He studied orchestration, composition and conducting with Hamilton Harty in Manchester before moving to London to enter the world of jazz, where he played in nightclubs and began writing arrangements for big band leaders such as Ambrose, Jack Harris, Roy Fox and Carroll Gibbons.
Recordings for Decca under his own name included a series of themed arrangements, such as Dancing Round the World (1958),[4] Waltz Magic (1958),[5] America on the March (1964),[6] and Battle Stereo (1964).
[1] Other television variety show work with live music provided by Sharples included Hancock’s Half Hour (1956–1960, with Wally Stott),[12] Bruce Forsyth (1965–1967),[13] Tommy Cooper (1969) and Dave Allen at Large (1971).
[14] Sharples married his wife Christina (1933–2013) in 1977, although they had been together as a couple for the previous 12 years, and died in 1987 in St John's Wood, London, where he lived (once he moved South) very close to Lord's Cricket Ground.
[15] His widow became the partner of Hughie Green for the last five years of his life,[16] though she continued to live in the St John's Wood flat until her own death in 2013.