Richard Sherman, ‘Mary Poppins’ songwriter, dies at 95: What is the cause of death?

Two-time Oscar winner Richard Sherman has passed away at the age of 95, leaving behind a vast back catalogue of much-loved Hollywood classics.

Sherman, along with his brother Robert, wrote songs for iconic productions like ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’. He also created much-loved Disneyland tune “It’s a Small World (After All)”.

His career in Hollywood was ignited off the back of the success of his 1958 song ‘Tall Paul’, written for Mouseketeer Annette Funicello. He and his brother were subsequently hired as in-house songwriters for Disney and went on to create some of cinema’s most famous tunes.

Variety report that Sherman’s cause of death was age-related illness. He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills on Saturday.

Which movie songs did Richard M. Sherman write?

During his 74-year career in Hollywood Sherman penned many of the most well-known and much-loved songs in the history of cinema. The Sherman Brothers, as Richard and Robert were known, were used in many of Disney’s live action and animation musical films.

There songs were used in the following films, amongst many others: ‘Mary Poppins’, ‘The Sword in the Stone’, ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, ‘Snoopy Come Home’, ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks’ and ‘Charlotte’s Web’.

Sherman’s work on Mary Poppins won him two Academy Awards, Best Musical Score and Best Original Song for “Chim Chim Cher-ee”. His songs “The Age of Not Believing” from ‘Bedknobs and Boomsticks; “The Slipper and Rose Waltz” from ‘The Slipper and the Rose’; and “When You’re Loved” from ‘The Magic of Lassie’ were also nominated for the Oscar for Best Song.

The Walt Disney Company website says of the iconic duo: “The Sherman Brothers were responsible for more motion picture musical song scores than any other songwriting team in film history.”