SANTA ROSA (CelebrityAccess) – Tommy Smothers, one-half of the comedy folk duo The Smothers Brothers, passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday (December 26) in Santa Rosa, CA. His death was confirmed in a statement by Smothers’ younger brother, Dick Smothers, released via the National Comedy Center to The Hollywood Reporter. Smothers’ cause of death was cancer. He was 86.
“Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner,” Dick, 84, said. “I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years. Our relationship was like a good marriage — the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another. We were truly blessed.”
Thomas Bolyn Smothers III was born on February 2, 1937, in a US Army hospital on Governors Island in New York City, where his father was stationed. When Thomas was four, his family moved to the Philippines due to his father’s station assignment change. During World War II, Thomas’ mother, Ruth, relocated to Southern California with Thomas, his brother Dick, and younger sister Sherry. Unfortunately, they lost their father in a Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camp in 1945.
Tommy attended Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, CA and was a star gymnast – winning the state championship in parallel bars. Younger brother Dick, by 21 months, was a distance runner.
After high school, the brothers played in the Casual Quintet group, but they left and formed their own act in 1959. After grinding on the circuit, they ended up on the Purple Onion in San Francisco and became series regulars on The New Steve Allen Show.
With Tom playing the “dumb” one, the duo released an album in 1962 called The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers, with one side featuring folk music and the other featuring comedy tunes. They released three more albums, appearing on The Danny Thomas Show and Burke’s Law before landing a headlining concert at the Hollywood Bowl.
Tommy and Dick’s first show, produced by Aaron Spelling, was titled My Brother the Angel. Dick played a bachelor publishing executive, and Tom was the “dorky” apprentice angel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The sitcom was canceled after almost 35 episodes, with Tom thinking the show didn’t take full advantage of the duo’s abilities.
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour show with Dick on double bass and Tommy on acoustic guitar ran from February 1967 until April 1969, where they performed farcical and satiric folk music. According to Billboard, Tommy was the more liberal and politically driven of the two brothers behind the scenes. Still, in front of the camera, they pushed their comedy to lampoon American culture, religion and the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. Before they were superstars, Steve Martin, Bob Einstein, Rob Reiner, and others appeared on the show.
That mockery on TV didn’t sit too well with the American public, so after numerous complaints from show sponsors and viewers and Tommy going head-to-head with the CBS censors and executives, the brothers were fired after nearly 75 episodes – even though the show was in the Top 10, attracted 30 million viewers a week and had been renewed for an additional season. The duo filed a lawsuit claiming breach of contract and copyright infringement against CBS and won in 1973, receiving a settlement of nearly $900,000 but never getting back their original popularity.
The comedy hour show won an Emmy for writing after CBS had ended it with Martin, Einstein, Mason Williams, Lorenzo Music and Allan Blye sharing the honor. The brothers were nominated for Outstanding Variety or Music Series but lost to Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.
Other TV credits for Tom include shows such as The Love Boat, Benson and Fantasy Island. He also had some film credits appearing in Pandemonium, The Informant! and Get to Know Your Rabbit.
Without his brother, Tommy also played acoustic guitar on John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Give Peace a Chance.”
The brothers entered the TV Academy Hall of Fame in 2010. Martin presented Tommy with a special award at the 2008 Emmys, and a 2002 documentary titled Smothered covered their clash with the CBS network.
Tommy is survived by his brother, children Bo and Riley Rose, grandson Phoenix, and sister-in-law Marie. He is preceded in death by his son, Tom and sister, Sherry.
A private memorial service for family and friends is set to take place in 2024. Donations can be made to the National Comedy Center in Tom’s honor in place of flowers.
RIP.
