Tom Smothers
Encyclopedia
Tom Smothers is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, best known as half of the musical comedy team The Smothers Brothers
Smothers Brothers
The Smothers Brothers are Thomas and Richard , American singers, musicians, comedians and folk heroes. The brothers' trademark act was performing folk songs , which usually led to arguments between the siblings...

, alongside his younger brother Dick
Dick Smothers
Richard Remick "Dick" Smothers is an American actor, comedian, composer and musician. He is best known for being half of the musical comedy team, the Smothers Brothers, with his older brother Tom.-Life and career:...

.

Early life

Smothers was born in New York City, the son of Ruth (née Remick), a homemaker, and Thomas B. Smothers, an army officer. After moving to California, he graduated from Redondo Union High School
Redondo Union High School
Redondo Union High School is a public high school in Redondo Beach, California.Redondo Union High School is a part of the Redondo Beach Unified School District....

 in Redondo Beach
Redondo Beach, California
Redondo Beach is one of the three Beach Cities located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 66,748 at the 2010 census, up from 63,261 at the 2000 census. The city is located in the South Bay region of the greater Los Angeles area.Redondo Beach was originally part of...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. He was a competitive unicyclist
Unicycle
A unicycle is a human-powered, single-track vehicle with one wheel. Unicycles resemble bicycles, but are less complex.-History:One theory of the advent of the unicycle stems from the popularity of the penny-farthing during the late 19th century...

, and a state champion gymnast in the parallel bars. Smothers later attended San José State University
San José State University
San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...

, then known as San Jose State College. At SJSC, Smothers participated both in gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

 and pole vault
Pole vault
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...

 for the track team (coached by Lloyd (Bud) Winter
Lloyd (Bud) Winter
Lloyd C. Winter, better known as "Bud" was the USATF Hall of Fame Track Coach. He was regarded as one of the greatest sprint coaches in the world. Over a 39-year coaching career at the then San Jose State College, he produced 102 All-Americans, 27 who went on to become Olympians...

).

Career

The Smothers Brothers initially wanted to be folk musicians. Tom didn't feel that he was good enough to be a professional musician, but he was funny enough to do comedy. The two began adding comedy bits to their act.
Tom's first foray into the medium of television was as a regular on the The Steve Allen Show
The Steve Allen Show
The Steve Allen Show is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC, and in first-run syndication from 1962 to 1964....

in 1961. He followed that role with a single episode of Burke's Law
Burke's Law
Burke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud...

.

The Smothers Brothers next appeared on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 sitcom, The Smothers Brothers Show
The Smothers Brothers Show
The Smothers Brothers Show is an American fantasy sitcom featuring the Smothers Brothers that aired on CBS on Friday nights at 9:30 p.m. ET from September 17, 1965 to September 9, 1966, co-sponsored by Alberto-Culver's VO5 hairdressing products and American Tobacco...

from 1965 to 1966. Tom felt that the show didn't play to the brothers' strengths and wanted creative control over their next venture.

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and aftermath

Tom Smothers negotiated creative control over their next CBS show, a variety show entitled The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is an American comedy and variety show hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.-History:...

in 1967. The documentary Smothered describes how the brothers (particularly Tom) fought CBS censors
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...

 to sneak in references to religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

, recreational drugs, sex, and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. Smothers is widely quoted as saying: "The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen." The brothers' oppositional politics led to their show's demise with David Steinberg
David Steinberg
David Steinberg is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and author. At the height of his popularity, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was one of the best-known stand-up comics in the United States...

 later claiming "The most innovative variety show on television shut down because of political pressure". Tom has since stated "When the Smothers Brothers came on the air we had no political point of view or social consciousness, it just evolved as the show was on the air."

"Give Peace A Chance"

As Tom became more politically active, he befriended other political celebrities like John Lennon. In 1969, Smothers played guitar on John Lennon's
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 recording of his single "Give Peace a Chance
Give Peace a Chance
"Give Peace a Chance" is a song written by John Lennon, originally under the moniker Lennon–McCartney, released as a single in 1969 by the Plastic Ono Band on Apple Records, catalogue Apple 13 in the United Kingdom, Apple 1809 in the United States. It is the first solo single issued by Lennon, and...

". The song was written during Lennon's ‘Bed-In’ honeymoon. Smothers can be seen in the documentary film about Lennon "Imagine" in the hotel room.

Political involvement

After the show was canceled, Tom became more strident in his politics.
In the 1970s, Smothers chided popular comedian Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...

 for not taking a stand on political issues of the day like civil rights.
In October 1976, both Cosby and Smothers were in attendance at a Playboy Mansion
Playboy Mansion
The Playboy Mansion is the home of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner. Located in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, California, the mansion became famous during the 1970s through media reports of Hefner's lavish parties.-History:The house is described as being in the "Gothic-Tudor" style...

 party. The tension between the two culminated in Cosby punching Smothers in the head.

Motion picture roles

In motion pictures, Tom Smothers portrayed corporate-executive-turned-tap-dancing-magician Donald Beeman in one of Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...

's earlier films, Get to Know Your Rabbit
Get to Know Your Rabbit
Get to Know Your Rabbit is a 1972 American comedy film written by Jordan Crittenden and directed by Brian De Palma.-Synopsis:Corporate executive Donald Beeman, fed up with the rat race, impulsively quits his job and takes to the road as a traveling tap dancing magician under the tutelage of Mr....

(1972). He also played a banker in Silver Bears
Silver Bears (film)
Silver Bears is a 1978 comedy thriller film directed by Ivan Passer and starring Michael Caine, Cybill Shepherd, Louis Jourdan and Joss Ackland...

. He later portrayed Spike in Serial
Serial (1980 film)
Serial is a comedy film from 1980 produced by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay, by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias, is drawn from the novel The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County by Cyra McFadden, published in 1977...

(1980).

In 1973, he voiced Ted E. Bear (Theodore Edward Bear) in the DePatie-Freleng NBC animated Christmas special The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas
The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas
The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas is an animated Christmas TV special. It premiered on NBC on December 17, 1973 in the United States. This animated special was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and starred the voices of Tommy Smothers, Arte Johnson and Barbara Feldon, with narration by...

. Ten years later, he voiced Ted E. Bear again for its Halloween sequel The Great Bear Scare.

Later work

In 2007, Tom and Dick filmed a series of 30-second commercials and promotional spots for the River Rock Casino in Geyserville, California.

To augment their act in recent years, Tom Smothers created the mostly non-speaking character "Yo-Yo Man", a surprisingly expert performer of difficult tricks using a yo-yo
Yo-yo
The yo-yo in its simplest form is an object consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a length of twine looped around the axle, similar to a slender spool...

. In their 2008 tour, Yo-Yo Man was listed as the group's opening act. The name is possibly a reference to the folk song "Yo-Yo Man," which the brothers sang together on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is an American comedy and variety show hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.-History:...

.

In 2008, during the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, Smothers was awarded a special Emmy. In 1968, when he was head writer of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, the writing staff was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Writing In A Comedic Series. Smothers had refused to let his name be on the list of writers nominated for the Emmy, because he felt his name was too volatile. The award at the 2008 ceremony was presented by Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....

, who was once a writer on the program.

On May 6, 2011, the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...

's Sonoma County chapter honored Smothers with their Jack Green Civil Liberties Award for his work against television censorship and for speaking out for peace and civil liberties.

Personal life

Smothers is the owner of Remick Ridge Vineyards
Remick Ridge Vineyards
Remick Ridge Vineyards is a California-based vineyard and winery owned and operated by the Smothers Brothers. The setting of this viticulture operation is in the Sonoma Valley on a ridge of the northern Sonoma Mountains above Sonoma Creek...

 in Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....

 with his wife Marcy Carriker and two children, Bo (born 1993), and Riley Rose (born 1996). He also has a son, Thomas Bolyn Smothers IV (Tom Jr.), from his first marriage, and one grandson, Phoenix Parrish-Smothers. There is a Smothers sister - Sherry - born September 1941, in Pasadena, CA.

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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