Jimmy Sharman

James ("Jimmy") Sharman senior (20 June 1887 – 18 November 1965) and junior (1912 – 24 April 2006) were father and son Australian boxing troupe impresarios.

Born in Narellan, New South Wales Jimmy Sharman Snr had established a boxing tent in 1911 at Ardlethan near Temora. [cite web | year = 2004 | url = http://www.temora.nsw.gov.au/about/1006/1081.html | title = The Sharman Boxing Troupe | work = Our History | publisher = Temora Shire Council | accessdate = 2006-06-11] The tent visited 45 to 50 shows each year.cite web | last = Corris | first = Peter | authorlink = | coauthors = Diane Langmore | year = 1988 | url = http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110591b.htm | title = Sharman, James (1887 - 1965) | work = | publisher = Australian Dictionary of Biography | accessdate = 2006-06-10] His son, Jimmy Sharman jnr, took over the business in 1955. The tent formed part of the Australian Show landscape until 1971, when regulations barred boxers fighting more than once a week. Sharman then turned to dodgem cars in partnership with Reg Grundy.cite news | first=Daniel| last=Lewis | author= | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/a-life-at-the-show/2006/04/25/1145861349918.html | title = Sharman the showman is an official bloody legend | work= | publisher= Sydney Morning Herald | date= April 15 2003 | accessdate= 2006-06-10]

Jimmy Sharman junior

Sharman junior was born in Narrandera, New South Wales. In 1926, he attended his first Sydney Royal Easter Show in 1926 working in his father's tent.cite web | year = 2005 | url = http://www.rasnsw.com.au/memories.htm | title = Show Memories: The 2003 Easter Show | work = | publisher = Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales | accessdate = 2006-06-10] Sharman junior played rugby league for Western Suburbs Magpies. He was fullback in Western Suburbs' 1934 premiership win. In 1938 he became First Grade captain. He retired in 1939 to become a journalist, taking over the boxing tent from his father in 1955. [cite web | year = 2005 | url = http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:OS__zChDERkJ:www.westsmagpies.net/2005/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_weblinks%26catid%3D73%26Itemid%3D4+sharman+wests+site:www.westsmagpies.net
title = magpie history | format = Google cached version - not available on the Internet Archive | work = | publisher = Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd | accessdate = 2006-06-10] Sharman played 45 games between 1935 and 1939, scored 12 tries and kicked 11 goals.cite web | last = Masters | first = Roy | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2001 | url = http://rl1908.com/Rugby-League-News/frank-hyde.htm | title = It's long enough, it's high enough ... but the game's just not the same | format = | work = RL1908 Document archive | publisher = RL1908.com reproducing article originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald | accessdate = 2006-06-10] He was awarded life membership in 1998.cite news | first=Leech | last=Graeme | author= | url= http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20876,18939216-28737,00.html | title=Master of the troupe | work= Features | publisher=The Australian | date= April 27, 2006 | accessdate=2006-06-10]

Jimmy Sharman's Boxing Tent

Many famous boxers worked in the Sharman tent, including:
*Frank Burns (middleweight champion)
*Teddy Green (bantamweight)
*Harry Mack (featherweight)
*Mickey Miller (bantam and featherweight)
*George Cook (heavyweight)
*Herbert 'Wal' Truscott (Ex-wrestler/Businessman and Racing enthusiast) [cite web | last = Truscott | first = Wal | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2003 | url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/02/1064988351353.html?from=storyrhs | title = Journal of a SMH | work = 2003 | publisher = SMH | accessdate = 2008-08-17]
*Jack Hassen (lightweight)
*Billy Grime (triple titleholder)
*Jackie Green (triple titleholder)
*Dave Sands Aboriginal boxer [cite web | last = Sloane | first = Garry | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2003 | url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/02/1064988351353.html?from=storyrhs | title = Journal of a Journey | work = November 2003 archives | publisher = ochre-shores.net | accessdate = 2006-06-11]
*Greg McNamara (light-heavyweight)Famous Indigenous Australians to work in the tent include:
*George Bracken, Aboriginal lawyer
*Geoff Clark, former ATSIC chairperson
*Douglas Nicholls, later Pastor with the Churches of Christ in Australia and then Governor of South Australia
*Max Stuart, convicted murderer and Arrente elder [cite web | last = Thornton | first = Henry | authorlink = | year = 2002 | url = http://henrythornton.com/article.asp?article_id=1980 | title = Black and White:The story of a famous legal case | work = | publisher = henrythornton.com | accessdate = 2006-06-11]

Some boxers came from the Cherbourg Aboriginal mission, near Nanango, Queensland.

In 2003 the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales honoured Sharman Jr. with the title of "Show Legend".

In popular culture

*The Australian rock band Midnight Oil's 1984 album, "Red Sails in the Sunset", includes the song "Jimmy Sharman's Boxers" whose lyrics assert that Sharman exploited the aboriginal boxers he employed in his show.cite news | first= | last= | author= | url = http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/final-bell-for-boxing-showman/2006/04/26/1145861376146.html | title= Final bell for showman Jimmy Sharman | work= | publisher=The Age | date= April 26 2006 accessdate=2006-06-10]
*The Australian rock band Cold Chisel's song "Yesterdays" has lyrics which refer to Jimmy Sharman's boxers [http://www.coldchisel.com.au/l1_yesterdays.html] .
*The 2007 Peter Carstairs film "September" features its main characters - 15-year-old boys Ed and Paddy - setting up a boxing ring on Ed's family's wheatbelt property in anticipation of a visit by Sharman's boxing troupe. Paddy later joins the troupe.
*Jimmy Sharman Jnr's son, Jim Sharman became a theatre and film director, known especially for the musicals Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show and the movie version, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

References

External links

*Description of the boxing tent: cite web | last = McLennan | first = Wayne | authorlink = | year = 2002 | url = http://www.quadrant.org.au/php/archive_details_list.php?article_id=371 | title = The Tent | work = Volume XLVI Number 5 | publisher = Quadrant | accessdate = 2006-06-10
*Pictures:
**cite web | last = Carter | first = Jeff | authorlink = | year = 1959 | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3104828 | title = Jimmy Sharman's travelling stadium, New South Wales, 1959 | format = picture | work = PictureAustralia | publisher = National Library of Australia | accessdate = 2006-06-11
* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110591b.htm ADB biography]