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The soft-spoken heartthrob with the easy smile and million-selling records, who captured the shrieks of a generation and later traded the spotlight for a paramedic badge, has died at age 81 after a battle with cancer.
His wife, Brigitte Poublon, shared the news Tuesday, June 24, on the Instagram account of actor John Stamos, who was a friend of Sherman's.
"From one ex teen idol, to another - rest in peace Bobby Sherman," Stamos wrote ahead of Poublon's comments.
Sherman is also survived by his two sons, Tyler and Christopher, and six grandchildren.
Sherman rose to fame in the late 1960s as a breakout teen idol, thanks to roles on ABC’s Shindig! and Here Come the Brides, where he played Jeremy Bolt, a bashful logger who quickly became the most popular face on the network.
His music career exploded soon after: in 1969, Little Woman soared to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling more than a million copies. It was the first of seven Top 40 hits and five gold albums.
At the height of his fame, Sherman reportedly received more fan mail than any other ABC performer, toured to sold-out arenas of screaming fans, and suffered partial hearing loss from the noise.
"Thank you to every fan who ever sang along, who ever wrote a letter, who ever sent love his way," his wife wrote on social media Tuesday. "He felt it."
But by the mid-1970s, Sherman walked away from stardom and into public service. A guest role on Emergency! inspired him to become a real-life paramedic.
He went on to serve as a CPR instructor, reserve officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, and deputy sheriff in San Bernardino County. In 1999, he was named LAPD’s Reserve Officer of the Year.
He briefly returned to the stage in the 1990s with fellow teen idols on The Teen Idol Tour, but spent his later years focused on charity work. He co-founded the Brigitte & Bobby Sherman Children’s Foundation, which helps students in Ghana access education and music programs.
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