Tom Smothers, one half of the musical comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, has died at the age of 86, following a recent battle with cancer.
Smothers’ younger brother and comedy partner Dick Smothers announced the news in a statement reading, “Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. 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.â€
The pair’s banter-filled double act featured the brothers playing folk songs, with Tom on acoustic guitar and Dick on double bass, and they soon became a staple of the 1960s television landscape. After appearances on The Jack Paar Show, The Steve Allen Show, and The Judy Garland Show, the brothers landed what would become their own groundbreaking program, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Running from 1967 to 1969 on CBS, the variety show proved to be a major success that continually pushed boundaries, featuring sharp political and social commentary that consistently put them at odds with CBS’s network censors. The show’s satire became known for targeting racism, the president, and the Vietnam War — which ultimately led to its abrupt cancellation in 1969 (and a subsequent breach of contract suit, which the Smothers Brothers won).
Despite being one of the show’s lead writers, Smothers opted to leave his name off of the list of writers nominated for the 1968 Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedic Series, fearing that it was too controversial. When the show subsequently won in that category, he was the only member of the writing staff not to receive the award — an omission that was rectified at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2008, where he was belatedly presented the award by one of the show’s original writers, Steve Martin. Both brothers were also inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2010.