The Sonny & Cher Show:

 

The Sonny and Cher comedy hour ran from August 1, 1971 (as a summer replacement series), until May of 1974. Two years after the end of the show, even though the two had split up, they were once again together on The Sonny and Cher show. The show lasted from only 1976-1977. It featured some of the top songs from the 1960's that Sonny and Cher performed, including, "I've Got You Babe" at the end of most episodes, and "The Beat Goes On". Some of the show's most memorable guest appearances included Ronald Reagan receiving the first ever "Bono" award, Barbara Eden in her post- I Dream of Jeannie days, Steve Martin, and Bob Einstein just to name a few. The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour was picked up by Nick at Nite's TV Land in early 1996 when the show debuted.

 

 

 

Sonny Bono was born Salvatore Bono in 1935. Sonny first sang background vocals for some of Phil Specter's classic hits. In the 1960's, he met Cher Sarkisian Lapierre, who he later married. Sonny was fired by Specter in 1965. It was after this that Sonny and Cher began to come famous, with the hit song, "I've Got You Babe" in 1965. Many other hits soon followed. In 1967, Sonny and Cher starred in the movie, "Good Times". By the end of the sixties, their music career dwindled. Sonny tried to revive their fame by becoming a nightclub act. It was here that Sonny and Cher's "marital jokes" began on stage. Sonny convinced CBS to make their act into a summer replacement show. The show began on August 1, 1971. The show's success made CBS bring the show back in December 1971. The series fell apart after Sonny and Cher's divorce in 1974. Sonny tried to come back in television, but his next two shows "The Sonny Comedy Revue" and "The Sonny and Cher Show" were not ratings grabbers. He had a couple guest star appearances on The Love Boat and Fantasy Island, but Sonny seemed to be a has-been on television. He re-married in the early 1980's and opened "Bono's", a restaurant in Los Angeles. He later moved the business to Palm Springs. He found trouble with rent and taxes, so decided to run for Mayor. Most people joked at this.. an old 1960's long-haired rock and roll singer running for a government office, but Sonny won and remained Mayor for 4 years. Afterwards, in 1995, he made it to Congress in Washington D.C. Sonny recently died in a ski accident , January 5, 1998 at the age of 62.

 

 

Cherilyn Sarkisian Lapierre, a half-American Cherokee Indian was born in 1946 in California. When she was a teenager, she decided to run away from her mother, who had been married eight previous times and was an ex-actress. After this, she became a back-up singer for Phil Spector. It was here she met Sonny, Phil's assistant. When Cher moved in with Sonny, they started their own act, called "Caesar and Cleo". The act wasn't a success until they re-named it "Sonny and Cher". The year after the change, they performed their first big hit, "I've Got You Babe". This song would become a closing number for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. Cher starred in Chasity in 1969. As the team's popularity decreased, Cher and Sonny went into the nightclub act instead, until The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in 1971. After the show ended, (and her marriage with Sonny), she went on to her own show, "Cher". The show brought on a lot of stress, so she teamed up with Sonny again for The Sonny and Cher show, where Sonny could handle some of the show business pressures. Cher has enjoyed a long solo music career, lasting from the divorce of Sonny and Cher to the 1990's. After TV, she starred in some off-broadway plays including ,"Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean". One of her most current CDs was released , "A Man's World", was released in 1996.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour
Sonny Bono

 

 

Cher, at Sonny Bono's Funeral:
"Some people thought that Son wasn't very bright, but he was smart enough to take an introverted 16-year-old girl and a scrappy little Italian guy with a bad voice and turn them into the most successful and beloved couple of this generation."
"Some people were under the misconception that Sonny was a short man, but he was heads and tails taller than anyone else. He could see above the tallest people. He had a vision of his future and just how he was going to build it (...) His enthusiasm was so great that he just swept everybody along with him. Not that we knew where he was going, but we just wanted to be there."