Allan Sherman

Birth Name:

Allan Gerald Copelon

Birth Date:

November 30, 1924

Birth Place:

Chicago, Illinois

Death Date:

November 20, 1973

Place of Death:

Los Angeles, California

Age:

Cause of Death:

Respiratory failure

Cemetery Name:

Hillside Memorial Park

Claim to Fame:

Show Business

Allan Sherman was an American musician, satirist, actor and television producer who became known as a song parodist in the early 1960s. In the fall of 1962, if an album sold 10,000 copies, Warner Bros. Records considered it a success. Then Allan Sherman released My Son The Folk Singer, an album of Jewish themed parody songs that sold close to 400,000 copies in three weeks on the way to over one million sales. Among the single recordings that helped to push his annual income beyond $500,000 at the height of his popularity were “Crazy Downtown,” and “Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh,” which described the horrors of a summer camp and won for Mr. Sherman a Grammy Award in 1963 for the best comic performance. But just as quickly as his star rose, Mr. Sherman's saw his popularity vanish post JFK and with the rise of Beatlemania. Audiences lost their desire for his particular form of comedy and the British Invasion dominated the airwaves. In his final years, Sherman's alcoholism and weight gain caused severe deterioration of his health; he later developed diabetes and struggled with lung disease. In 1966, his wife Dee filed for divorce and received full custody of their son and daughter. Sherman lived on unemployment benefits for a time and moved into the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital for a short time to lose weight. He died while entertaining his friends during the night of November 20, 1973, at his West Hollywood home.

Fun Facts

The New York Times once defined Allan Sherman as, “Short, overweight, moonfaced and bespectacled, his voice barren of quality and charisms.” And this was in his obituary.

Not everyone was a fan of his wit or style of humor. The list of musicians and composers who refused to allow parodies of their compositions include Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, Ira Gershwin, Meredith Wilson, Alan Jay Lerner, and Frederick Loewe, as well as the estates of Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, Kurt Weill, George Gershwin and Bertolt Brecht.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Hillside Memorial Park

6001 W Centinela Ave

Culver City, California, 90045

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California

Grave Location:

Mausoleum, Columbarium of Hope, Niche #513

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery take the first right and then the first left, driving towards to top of the Al Jolson waterfall. Directly across from the Al Jolson memorial enter the Mausoleum rotunda turn right into the Sanctuary of Benevolence and then turn left into the Corridor of Contentment. Walk down 3 sections to the Columbarium of Hope on your left. Look 5 rows from the bottom and 13 columns from the left for the final resting place of Allan Sherman. Note: it is really really small.