Tiger Beat - June 1970 (typed by Carol R.)

My Brother, Bobby (Part 3)
By his sister, Darlene

Bobby's older sister lovingly recalls the day that Bobby smoked his first cigarette...and the day he became a proud Godfather. A story that will touch your heart...

Our family doesn't get together often these days, since I live in Maryland, but when we do, it's the same closeness we felt in the "old days," when we were together.

Mac and I moved to Ontario, California, when our first child, Debbie, was nine months old. The first summer we were there, Bobby asked if he could spend a couple of weeks with us and we told him he was most welcome. Debbie was delighted with her Uncle Bobby around!

They would go outside and get in Debbie's wading pool and splash each other. And Bobby would put Debbie in her stroller and take her for walks. Mac and I took Bobby to Mt. Baldy and rode the ski lift. He was very impressed by that. We had lunch there and hiked all over the mountains. Bobby loved the out-of-doors!

BOBBY'S FIRST SMOKE - One day while Mac was at work, Bobby and I were just finishing lunch, and Bobby asked if he could have a cigarette. I hesitated for a moment and then said sure. My thought was, if he wanted to smoke, it was better for him to smoke in front of me than to sneak behind my back.

Well, he lit his first cigarette and puffed away, not inhaling. Then, he asked for another. After he had smoked about four cigarettes, he said, "Darl, you know, I don't like them like I thought I would." He has never smoked a cigarette since!

He still mentions it to this day. He attributes the fact that I didn't say no to him when he asked for a cigarette and letting him get as much as he wanted of them to the fact that he doesn't smoke today. Plus he says it made him feel a little more grown up when I told him he could smoke. We really had a great time while he stayed with us. He even met a little girl across the street that he had a crush on.

IDOLIZED HER UNCLE - When Michael was born, Debbie stayed with her Grandma and Grandpa Sherman and Uncle Bobby, while I was at the hospital. Mom told me that everywhere Bobby went, Debbie was sure to follow. She was two years old then and idolized her Uncle.

When I came home from the hospital, I stayed with my folks to recuperate. Bobby would come into the bedroom and look at Michael, and then one day he finally picked him up. Bobby was a little afraid of Mike because he was much smaller than Debbie was at birth, but he managed him just like he did Debbie. Mike was exactly two weeks old when we moved to Sacramento, California.

BECAME A LONER - The first summer we were gone was when Bobby started building his miniature Disneyland. Mom said Bobby was very depressed when we left, and he became sort of a loner. So, he involved himself in his Disneyland. About once a month, Mac and I would put the kids in the car and drive back to the Valley to spend the weekend. As the months went by, Bobby's Disneyland started taking shape. He had all the rides moving and miniature lights that lit up all the buildings on Main Street. Bobby has always been a perfectionist in everything he has ever done, and Disneyland was no exception. It was a work of art! He hadn't left out anything. It was an authentic miniature Disneyland.

The word started spreading around the neighborhood, and from there the newspaper came out and took pictures of it. Then, Bobby got a call from the people at Disneyland to ask if they could come out and see it. When they came, they brought blueprints of the new future plans for Disneyland. The men were very impressed by Bobby's work of art, and they wanted him to build on the new things so they could show it on the "Mickey Mouse Club Show," but it was just a short while after that, that Mickey Mouse went off the air. Bobby did complete some of the new plans, and kids from all over the Valley and Los Angeles came to see it!

CAR STAYED OUTSIDE - Bobby still has certain parts of Disneyland left. He had to get rid of a lot of it because of lack of room. When he'd set the thing up, it took at least three fourths of the back yard! And the rest of the time it had to go in the garage, so consequently the family car stayed in the driveway. It took Bobby almost two years to complete his Disneyland, but it was well worth it.

In 1959, Mac and the kids and I moved to Maryland. All our moving around is due to the fact that Mac works for an aircraft company and travels as a representative. In 1961, we moved back to California. Mary-Ann was born in September of that year.

BOBBY PLAYED WITH KIDS - Bobby would come over to the house after school and play with the kids. One day, he asked if my girlfriend could find out how he could get into show business. This was the first time that anybody knew that Bobby had a desire for show business.

At the time, I had a girlfriend that was doing bit parts in movies, and I asked her Bobby's questions and she didn't have any idea. Of course, Bobby was disappointed, but it was less than a year later that Bobby got his chance! (Mac and I had moved back to Maryland by this time). Bobby had a friend who played in a band that was playing at a private party in Los Angeles. Bobby was invited there by a girl he knew, and the boys in the band urged Bobby to sing for the party guests and Bobby did. Sal Mineo, Jane Fonda, Natalie Wood and Roddy McDowell were at the party, and they were very enthused when they heard Bobby sing. Sal Mineo approached Bobby after he had sung a couple of numbers and asked him if he had a manager. Bobby said no.

BOBBY'S WILD VISIT - It was in April of 1964 that Bobby and Sal came to Maryland to visit us for a weekend. The two of them were in New York, and called us to see what we were doing that weekend. We said nothing and they said, "Great, we'll be down!" We picked them up at the airport, and from that moment it was a wild, wild weekend!

Everywhere we took the boys, there was a crowd of people. For instance, we got in the car Friday night not having made up our minds where we were going for dinner When we got to a restaurant, there was a mob of people with professional camera equipment. Now, how they knew where we were going was completely beyond me since we didn't know ourselves. But there they were, taking pictures and asking for autographs!

The same thing happened Saturday. We had a line of traffic in front of our house, which normally was a very quiet street. Plus, kids were at the fence waiting to get a glimpse of the boys. We were forced to put them up in a motel so they could get some rest while our phone rang off the hook. All I can say is, it was the craziest weekend I had ever spent in my life!

BECAME A GODFATHER - Then, July 20, 1964, my youngest son (named Bobby) was born. The same day Uncle Bobby was in California signing a two-year contract to appear on "Shindig". Bobby called me while I was in the hospital. He said that since Little Bobby was named after him and he was born on the day he signed the contract, that little Bobby must be his lucky piece. He said we wouldn't have to worry about little Bobby's college education for he would pay for it! Bobby is also little Bobby's Godfather.

When the first show of "Shindig" was aired in September of 1964, Mother was here in Maryland visiting with us. That night we all sat around the television set anxiously awaiting Bobby's appearance. I couldn't believe that this was my baby brother. I thought of him as building helicopters, writing scripts and making television camera. All of us were amazed and a little bewildered that this was brother, son, brother-in-law and uncle entertaining us in our living room three thousand miles away.

The news started spreading around that this was my brother on "Shindig," and all of a sudden I became popular. Kids asked me questions about Bobby and said how very lucky I was that he was my brother.

Mac and the kids and I went out to California the summer of '64. We went to a couple of tapings of the "Shindig" show. I guess Mac and I really never imagined the work that went behind putting on one of these shows, but let me tell you they really do work hard and long hours!

We, as the viewers, see the glamorous side of the shows after they're put together, but from what I saw I wouldn't and possibly couldn't even keep up the pace that an entertainer has to! Not only entertainers, but the crews! I know that when Bobby got home from taping a show, he would be completely exhausted. He'd just take a shower and go to bed. I'm proud to say the two years the show ran, my family and I never missed a show.