Tom Smothers was best known for a his comedy duo act with his brother as the Smothers Brothers.
Younger brother and professional comedic partner Dick Smothers said he was home with Smothers when he died — a cause related to cancer, CNN reported.
“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 Smothers said in a statement, per CNN. “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.”
‘The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour’ and its impact on comedy
Smothers was born in 1937, making him one year older than Dick. The brothers grew up in California and performed at San Jose University while attending the school.
The two brothers shared their talents during “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” which aired in the late 1960s and riffed on political satire and brought “a spirit of youthful irreverence to network television,” according to The New York Times.
Their work paved the way for other comedians and shows like “Saturday Night Live” and “The Daily Show” — and some early writers on the show included Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin and David Steiner. One of Smothers’ signature lines played off family dynamics and was to respond to his brother’s teasing with “Mom always liked you best,” per the Times.
“Their antics turned television upside down, blending slapstick humor with political satire, making them comedic heroes who blazed the trail followed today by satirists such as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Samantha Bee,” Marc Freeman wrote for an introduction to an oral history of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” per The Hollywood Reporter.
Why Tom Smothers and ‘The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour’ left TV
In 1969, the show was pulled from CBS “due to their content consistently poking fun of the powerful and boosting Vietnam War critics and civil rights proponents,” NBC News reported.
“When we tried something and were told ‘no,’ I wanted to know why,” Tom said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “Why is content controversial, putting in something real, something with meaning? I couldn’t understand why that would be an issue. And when it became one, I became extra stubborn.”