Robert B Sherman (left) with his brother Richard M Sherman.

The composer for Disney films Mary Poppins and the Jungle Book has died in London aged eighty-six, the BBC reports. Robert B Sherman, born in New York in 1925, won two Oscars for his film scores, which also include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Aristocrats and Winnie the Pooh.

Sherman, also a painter and a novelist, wrote most of his songs with his brother Richard M Sherman. Sons of the songwriter Al Sherman, the duo first worked for Disney in 1961, after working on a song for the actress and singer Annette Funicello.

Aside from his life as an artist, Sherman also served in the American army during World War II, and was among the first squad of Allied soldiers to enter the Dachau concentration camp in April 1945.

bbc.co.uk