Joey Bishop's sitcom and once on his talk show. She also appeared with her sons on a memorable 1964 Lucy Show with Lucille Ball[7] as well as The Donna Reed Show's 4th season episode "Donna Meets Roberta" (May 1962).[8] Todon Productions, Donna Reed's production company, used the end of that episode to introduce the pilot of Sherwood's own show, which co-starred Gale Gordon but never aired. She continued to headline nightclubs into the late 1970s and toured in a variety show with Cyd Charisse, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and others in 1980.[9]

Sherwood was an occasional actress, appearing in a 1957 TV movie about the early life of George M. Cohan entitled "Mr. Broadway," in which she co-starred with Mickey Rooney, James Dunn, Gloria DeHaven and June Havoc, sporadically in the 1960s (including as the housekeeper in The Courtship of Eddie's Father), and as late as 1978 had a bit part in an episode of The Incredible Hulk playing "Mrs. Waverly" in an episode titled "Earthquakes Happen".[10]

Honors

She received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Film Welfare League in 1985.[9]

Last years

She continued performing in the Los Angeles area well into the early 1990s and recorded a final album, "The Tribute Collection", in 1992, produced by her son Don.[11]

Family

Her husband Don, who never made a complete recovery from his cancer, died in 1960.[12] The couple had three sons, Don, Robert and Jerry Lanning, who all appeared with her in memorable episodes of The Lucy Show and The Donna Reed Show.[13] A retrospective CD of her first two Decca albums is currently available on Sepia Records.

Her son, Robert, also known as Bob, became a Los Angeles session drummer; but he is best known for his work with Elvis Presley as his drummer during Presley's January / February 1970 engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lanning's drumming can be heard on most of the tracks on Presley's 1970 live album, On Stage, including Presley's hit single The Wonder of You[14] as well as album favorites See See Rider, Walk a Mile in My Shoes, Polk Salad Annie and Let It Be Me. Lanning also accompanied Elvis on drums during Presley's concert appearances at the Houston Astrodome for the 1970 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. These performances took place in late February / early March 1970. By July 1970, Lanning was replaced on drums in Elvis' rhythm section by Ron Tutt.[15]

One of her other sons, Jerry Lanning, become an actor known for both his stage and TV work, appearing early on a singer of cowboy songs on the Donna Reed Show episode called "Big Star" and in a soap operas such as Guiding Light and Search for Tomorrow. He went on to have recurring roles in later soaps such as Texas (TV series).[16]

Albums

References

  1. 1 2 "Roberta Sherwood, 86, Singer at Top Clubs in 50's and 60's". The New York Times. July 9, 1999. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  2. 1 2 "Matron With a Torch Song: Broke, Unknown, and 43, Roberta Sherwood Has Sudden Success", Life, October 15, 1956, p. 111-119.
  3. ↑ Billboard, November 10, 1956, p. 45.
  4. ↑ Billboard, June 13, 1960, "Decca Claims Hot Juke Box Platter", p. 113.
  5. ↑ Billboard, August 15, 1960, "Jukes Develop Own Artist Hit Parade", p. 1.
  6. ↑ New York Times obituary, July 9, 1999
  7. ↑ Hal Erickson. "The Lucy Show: Viv Moves Out (1964) – Jack Donohue". AllMovie.
  8. ↑ The Donna Reed Show, "Season 4 – The Lost Episodes" (MPI Home Video)
  9. 1 2 "Roberta Sherwood: Torch Singer", Los Angeles Times, July 9, 1999.
  10. ↑ The Incredible Hulk (1978–1982) Episode: Earthquakes Happen Episode aired 19 May 1978 accessed at Internet Movie Database January 28, 2016
  11. ↑ "The Life and Times of Roberta Sherwood". biscaynetimes.com.
  12. ↑ "The Life and Times of Roberta Sherwood", Biscayne Times; accessed July 2010).
  13. ↑ ""The Donna Reed Show" Donna Meets Roberta (TV Episode 1962)". IMDb.
  14. ↑ Untold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis' #1 Hits, Ace Collins, Chicago Review Press, 2005, p. 223
  15. ↑ Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, Peter Guralnick, Back Bay Books, 2000, p. 364
  16. ↑ Jerry Lanning IMDB page Accessed February 7, 2016
  17. ↑ Design Records discography
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