Ransom Sherman
Born(1898-10-15)October 15, 1898
Appleton, Wisconsin U.S.
DiedNovember 26, 1985(1985-11-26) (aged 87)
Henderson, Nevada, U.S.
OccupationActor
SpouseHelen
Children2

Ransom M. Sherman (October 15, 1898 - November 26, 1985) was an American actor, radio and television personality and writer. He was an actor, known for the films Are You with It? (1948) and Winter Meeting (1948) and the television series Father of the Bride (1961–1962). He died on 26 November 1985 in Henderson, Nevada, in the United States.[citation needed]

Early years

Sherman and his family moved from Appleton, Wisconsin, to Chicago when he was 14. He attended a technical school in Chicago, but singing began to interest him more than the school's offerings. That pleased his parents, both of whom were musicians —[1] his father a violinist and his mother a pianist.[2] He sang in an amateur production of The Mikado, but when he was in college he played double bass in the orchestra.[1] He attended Michigan, Northwestern, and Ripon for his college studies but never graduated.[3]

Career

Sherman sold shoes at Marshall Field's[3] and sang and played saxophone in clubs and at banquets in the Chicago area until he traveled to Europe in 1923. After he returned, he began selling insurance. When he visited radio station KYW to call on some prospects for policies, he became interested in radio. He continued to visit stations until, at age 33, one gave him an audition that resulted in a job.[1]

One of Sherman's early radio shows was The Doctors, a comedy on which he cultivated his ability to ad-lib. Following that, he was on a variety show for a short time, after which he became master of ceremonies on Club Matinee on the Blue Network.[1] He starred in, and wrote scripts for, Hap Hazard, a comedy-variety show that was the summer replacement for Fibber McGee and Molly on NBC radio in 1941.[4] He retained the title role when the show returned to the air in January 1942.[5] He was also heard on Fibber McGee and Molly portraying Sigmund "Sig" Wellington (Sherman) – the manager of the Bijou Theater. Bill Thompson portrayed Wallace Wimple, and the old-timer.[6] Ransom co-starred with Leo Carrillo in Fiesta Ranch, a comedy-musical radio program, in 1943.[7] In 1944, he starred in Nitwit Court, the summer replacement for Duffy's Tavern.[8]

Sherman worked in Hollywood for nine years, appearing in some films before he returned to Chicago.[3] Films in which he appeared included Yankee Fakir,[9] Whiplash (1949)[10] and The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947).[11]

A visit to Dave Garroway's television program led him to try television. During the summer of 1950, he had a 30-minute program five nights a week on NBC. Radio and TV columnist Larry Wolters described the show as "a light and airy thirty minutes of whimsical humor, gentle satire, bewildering non sequiturs, and a grab-bag of nonsense and foolishness".[3] A feature of the summer program was Sherman's parodying of how-to-do-it segments of TV shows. An article in Life magazine described Sherman's character in the segments as "the most appallingly inefficient Mr. Fixit who ever nailed his thumb to a board."[12] In October 1950, he began the Ransom Sherman Show, which originated at WNBQ in Chicago and was broadcast on NBC-TV Monday through Friday afternoons. That program lasted three months.[13] During the 1961–1962 television season, he played Herbert Dunston on the CBS situation comedy Father of the Bride.

Personal life

Sherman and his wife, Helen, had a son and a daughter.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "All About R. Sherman". The New York Times. May 31, 1942. p. X 8. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Perron, Bill (December 1940). "Club Matinee — Idols". Radio and Television Mirror. pp. 16, 71–72. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Wolters, Larry (August 13, 1950). "Low-Pressure Comic". The New York Times. p. X 87. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  4. ^ Dunning, John (May 7, 1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-19-977078-6. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  5. ^ "Ransom Sherman". The Des Moines Register. January 23, 1942. p. 10. Retrieved June 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Creason, Joe (November 2, 1943). "Ransom Sherman Belies Comedian Role". The Courier-Journal. Kentucky, Louisville. p. 21. Retrieved June 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Ransom Sherman in New Weekly Show on KWKH". The Times. Louisiana, Shreveport. March 4, 1943. p. 10. Retrieved June 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Edstrom, Ed (July 4, 1944). "'Nitwit Court' to Give Archie a Rest". The Courier-Journal. Kentucky, Louisville. p. 19. Retrieved June 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "'Yankee Fakir' Opens Noble Week". The Anniston Star. June 29, 1947. p. 19. Retrieved June 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Davis, Ronald L. (September 20, 2009). Zachary Scott: Hollywood's Sophisticated Cad. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 222. ISBN 978-1-60473-713-4. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  11. ^ "'Bachelor and Bobby-Soxer' among year's top comedies". Tampa Bay Times. October 30, 1947. p. 12. Retrieved June 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Mr. No Fixit: Ransom Sherman is a TV apostle of self-satisfied incompetence". Life. August 28, 1950. pp. 112, 115. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  13. ^ Cassidy, Marsha F. (April 20, 2009). What Women Watched: Daytime Television in the 1950s. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-78272-3. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
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