[1][2] Sherek was born on 23 April 1900, at 2 Guilford Street, London, to Bernard a merchant (and later an international theatrical agent), and Margarette (née Jacoby).

[1] He was educated at the Waren Gymnasium in Germany, where he became fluent in German, and at a school in Switzerland, where he learned to speak French.

[1] He was severely wounded while in the Near East during World War I, having lied about his age in order to enlist while only 15.

[1] He appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 15 June 1959.

[3] Examples of his correspondence with Sir Cecil Beaton are included in the latter's papers, in the library of St John's College, Cambridge.