16 Magazine - July 1969
(typed by Julie S.)

Bobby's fight - and the day he almost quit!

After Shindig went off the air, Bobby's career went nowhere. Everything he did seemed to add up to zero. He was just about to give it all up when…

"People who know me now, or who knew me when I was in Shindig, find it difficult to believe that one very dark day - before Here Come the Brides - I was ready to completely give up my career. Yes, believe it or not - one day I almost quit! I know now that it would have been a terrible mistake, but let me tell you the whole story from the beginning.

"Every boy has his own personal dream of what he wants to be when he grows up. Most boys want to be cowboys, policemen, firemen or doctors. Before a boy really decides on his career, he changes his mind at least a dozen times. Not me! When I was growing up, I had a very active imagination and I lived in a world full of daydreams - but I had only one real ambition. For as long as I can remember - I wanted to be in show business! My entire life was centered around my deep desire to be an entertainer. I began taking trumpet lessons when I was just 9 years old. By the time I was in high school, I had taught myself to play ten musical instruments! It was during this time that I started singing too. And, to add to my hectic schedule, I also enrolled in Theatre Arts classes. I was determined to know all I could about the wonderful world of show business. My dream just had to come true!

THE FIRST BIG BREAK - "Upon graduating from high school, my first big break came along. The producers of Shindig chose me to be a regular in the ABC-TV teenage variety show. Shindig ran for two television seasons - 14 months to be exact - and during that time I was deliriously happy. I was in show business - for real this time! Everything was going along fine. I was lost on my own little ink cloud, so I didn't notice when the ratings for the show started slipping. Then one day our producer, Jack Goode, called a cast meeting to notify us that Shindig was going to be cancelled!

"Our last Shindig show was on January 8, 1966. I'll never forget that date or the difficult months that followed. My first thoughts after the cancellation of Shindig were to move on in my career. I had always wanted to be an actor, and now I had time to try to break into that area of show business. Of course, I still continued singing, but I was determined to make the transition to acting. Everyone advised me to 'forget it'. They didn't mean to discourage me, but they felt it was a very hard transition to make and they wanted me to be prepared for possible failure. I wouldn't listen to anyone, and - month after month - I worked toward my 'new' goal. The only trouble was - I soon realized that I wasn't getting anywhere as an actor! To top it all, my 'other' career as a singer was slowly but surely going downhill. My recent records weren't doing well. No one seemed to care about 'Bobby Sherman' anymore - now that he wasn't in Shindig. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I even thought my fans had deserted me. I missed all the wonderful letters they used to write to me. The letters would always cheer me up - but now they were gone too!

"BEHIND THE SCENES" - "Needless to say, I started feeling sorry for myself. It seemed as though I never smiled anymore - and I was super depressed! Before this time, I had always been the type of person who wouldn't give up on anything I believed in or wanted badly. But two and a half years is a long time when you are fighting for your future - and that's how long it had been since the good old Shindig days. I couldn't fool myself anymore. It was too late. I had failed - and it was about time I faced reality.

"It was then that I realized why everybody had advised me to 'forget it'. Maybe I should! Although my real ambition was to be an entertainer - I finally decided to give up performing and try my hand at record production and directing. You see, I could never give up show business completely! At least, I'd be working 'behind the scenes' - even if I couldn't succeed 'before the cameras'.

"Well, even my record productions were a bomb - and I had just reached my breaking point when a very good friend told me about a new TV series ABC was planning called Here Come the Brides. My friend worked at Screen Gems and he thought I'd be right for the part of 'Jeremy'. He asked me if I would go to New York City (that's where the heads of Screen Gems were at the time) and audition for the part! I had made up my mind that this would be my one last attempt at show business before I really quit - and' quite honestly, I didn't feel at all optimistic over Brides. After all, why should my luck suddenly change?

"I really didn't know what made me go for that audition - but I'm glad I did! Of course, you know that I did get the part of 'Jeremy', but I often wonder where I would be and what I would be doing today if things had worked out differently! Now, when I look back on those 'hard times', I feel annoyed at myself for ever having thought of giving up. At least I've learned that nothing comes easy in life. You have to work hard for what you want in life, and truly believe in any dreams or ambitions you have. Sometimes you may get discouraged - but you should stick with it. Always remember one thing - the most important thing I have learned - a quitter never wins!"