# Shermy
**Shermy** is a fictional boy in *Peanuts*, the comic strip by [Charles M. Schulz](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-m-schulz), and one of the three characters who appeared in the strip's very first installment on October 2, 1950, alongside [Charlie Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-brown) and Patty.[1](https://www.peanuts.com/about/shermy) He was a central figure in the strip's early years, spoke its first line of dialogue, and then gradually faded from the cast until his last appearance in 1969.[2](https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Shermy)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First appearance | October 2, 1950, in the first *Peanuts* strip, with Charlie Brown and Patty[1](https://www.peanuts.com/about/shermy) |
| First line | He was the first character in the strip to speak, closing the debut strip with "Good ol' Charlie Brown... how I hate him"[2](https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Shermy) |
| Last strip appearance | June 15, 1969; last mentioned by name on March 13, 1977[2](https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Shermy) |
| Best-known animated moment | His single line in *A Charlie Brown Christmas* (1965): "Every Christmas, it's the same — I always end up playing a shepherd"[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/highlighting-two-holiday-sidekicks-peanuts-pal-shermy-and-grinchs-dog-max/2011/12/20/gIQAtwifDP_story.html) |
## Role in the early strip
The first *Peanuts* strip ran in seven newspapers on October 2, 1950 and featured Charlie Brown, Shermy, and Patty.[4](https://schulzmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CMS_Bio_and_PeanutsTrivia.pdf) In that debut, Shermy sits on the curb with Patty, speaks the strip's first dialogue, and closes the four panels with the line "Good ol' Charlie Brown... how I hate him!"[2](https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Shermy) The official Peanuts site describes him as one of Charlie Brown's oldest friends who "was around even before Snoopy," a smart and reserved boy up for a game of catch, a movie, or a walk around the neighborhood.[1](https://www.peanuts.com/about/shermy)
In the early 1950s Shermy belonged to the strip's core group along with Charlie Brown, Patty, and [Violet](https://www.edgepedia.org/violet-peanuts), before Lucy, Linus, and Schroeder grew into their later prominence.
## Decline and departure
Schulz explained the dismissal bluntly: he included the nondescript boy only when he "needed a character with very little personality."[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/highlighting-two-holiday-sidekicks-peanuts-pal-shermy-and-grinchs-dog-max/2011/12/20/gIQAtwifDP_story.html) The character was gradually retired rather than abruptly dropped, in the same way as the original Patty, while Violet kept a somewhat longer active run.[2](https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Shermy)
Even after he stopped appearing, Shermy was not entirely gone. A character who looks very like him appears in a strip from November 9, 1975, though Schulz never confirmed it was him, and he is last mentioned by name on March 13, 1977, in a strip in which Charlie Brown and Lucy discuss players on their baseball team.[2](https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Shermy) The Schulz Museum's FAQ lists him among the strip's supporting characters.[5](https://schulzmuseum.org/about-schulz/frequently-asked-questions/)
## Animated appearances
Shermy's most remembered animated moment comes from *A Charlie Brown Christmas* (1965). He appears in the opening ice-skating scene, and his only line laments his typecasting in the school Christmas play: "Every Christmas, it's the same — I always end up playing a shepherd."[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/highlighting-two-holiday-sidekicks-peanuts-pal-shermy-and-grinchs-dog-max/2011/12/20/gIQAtwifDP_story.html) He is also present at the end of the special, helping to decorate Charlie Brown's small tree.[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/highlighting-two-holiday-sidekicks-peanuts-pal-shermy-and-grinchs-dog-max/2011/12/20/gIQAtwifDP_story.html)
Later productions brought him back. The 2011 direct-to-DVD special *Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown* includes a scene based on the very first strip, in which Shermy says how much he hates Charlie Brown; Craig Schulz, Schulz's son and a co-writer of the special, noted that it deliberately brings back Shermy, Patty, and Violet as part of the foundation of Charlie Brown's neighborhood.[2](https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Shermy) • [6](https://schulzmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Unit-7-E-Peanuts-Worldwide-Animates-the-Strip.pdf) In *The Peanuts Movie* (2015) he appears with brown hair and a red short-sleeved shirt.[2](https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Shermy)
## Character and legacy
Shermy's defining trait, in the end, was his lack of one. The Washington Post's retrospective places him low in the *A Charlie Brown Christmas* hierarchy, below Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and Snoopy but level with Patty, the non-[Peppermint](https://www.edgepedia.org/peppermint) version, and describes him as the strip's resident nondescript boy.[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/highlighting-two-holiday-sidekicks-peanuts-pal-shermy-and-grinchs-dog-max/2011/12/20/gIQAtwifDP_story.html) Yet as the first voice of *Peanuts*, he occupies a fixed place in the strip's history: the character who opened the series by declaring, over four panels, how much he hated the boy who would become its protagonist.[2](https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Shermy)
## References
1. [Shermy, Peanuts (official site)](https://www.peanuts.com/about/shermy)
2. [Shermy, Peanuts Wiki (Fandom)](https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Shermy)
3. [Highlighting two holiday sidekicks: 'Peanuts' pal Shermy and Grinch's dog Max, The Washington Post (2011)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/highlighting-two-holiday-sidekicks-peanuts-pal-shermy-and-grinchs-dog-max/2011/12/20/gIQAtwifDP_story.html)
4. [Charles M. Schulz and Peanuts Fun Facts, Charles M. Schulz Museum](https://schulzmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CMS_Bio_and_PeanutsTrivia.pdf)
5. [Frequently Asked Questions, Charles M. Schulz Museum](https://schulzmuseum.org/about-schulz/frequently-asked-questions/)
6. [Unit 7-E: Peanuts Worldwide Animates the Strip, Charles M. Schulz Museum](https://schulzmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Unit-7-E-Peanuts-Worldwide-Animates-the-Strip.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Visual arts and design › Illustration and illustrators › Comic books and characters › Comic book characters and teams*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license