Harry R. Sherman was a producer best known for his work on the television series Get Smart. The series ran for five seasons from 1965 to 1970 and followed a bumbling secret agent and his faithful assistant.
After graduating from UCLA – where he studied International Affairs – Sherman got his start in entertainment in the mailroom at the MCA agency and later worked as an assistant director on the series Tombstone Territory, Bat Masterson, Sea Hunt, The Rifleman, Dennis the Menace and The Patty Duke Show. He began producing in the 1960s with Get Smart, which was created by Mel Brooks, and featured Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and Edward Platt. He also worked on the television series The Good Guys, The Governor & J.J., Cagney & Lacey and more than 20 television movies and miniseries.
Over the course of a forty-plus year career, Sherman accrued more than 50 production credits and three Emmy Awards, which he won three years running. He won the Emmy in the category for Outstanding Special – Drama or Comedy, for the miniseries Eleanor and Franklin (1976) and Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977). The former would become the most-awarded miniseries ever, with 22 honors, including Emmy Awards for best writing, directing and best supporting actress as well as a Golden Globe for best television movie and a Peabody. In 1978 Sherman won again in the same category for the special The Gathering. He was nominated once more in 1981 for Outstanding Drama Series for the CBS crime series Cagney & Lacey.
Harry R. Sherman was a producer best known for his work on the television series Get Smart. The series ran for five seasons from 1965 to 1970 and followed a bumbling secret agent and his faithful assistant.
After graduating from UCLA – where he studied International Affairs – Sherman got his start in entertainment in the mailroom at the MCA agency and later worked as an assistant director on the series Tombstone Territory, Bat Masterson, Sea Hunt, The Rifleman, Dennis the Menace and The Patty Duke Show. He began producing in the 1960s with Get Smart, which was created by Mel Brooks, and featured Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and Edward Platt. He also worked on the television series The Good Guys, The Governor & J.J., Cagney & Lacey and more than 20 television movies and miniseries.
Over the course of a forty-plus year career, Sherman accrued more than 50 production credits and three Emmy Awards, which he won three years running. He won the Emmy in the category for Outstanding Special – Drama or Comedy, for the miniseries Eleanor and Franklin (1976) and Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977). The former would become the most-awarded miniseries ever, with 22 honors, including Emmy Awards for best writing, directing and best supporting actress as well as a Golden Globe for best television movie and a Peabody. In 1978 Sherman won again in the same category for the special The Gathering. He was nominated once more in 1981 for Outstanding Drama Series for the CBS crime series Cagney & Lacey.
Sherman also served on the Board of Governors for the Television Academy's Producer Peer Group.
He died June 5, 2015, in Lake Arrowhead, California. He was 87.
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