16 Magazine - December 1969

Bobby In Jail!

I never before realized how precious freedom is - but there I sat, locked in a dark prison cell with no one to talk to and worst of all, with no one around to help me!  What a terrible, frightening predicament to be in - and I had only myself to blame!

What a fool I had been!  I had always taken my freedom to go where I pleased for granted.  Why didn't I realize how lucky I was?  Did something like this have to happen to make me see the light?  I never knew what loneliness is until that afternoon when, for the first time in my life, I was absolutely all alone - trapped in a deserted jail cell!

It's a time like this that makes you look around you - and see yourself for the first time.  And that's just what happened to me!  I learned a lot about Bobby Sherman that dismal day, I found out the things that are most important to me in my world - so at least my horrible experience was not in vain.  In fact, I learned the greatest lesson of my life:

"Freedom is a gift from God and we should all learn to appreciate it!"

You're probably wondering what I was doing locked in jail - how I got there - and why I'm being so "dramatic".  Well, I'm about to answer all of these questions for you!  And while I'm at it, I want to share with each and every one of you the lesson I learned from this experience.  You know, I'm not the only one guilty of taking freedom for granted.  Maybe you do too!

THE WANDERER - It was a typical day at the Screen Gems ranch where we tape Here Come The Brides, but as the clock struck 12 noon and we broke for lunch - little did I know what a very unusual day this would turn out to be!  I wasn't at all hungry, so instead of joining the rest of the cast and going to a restaurant - I decided to wander around the ranch by myself.  I sometimes like to go off and discover secret places, and since that never got me in trouble before - I didn't expect this day to be any different.  How wrong I was!

Before long, I found myself walking around the section of the ranch we call "Seattle".  That's the place where we film most of the outdoor scenes for Brides.  The show we were taping that day consisted entirely of indoor scenes, which are taped in the studio, so "Seattle" was deserted.  I walked past Lottie's, the church, the brides' dormitory, and I stopped in front of the jail.  I don't know why - but for some reason I opened the door and stepped inside the jail.   The door of the jailhouse closed behind me and I didn't stop to think that it might lock from the outside.  But it did (as I later learned!) and I was trapped inside!   I realized that when I tried to get out about five minutes later!

TRAPPED!! - At first, I thought it was kind of funny and I laughed at my own carelessness.  But how was I to know that there really was a lock on the door?  It didn't matter though - everyone would be back from lunch in about 30 minutes and then someone would rescue me.  Or so I though!

It didn't occur to me at the time that no one would think to look for me in the "Seattle jail".  What in the world would I be doing there?   Well, as you may have guessed by now - everyone returned from lunch, went back to the studio (on the other side of the ranch) and there I was, shouting through the bars of the jail door - but no one could hear me!

MY FANTASY - Finally, I gave up and sat on the floor of the dark, empty jail.  And you know what? - I didn't find my situation amusing anymore.  In fact, I was very depressed and very bored.  I began to think of how awful it must be to really be in jail.  With nothing else to do, I lay down on the bunk and let my imagination wander.  I pretended that I was a criminal, confined to life imprisonment, and thought about everything I would be deprived of.

The first thing I missed was the freedom to just be able to do what I wanted to do.  We take so much for granted - little things like walking through the park, going to a store, swimming, visiting friends and so on.  Just about everything we do every day of our lives!  All of a sudden, these simple pleasures of life became impossible dreams!

As I continued my fantasy, I realized that I couldn't sneak off to my recording studio, visit my parents, drive my car, talk to my fans, watch TV, listen to records or go to a movie.  The whole thing really got to me.  I couldn't take it!  It would be like a living death!  It was bad enough being confined behind bars in my predicament - but imagine if I really were a prisoner!

Suddenly I wanted to get out of jail really badly.  On top of all my worries, I was due back on the set hours ago.  I was never late and I had never before failed to show up.  What could they all be thinking?!

THE RESCUE - More time passed and it seemed to be the longest day of my life.  And again - my imagination ran away with me.  Although I was a prisoner behind bars, there was someone who would help me!  There was a girl - a girl who cared enough about me to find me and set me free!  After all, she loved me - and isn't that what true love means?  If "my girl" was locked up somewhere, or in any kind of danger - I would risk my life to save her.  Yes, that's the kind of girl I would want to love me - that is, if I did have a girl!

My dream was interrupted by the sound of voices.  I jumped to my feet and looked out the window of the jail.  The entire cast and crew of Brides seemed to be searching for something!  When I heard them calling "Bobby", I realized that they were all looking for me!  I screamed back to them, "Here I am - over here - in the jail!"

The next thing I knew, David Soul rushed toward the jail, unlocked the door and set me free!  Everyone spoke at once and wanted to know what had happened - but I was so glad to have my freedom back that I couldn't even answer their questions!   I just looked at David, breathed a sigh of relief and managed to murmur, "Thank you!"

And to this day, I don't think anyone realized how very much I meant by those two words!