Tom Smothers dead at 86: Half of iconic comedy brothers duo dies after 'victory lap' final tour foll
TOM Smothers, one-half of the iconic comedic duo the Smothers Brothers, has died at age 86.
Smothers died on Tuesday in his home in Santa Rosa, California, about an hour north of San Francisco, following a recent battle with cancer, his brother, Dick Smothers, said.
"Tom was not only the loving brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner," Dick told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday.
"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."
Smothers, the older half of the satire duo, and his brother first appeared on national television as a tandem in the early 1960s on the NBC late-night show The Jack Paar Show.
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After becoming regulars on CBS' The Judy Garland Show, the Smothers Brothers inherited the 9 pm Friday primetime slot with their series in 1967.
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour made its debut in February of that year.
The folk-singing brothers pioneered a new standard in late-night television, with Dick on string bass and Smothers playing the acoustic guitar.
Their comedic skits quickly distinguished them from other late-night hosts, addressing issues like racism, sex, recreational drug use, politics, and protesting against the Vietnam War.
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In one sketch, Dick mentioned a US government request for citizens to refrain from visiting foreign places of violent unrest, to which Smothers turned to the camera and said: "OK, all you guys in Vietnam, come on home."
"It was just the biggest thrill, it was unbelievable!" Dick told CBS News last year.
However, their controversial skits and remarks about politics led to clashes with the network's executives.
The show ran for three seasons between February 1967 and April 1969 until CBS finally pulled the plug after receiving blowback for the brothers' outspokenness on the air.
"Fifty years later, I look back on us being fired, and I'm still pissed off," Smothers joked in a 2019 interview with All Arts TV.
His whole life, Smothers was convinced that President Richard Nixon, who had assumed office three months before the show's cancelation, had pressured CBS to axe the show.
"When Nixon said, 'I want those guys off,' they were off," Smothers told Speaking Freely in 2001.
"If [Hubert] Humphrey had been elected, we would have been on."
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Many believe the brothers created the blueprint for the popular late-night shows of today, like Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show.
Smothers is survived by his children, Bo and Riley Rose, grandsons, Pheonix, Marcy Carriker, sister-in-law Marie Smothers, brother Dick, and several nieces and nephews.
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