Bergerman was born on August 27, 1903[1] to a Jewish family in Pueblo, Colorado and raised in San Diego, California.
[2] As a young adult, he worked for The May Department Stores Company in Los Angeles as a merchandise manager.
[2] During World War II, Bergerman helped to establish the Refugee Resettlement Committee which assisted Jews fleeing Nazi Germany to immigrate to the United States.
[2] He was a supporter of the United Way, the American Red Cross, the Jewish Home for the Aging, the Los Angeles chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Motion Picture and Television Fund, and the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
[2] His first wife was Rosabelle Laemmle, whom he married in 1929; they had two children: Carol Bergerman and Stanley Bergerman Jr.[3] His wife and daughter predeceased him and he remarried to Fay Schiller[1][3] with whom he had two stepdaughters: Nancy Tack and Joan Silver.