Tom Smothers
Thomas Bolyn Smothers III (February 2, 1937 – December 26, 2023) was an American comedian, actor, composer, and musician, widely known as half of the musical comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick. In the 1960s they were known for their network comedy and variety shows, The Smothers Brothers Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
Tom Smothers
February 2, 1937
December 26, 2023 (aged 86)
- Comedian
- musician
- composer
- actor
1959–2010, 2019
3
Dick Smothers (brother)
- Guitar
- vocals
Smothers and John Lennon played acoustic guitar during the live recording of Lennon's 1969 song "Give Peace a Chance".[1]
Early life[edit]
Thomas Bolyn Smothers III was born on February 2, 1937, at the Fort Jay army post hospital on Governors Island in New York City, the son of Ruth (née Remick), a homemaker; and Major Thomas B. Smothers, a U.S. army officer who died a POW of the Japanese in April 1945.[2] The younger Smothers later grew up in Altadena, Tujunga, and Redondo Beach, California.[3]
As a child, Smothers played guitar and piano by ear due to difficulty reading sheet music; Smothers would be diagnosed with dyslexia at age 31.[4][5] Beginning in fifth grade, Smothers played guitar in bands formed with friends and began incorporating humor with his music and in-school interactions.[4][6] Athletically, Smothers also grew up competing in gymnastics.[7]
Smothers first attended Verdugo Hills High School before transferring Redondo Union High School as a senior and graduating from Redondo Beach in 1955. At Redondo Beach, he and his brother sang in the school's madrigal choir, Tom at bass and Dick at tenor.[2][8] Smothers then enrolled at San Jose State College (now San Jose State University) in 1956 as an advertising major and competed at pole vault on the track team as a freshman in 1956–57.[9][10] Then in 1957–58, Smothers competed on the gymnastics team, where he tied for first place on the parallel bars at the 1958 State College Gymnastics Championships.[11]
Personal life and death[edit]
Smothers was the owner of Remick Ridge Vineyards in Sonoma County, California, which he established in 1977 and sold in 2023.[37] Smothers and his wife, Marcy Carriker, have two children, Bo (born 1991) and Riley Rose (born 1996). He also had a son from his first marriage, Thomas Bolyn Smothers IV (Tom Jr.),[38] who died in April 2023; and one grandson, Phoenix Parrish-Smothers.[39] Tom and Dick had a sister, Sherry, born in September 1941 in Pasadena, California; she died in April 2023.[40]
In 2023, Smothers announced he had been diagnosed with stage two lung cancer.[41] He died from the disease at his home in Santa Rosa, California, on December 26, 2023, at age 86.[2][42]