TOM SMOTHERS (1939 - ) Biography - Theater, Opera and Movie personalities

 
 

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TOM SMOTHERS (1939 - )
       

Musicians, comedians, and brothers: Tom Smothers (popular name of Thomas Bolyn Smothers III) (1939- ) and Dick Smothers (popular name of Richard Smothers) (1937- ), both born on Governors Island, New York, USA. The sons of an army major, they formed a folk singing group, the Casual Quintet, in college. After Tom’s satirical asides began to change them from a straight folk group into a comic act, the brothers performed as a duo at New York’s Blue Angel in 1961. Discovered by Jack Paar, they appeared on television variety shows in the early 1960s and at Carnegie Hall.

       

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967-9) was a critical success, but their politically satirical skits were frequently cut by CBS, and their show ended when Tom complained publicly. They acted on Broadway in I Love My Wife (1978-9) and in films, including Terror at Alcatraz (1982), returning to television with the Smothers Brothers Special (1988).