Berman married Sarah Herman on April 19, 1947. The two met while they were studying acting at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. In the mid-1960s, Berman and wife Sarah adopted two children, son Joshua and daughter Rachel. In the 1980s, the Chamber of Commerce in Canoga Park, California selected Berman as one of the celebrities to serve a term as honorary mayor of Canoga Park.
Allegation of plagiarism In a 2012 podcast interview with
Marc Maron, Berman alleged that comedian
Bob Newhart plagiarized his improvisational telephone routine style, describing its genesis and saying it was a "very special technique that couldn't really be imitated. It could be stolen. And it was." "I was coming to work at night and a guy stopped his car, passed me by, and said 'Hey, Shelley! There's a guy [who] stole your act!'" When asked by Maron if it was done maliciously, Berman replied, "Maliciously? He wouldn't do it maliciously. Nobody does that. But he did it to make a living. And he became a star." According to
The New York Times, "
George Jessel had a radio show," Mr. Newhart recalled. "At the end, he would call up his mother and tell her how the show had gone. As a kid growing up, I remember listening to him and he would call his mother up and say, 'Mama, this is Georgie'" – he paused, skillfully – "'from the money.'" Newhart cited other influences on his comedy, rather than Berman -- most notably
Jack Benny and
Bob and Ray. ==Death==