Teen Photo - May 1972

Bobby:   His Strange Love Code

Tho lots of girls would love to be Bobby's steady, not one has been able to make that dream come true - and here's why.

"I know that my attitude toward girls is hard for some people to understand.  But I can't play it any other way - not right now."

Maybe Bobby's love code would seem strange to many of his fans, but he's a very down-to-earth, level-headed young man, and there is usually a good reason for what he does.

Take his ambitions for the future.  For many young men, being a teen idol, selling records by the millions, would be enough.  But Bobby had acting ambitions, too.  That's why he turned to TV, and got parts first on Here Come The Brides, and then on Getting Together.

"Don't think for a minute that I don't appreciate what music has done for me, and that I don't love my fans, because I do.  But there are so many things I want to do.  A person shouldn't stand still."

And what does this have to do with Bobby's strange love code?  Just this:  Bobby refuses to date a girl he really likes more than a few times.

"It wouldn't be fair to her," he explains.  "Let's face it, girls want to settle down, to marry and have their families - and I think this is great.  But if a guy isn't prepared to give them this kind of life, he shouldn't get too involved too soon."

Bobby, who first hit national acclaim with the popular Shindig back in 1965, went on to compose his own music, appear as a guest star on various dramatic shows and then to be one of the stars of Here Come The Brides at Screen Gems.

In the show, he played a dramatic role.  But, at the same time, the ambitious Bobby, who is also a perfectionist, kept right on with his music, composing, recording, practicing.

In fact, he has a recording studio at the home of his parents in the San Fernando Valley, where he spends a great deal of his spare time.

In Bobby's future, you can expect him to appear more and more as a serious actor.  Another plan - he'd like to direct and eventually to produce his own movies.   His parents, who own a successful dairy farm in the Valley, are proud of Bobby, but they also worry about him because he works too hard.  Such a schedule doesn't leave time for getting seriously involved with any one girl.

And recently, his busy routine caught up with him.  He had been in New York on a promotion trip for his series, Getting Together, and then hurried back to Hollywood for more hard work.  That was when his too-busy work routine caught up with him.  He collapsed and was forced to rest awhile.  But even then, he was restless and eager to get back to work.

"Doing the series did take away from my concerts and personal appearance," he said.  "I love to go out on the road and meet my fans, but with a series you have to be at the studio every day - all day, and that only leaves weekends for touring."

Bobby has been in show business long enough to know that it has its ups and downs, and that it is important to be able to put disappointments in the background and look ahead to the future.

If he doesn't have a series, that will mean more time for traveling and talking to his fans all over the country - something he loves to do.

Perhaps more than any entertainer in recent years, Bobby identifies with his fans.  He relates, and it is not at all unusual to see him chatting with a group of young girls, listening to their problems and discussing them.

"I think most kids today are so with it, but you hear so much about the bad ones, you forget how many of the others there are.  My fans are aware, they know what's going on.  I love them!"  He added, "They're involved with life, and they have a natural vitality."

If you've ever seen Bobby on the stage, then you know about the oneness he has with his audiences.  You feel that he is looking right at you, sharing your deepest feelings - that he is one with you.

And yet, much as he loves this closeness, his driving energy makes him want to try other things, too.

"I've wanted for a long time to do a movie," he said.   "But I want to do a serious role.  It's something I've never had a chance to do, and I'm determined!

"You see, when I finished Here Come The Brides, I was offered several scripts, plus a lot of money to do various roles.  But they weren't right so I turned them down."

They were, for the most part, light comedy scripts and teenage musicals.   But Bobby knew that it was time to try something different.

Some of his friends felt he was very foolish to turn down these parts, but Bobby has great insight about what's right for him.  Though he's very young, he's been in show biz a long time.  And he has a good memory.  He knows how many young stars have flashed brightly and then faded.  He doesn't want that to happen to him.

He is in charge of himself and his career and he knows where he's going.   He intends to be around for a long, long time.  He has the blueprint made for his future.

Not only is Bobby gifted and appealing, but he's brilliant, too.  A close friend told us, "This boy's a genius, and don't ever forget it.  He'll go right on being a big name in Hollywood and not only in music and light comedy, but as a dedicated actor, director and producer."

But somehow he manages to find time for dates, for enjoying life.  He drives a Rolls Royce which he purchased in 1968.

"I've always wanted one," he said proudly.  "It's like a dream come true."

His dates - well, they're mostly with girls he has known for years, girls who are not in show business.

"I don't have time to go steady." he says.  "It wouldn't be fair to the girl.  But, of course, I want to marry and have children - some day.  I don't think a man's life is complete without a family.  But there is time for that."

Even Bobby can't always stick to his own plans for his life though.   He admits that he is more than a little interested in Patti Carnel.  And she likes him, too.

She says, "He's so thoughtful, so with it.  But I think we're really more good friends than anything else.  He's a wonderful, wonderful person."

And there are a lot of people who would agree with her about that.   Just when you think he couldn't possibly have time to take on another project, he does.

He's waging a one-man battle against cancer, and has established the Bobby Sherman Research Fund.  Right now, he's busy raising money for the Fund, and doing a good job.

He particularly wants to aid young cancer victims.  In Hollywood, people simply shake their heads in wonder that busy Bobby would find time for such a great and needed cause.

But then, that's Bobby Sherman.  He has stayed modest in spite of his success, and the admiration of his fans.  He has his own apartment in town, but he often visits with his parents and spends hours in his studio at their home.

He's a photography buff, and has loads of photographic equipment, not to mention the display of musical instruments he plays.

He's very close to his parents.  "In fact," he says smiling, "we often double date."

Then, more soberly, he added, "I think that if more kids would try to be close to their parents, to make friends with them, there wouldn't be any generation gap.

He went on to explain, "Kids are always saying that their parents don't understand them, but do they try to understand their parents?  It's a two-way street, you know."

Yes, Bobby's quite a guy, and we know that when the time comes that he decides to change his love code, to get really serious with that certain girl, she'll know how very lucky she is to have him.  Wouldn't you?