Richard M. Sherman , a nine-time Academy Award nominee and one of the songwriting brothers behind Disney movies like 1964’s Mary Poppins and 1967’s The Jungle Book , has died at 95. Sherman died of age-related illness at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills on Saturday, according to a Walt Disney Company announcement .
Robert B. Sherman , the other half of the duo, died in 2012. The Sherman Brothers, who had a big fan in Walt Disney himself, won two Academy Awards for Mary Poppins , taking home the trophies for Best Score – Substantially Original and Best Original Song (for “Chim Chim Cher-ee”).
Richard and Robert wrote more than 200 songs for some 27 films and 24 television productions, Disney reports. Their film credits include The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), The Parent Trap (1961), Summer Magic tv (1963), The Sword in the Stone (1963), That Darn Cat! (1965), Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), The Happiest Millionaire (1967), The Aristocats (1970), and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). The brothers left Disney in the early 1970s but kept working on films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), Charlotte’s Web (1973), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1973), and Huckleberry Finn (1974).
The Shermans also wrote music for Disney theme park attractions, including the songs “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow,” “The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room,” and “It’s a Small World.” They’re also immortalized with a storefront at Disneyland’s Main St.