BEBOP and West Coast jazz legend Jack Sheldon has died at age 88. The news was first reported via a Facebook post by his biographer and documentarian, Doug McIntyre, in which he shared an announcement from Cynthia Jimenez (the sister of Sheldon’s longtime manager, Dianne Jimenez) stating that the trumpeter, singer, and actor had passed away of undisclosed causes on Dec. 27. Dianne confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday morning.

While the charismatic and hilarious Sheldon boasted an impressive résumé that included serving as the music director and sidekick on “The Merv Griffin Show” for 18 years; releasing 23 albums as a bandleader between 1955 and 2007; heading his own 17-piece orchestra; working with everyone from Art Pepper, Gerry Mulligan, Benny Goodman, and Frank Sinatra to the Monkees and Tom Waits; and acting in various movies and TV shows, he is also lovingly remembered as the affable, lackadaisical crooner from the “Schoolhouse Rock!” cartoons of the 1970s, including “Conjunction Junction” and “I’m Just a Bill.”

Born on Nov. 20, 1931, Sheldon was seemingly destined to go into show business: His mother was Jen Loven, a drama teacher who founded a famous Los Angeles swimming school attended by the children of many Old Hollywood celebrities. He began playing music professionally at age 13, performed in military bands during his time in the Air Force in the late ’40s, and eventually became a key player in the West Coast jazz scene in the 1950s.

During his lifetime, the longtime L.A. resident also racked up more than 70 screen credits, ranging from playing trumpet on the theme songs for “Peter Gunn” and “The Munsters” and on Johnny Mandel’s “The Shadow of Your Smile” from “The Sandpiper,” to acting in “Freaky Friday,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “Dragnet,” “Marcus Welby M.D.,” “Petticoat Junction,” “Adam 12,” “Police Woman,” “The Cara Williams Show,” and even his own 60s sitcom, “Run, Buddy, Run.”

In November 1973, Sheldon joined the second season of “Schoolhouse Rock!” — ABC’s educational cartoon series masterminded by advertising executives David McCall and George Newall and led by renowned jazz pianist Bob Dorough — with “Conjunction Junction.” He went on to voice iconic characters in more than a dozen of the Emmy-nominated series’ animated shorts, including “Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla,” “The Tale of Mr. Morton,” and “I’m Just a Bill.”

The latter became such a signature song for Sheldon that he revisited his “Bill” role for parodies on both “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons;” he also recorded an R-rated “Conjunction” spoof for “Family Guy.” Sheldon and Dorough (who died in 2018) embarked on a club tour with a “Schoolhouse Rock!” revue in the mid-’90s.

(SD-Agencies)