{"id":21960,"date":"2023-12-28T03:52:35","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T09:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=21960"},"modified":"2023-12-28T03:52:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T09:52:39","slug":"comedian-tom-smothers-one-half-of-the-smothers-brothers-dies-at-86","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=21960","title":{"rendered":"Comedian Tom Smothers, one-half of the Smothers Brothers, dies at 86"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tom Smothers,<\/u><\/a> half of the Smothers Brothers and the co-host of one of the most socially conscious and groundbreaking television shows in the history of the medium, has died at 86.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Comedy Center, on behalf of his family, said in a statement Wednesday that Smothers died Tuesday at home in Santa Rosa, California, following a cancer battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m just devastated,\u201d his brother and the duo\u2019s other half, Dick Smothers, told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. \u201cEvery breath I\u2019ve taken, my brother\u2019s been around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When \u201cThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour\u201d<\/u><\/a> debuted on CBS in the fall of 1967 it was an immediate hit, to the surprise of many who had assumed the network\u2019s expectations were so low it positioned their show opposite the top-rated \u201cBonanza.\u201d<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Smothers Brothers would prove a turning point in television history, with its sharp eye for pop culture trends and young rock stars such as the Who and Buffalo Springfield, and its daring sketches \u2014 ridiculing the Establishment, railing against the Vietnam War<\/u><\/a> and portraying members of the era\u2019s hippie counterculture as gentle, fun-loving spirits \u2014 found an immediate audience with young baby boomers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cWe were moderate. We were never out there,\u201d Dick Smothers said. \u201cBut we were the first people through that door. It just sort of crept in as the \u201860s crept in. We were part of that generation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show reached No. 16 in the ratings in its first season. It also drew the ire of network censors. After years of battling with the brothers over the show\u2019s creative content, the network abruptly canceled the program in 1970, accusing the siblings of failing to submit an episode in time for the censors to review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 40 years later, when Smothers was awarded an honorary Emmy for his work on the show, he jokingly thanked the writers he said had gotten him fired. He also showed that the years had not dulled his outspokenness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to stay silent when I keep hearing that peace is only attainable through war,\u201d Smothers said at the 2008 Emmy Awards as his brother sat in the audience, beaming. He dedicated his award to those \u201cwho feel compelled to speak out and are not afraid to speak to power and won\u2019t shut up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the three years the show was on television, the brothers constantly battled with CBS censors and occasionally outraged viewers as well, particularly when Smothers joked that Easter \u201cis when Jesus comes out of his tomb and if he sees his shadow, he goes back in and we get six more weeks of winter.\u201d At Christmas, when other hosts were sending best wishes to soldiers fighting overseas, Smothers offered his to draft dodgers who had moved to Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In still another episode, the brothers returned blacklisted folk singer Pete Seeger<\/u><\/a> to television for the first time in years. He performed his song \u201cWaist Deep in the Big Muddy,\u201d<\/u><\/a> widely viewed as ridiculing President Lyndon Johnson. When CBS refused to air the segment, the brothers brought Seeger back for another episode and he sang it again. This time, it made the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the show was canceled, the brothers sued CBS for $31 million and were awarded $775,000. Their battles with the network were chronicled in the 2002 documentary \u201cSmothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTom Smothers was not only an extraordinary comedic talent, who, together with his brother Dick, became the most enduring comedy duo in history, entertaining the world for over six decades \u2014 but was a true champion for freedom of speech,\u201d National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Bolyn Smothers III was born Feb. 2, 1937, on Governors Island, New York, where his father, an Army major, was stationed. His brother was born two years later. In 1940 their father was transferred to the Philippines, and his wife, two sons and their sister, Sherry, accompanied him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the family was sent home and Maj. Smothers remained. He was captured by the Japanese during the war and died in captivity. The family eventually moved to the Los Angeles suburb of Redondo Beach, where Smothers helped his mother take care of his brother and sister while she worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTommy was the greatest older brother. He took care of me,\u201d Dick Smothers said. \u201cHis maturity was amazing. Sometimes you lose part of your childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brothers had seemed unlikely to make television history. They had spent several years on the nightclub and college circuits and doing TV guest appearances, honing an offbeat comedy routine that mixed folk music with a healthy dose of sibling rivalry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They would come on stage, Tom with a guitar in hand and Dick toting an upright bass. They would quickly break into a traditional folk song \u2014 perhaps \u201cJohn Henry\u201d or \u201cPretoria.\u201d After playing several bars, Tom, positioned as the dumb one despite being older, would mess up, then quickly claim he had meant to do that. As Dick, the serious, short-tempered one, berated him for failing to acknowledge his error, he would scream in exasperation, \u201cMom always liked you best!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was the childlike enthusiasm through ignorance, and me, the teacher, correcting him \u2014 sometimes I\u2019d correct him even if I was wrong,\u201d Dick Smothers said. \u201cI was the perfect straight man for my brother. I was the only straight man for my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They continued that shtick on their show but also surrounded themselves with a talented cast of newcomers, both writers and performers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future actor-filmmaker Rob Reiner<\/u><\/a> was among those on the crack writing crew the brothers assembled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTommy was funny, smart, and a fighter,\u201d Reiner said on social media<\/u><\/a> Wednesday. \u201cHe created a ground breaking show that celebrated all that was good about American Democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other writers included musician Mason Williams and comedian Steve Martin,<\/u><\/a> who presented Smothers with the lifetime Emmy. Regular musical guests included John Hartford, Glen Campbell<\/u><\/a> and Jennifer Warnes.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brothers had begun their own act when Tom, then a student at San Jose State College, formed a music group called the Casual Quintet and encouraged his younger brother to learn the bass and join. The brothers continued on as a duo after the other musicians dropped out, but began interspersing comedy with their limited folk music repertoire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe never wrote anything, we just made it up, and tried to remember what we made up,\u201d Dick Smothers said. \u201cI just responded to Tom, if he said something that wasn\u2019t in the bit, I wouldn\u2019t stick to the script, I would listen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brothers\u2019 big break came in 1959 when they appeared at San Francisco\u2019s Purple Onion, then a hot spot for new talent. Booked for two weeks, they stayed a record 36. They had a similar run at New York\u2019s Blue Angel. But to their disappointment, they couldn\u2019t get on \u201cThe Tonight Show,\u201d then hosted by Jack Paar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPaar kept telling our agent he didn\u2019t like folk singers \u2014 except for Burl Ives,\u201d Smothers told the AP in 1964. \u201cBut one night he had a cancellation, and we went on. Everything worked right that night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dick Smothers said Wednesday that \u201cwe weren\u2019t that good when we were on \u2018The Tonight Show.\u2019 We were just charmingly different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brothers went on to appear on the TV shows of Ed Sullivan, Jack Benny and Judy Garland, among others. Their comedy albums were big sellers and they toured the country, especially colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before their more vaunted show, the duo got a sitcom in 1965. \u201cThe Smothers Brothers Show\u201d was about a businessman (Dick) haunted by his late brother (Tom), a fledgling guardian angel. It lasted just one season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after CBS canceled the \u201cComedy Hour,\u201d ABC picked it up as a summer replacement, but the network didn\u2019t bring it back in the fall. NBC gave them a show in 1975 but it failed to find an audience and lasted only a season. The brothers went their separate ways for a time. Among other endeavors, Smothers got into the wine business, launching Remick Ridge Vineyards in Northern California\u2019s wine country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOriginally the winery was called Smothers Brothers, but I changed the name to Remick Ridge because when people heard Smothers Brothers wine, they thought something like Milton Berle Fine Wine or Larry, Curly and Mo Vineyards,\u201d Smothers once said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They eventually reunited to star in the musical comedy \u201cI Love My Wife,\u201d a hit that ran on Broadway for two years. After that they went back on the road, playing casinos, performing arts centers and corporate gatherings around the country, remaining popular for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just keep resurfacing,\u201d Smothers commented in 1997. \u201cWe\u2019re just not in everyone\u2019s face long enough to really get old.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a successful 20th anniversary \u201cSmothers Brothers Comedy Hour\u201d in 1988, CBS buried the hatchet and brought them back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show was quickly canceled, though it stayed on the air long enough for Smothers to introduce the \u201cYo-Yo Man,\u201d a bit allowing him to demonstrate his considerable skills with a yo-yo while he and his brother kept up a steady patter of comedy. The bit remained in their act for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was like a great marriage, you go through some rough spots, but you still don\u2019t lose that focus,\u201d Dick Smothers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They retired in 2010, but returned for a series of shows in 2021 that would be their last before Tom Smothers\u2019 illness left him unable to continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe audience exploded,\u201d Dick Smothers said of those shows. \u201cIt was like a clap of thunder. They were young again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smothers married three times and had three children. He is survived by his wife Marcy, children Bo and Riley Rose, and brother Dick, in addition to other relatives. He was predeceased by his son Tom and sister Sherry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Smothers, half of the Smothers Brothers and the co-host of one of the most socially conscious and groundbreaking television shows in the history of the medium, has died at 86. The National Comedy Center, on behalf of his family, said in a statement Wednesday that Smothers died Tuesday at home in Santa Rosa, California, following […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5782],"tags":[8001,6032,25396],"class_list":["post-21960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ep","tag-comedian","tag-entertainment","tag-tom-smothers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21960"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21963,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21960\/revisions\/21963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}