American comedian who performed as a duo with his brother, Dick, on the popular TV series, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” They recorded 13 LP’s together, three of which went gold.
Most people remember the Smothers Brothers as the kids who always argued and said “Mom always liked you best.” Tom, who is two years older than Dick, shared everything with him. They were always devoted to their mom, Ruth Smothers. Their dad died in World War II. Beginning work in California comedy clubs in 1959, their roots keep getting bigger, deeper and stronger.
For three seasons from 1965-1969 “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” was a Sunday night hit which kept the CBS network censors working overtime to make sure that the brothers were not overly irreverent or “incorrect” on TV. CBS finally decided the brothers were too blue and not red, white and blue enough and fired them in 1969. Tom was very angry and took this seriously, taking the network to court for breach of contract and winning a judgment of $776,000. Tom would like to work all the time and this led to a yearlong breakup in 1976 when he wanted to spend more time on the road and Dick wanted to spend more time with his family.
Tom was married and divorced twice and had one son in 1965. On 2/03/88 the brothers reunited on TV for their “20 Year Smothers Brothers Reunion Show.” There was a dark cloud over the reunion as their mom died the day before rehearsals began.
Tom lives in Sonoma, California on the vineyard he and Dick have operated since 1977. Built from the bottom up, the 150 acre spread produces 45,000 cases of red and white wines per year.
Link to Wikipedia biography