Robert B. Sherman.

In 1925, Robert B. Sherman was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Al Sherman, a songwriter, and Rosa Dancis Sherman. The family moved frequently before settling in Beverly Hills. At Beverly Hills High School, Sherman wrote and produced radio and stage shows, and at sixteen, his play Armistice and Dedication Day raised war bonds and earned a citation from the War Department. He attended Bard College, majoring in English Literature and Painting, and wrote his first two novels there.

In 1958, the Sherman Brothers had their first Top Ten hit with Tall Paul, sung by Annette Funicello, catching Walt Disney’s attention. They joined Disney Studios as staff songwriters. Their most enduring song, It’s a Small World After All, debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and became the most translated and performed song on Earth. In 1964, they won two Academy Awards for Mary Poppins, including Best Original Score and Best Original Song for Chim Chim Cher-ee. They earned nine Oscar nominations overall. After Disney’s death in 1966, they worked freelance on films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 1968, which earned a third Oscar nomination. In 1973, they became the only Americans to win First Prize at the Moscow Film Festival for Tom Sawyer. Their Broadway musical Over Here! was the biggest-grossing original musical of 1974. In 2000, they returned to Disney with The Tigger Movie.

In 1953, Robert married Joyce Ruth Sasner, and the couple had four children: Laurie, Jeffrey, Andrea, and Robert. Sherman moved to London in 2002, where he lived until his death on March 6, 2012. His funeral was at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California, and he was entombed in the Canaan Mausoleum.

In 2003, four of their films ranked in the BBC’s Top 10 Favorite Children’s Films of All Time, with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at number one. The Sherman Brothers were inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2005, awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2008, and received a window on Main Street Disneyland in 2010. Sherman’s posthumous autobiography, Moose: Chapters From My Life, was released alongside the film Saving Mr. Banks 2013, which depicted him. He is remembered for co-writing the songs of Mary Poppins and It’s a Small World.