{"id":304822,"date":"2023-12-27T15:18:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-27T21:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=304822"},"modified":"2023-12-28T10:28:52","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T16:28:52","slug":"tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Tommy Smothers: Las Vegas Loses Another Icon in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tommy Smothers, the elder half of the legendary Smothers Brothers comedy duo, died Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. following a battle with lung cancer. He was 86.<\/p>\n

\"Tommy
Television and Las Vegas icon Tommy Smothers, shown in 2010, died the day after Christmas at age 86. (Image: Santa Rosa Democrat<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“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, 84, said in a statement. “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.”<\/p>\n

The duo was best known for \u201cThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,\u201d the boundary-shoving variety show that shook up the status quo from its establishment perch on CBS-TV<\/em> from 1967 to 1969.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Tom and Dick Smothers play at the Flamingo on Jan. 21, 1964. (Image: Las Vegas News Bureau)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Smothers Brothers were also Las Vegas mainstays, playing more than 20 Las Vegas resorts between 1962, when they opened for dancer Juliet Prowse at the Flamingo, and the final curtain on their career on May 16, 2010, at the Orleans.<\/p>\n

Band of Brothers<\/h2>\n

Thomas Bolyn Smothers III was born Feb. 2, 1937, in New York. His brother, Richard Remick Smothers, followed on Nov. 20, 1939. After their father died in World War II, their mother moved the brothers and their sister to Southern California.<\/p>\n

\n

Tom and Dick began performing together in 1954 before they each graduated separately from Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, Calif. Both sang, while Tommy played acoustic guitar and Dick plunked a standup bass with a folk group called the Casual Quintet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While both students were at San Jose State College in 1958, they formed a folk trio with singer Bobby Blackmore, whom the act would shed by the decade\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

It was at San Francisco\u2019s Purple Onion in 1959 that comedy began creeping in. Because they only knew a few songs, Tom dragged out their introductions to increase their set time. These intros were usually long-winded lectures about folk music\u2019s rightful place in American history.<\/p>\n

One night, Dick politely interrupted Tommy when he got a fact wrong. Tommy reacted defensively and the audience lost it over their genuine sibling rivalry.<\/p>\n

Astutely, the duo incorporated this back-and-forth into their act until it became<\/em> their act and the music became incidental. Rarely, if ever, would they finish a tune again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dick was the straight man, Tommy the child-like funnyman who developed the catchphrase: \u201cMother always liked you best.\u201d He usually delivered it while staring down at the floor, kicking his shoes.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dick and Tommy Smothers in 1962. the year they debuted in Las Vegas. (Image: St. Louis Dispatch<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Different Direction<\/h2>\n

Not unlike another \u201960s duo, Sonny and Cher, the\u00a0 Smothers Brothers detoured their musical aspirations into comedy and found gold — and a network variety show — in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour\u201d featured anti-establishment comedians who relished poking the television bear.<\/p>\n

Among its Emmy-winning writers were future superstars Steve Martin and Rob Reiner, and among its bookings were the Doors, Cream, and Buffalo Springfield. This was back when TV variety shows were the exclusive stomping ground of Bob Hope and Andy Williams.<\/p>\n

\n

Of the two brothers, Tom was the more overtly political. He befriended John Lennon during the outspoken Beatle\u2019s protest period, strumming acoustic guitar and singing background on his 1969 single, \u201cGive Peace a Chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour\u201d was canceled after two years. It was far too politically charged for CBS\u2019<\/em> old-guard executives to stomach. (Their censorship battle is documented in the 2018 film, “Smothered.”)<\/p>\n

The brothers retreated to touring and performing Las Vegas residencies.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tom and Dick share the stage with their opening act, The Everly Brothers, at Caesars Palace in 1970. (Image: everlything.tumblr.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though they announced that a 2010 engagement at the Orleans would be their final stand, they later announced, on a 2022 episode of \u201cCBS Sunday Morning,\u201d that they would tour earlier this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reunion was canceled, though, when Tom Smothers announced in July 2023 that he was diagnosed with Stage 2 lung cancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tommy Smothers, the elder half of the legendary Smothers Brothers comedy duo, died Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. following a battle with lung cancer. He was 86. “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, 84, said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":304825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81886],"tags":[89310,84519,23,89311,89312,89309,89308],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTommy Smothers: Las Vegas Loses Another Icon in 2023 - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tommy Smothers, the elder half of the legendary Smothers Brothers comedy duo, died Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. following a battle with lung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tommy Smothers: Las Vegas Loses Another Icon in 2023 - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tommy Smothers, the elder half of the legendary Smothers Brothers comedy duo, died Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. following a battle with lung\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-27T21:18:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-28T16:28:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/tommy-smothers-2010-john-burgess-santa-rosa-press-democrat.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1023\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"781\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Corey Levitan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Corey Levitan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/\",\"name\":\"Tommy Smothers: Las Vegas Loses Another Icon in 2023 - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/tommy-smothers-2010-john-burgess-santa-rosa-press-democrat.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-27T21:18:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-28T16:28:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/281fd7b5480c9afb75e84ffb75039f09\"},\"description\":\"Tommy Smothers, the elder half of the legendary Smothers Brothers comedy duo, died Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. following a battle with lung\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/tommy-smothers-2010-john-burgess-santa-rosa-press-democrat.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/tommy-smothers-2010-john-burgess-santa-rosa-press-democrat.jpg\",\"width\":1023,\"height\":781},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Las Vegas\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Tommy Smothers: Las Vegas Loses Another Icon in 2023\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/281fd7b5480c9afb75e84ffb75039f09\",\"name\":\"Corey Levitan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-3-3-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-3-3-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Corey Levitan\"},\"description\":\"Corey Levitan joined Casino.org in 2022 after a long career covering Las Vegas. He currently covers gaming news on the US West Coast, including Las Vegas. Corey spent six years covering the Vegas Strip for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he also wrote the most popular humor column in the city\u2019s history. (For \u201cFear and Loafing,\u201d he tried out 176 Vegas jobs, including poker player, blackjack dealer and Follie Bergere dancer.) Corey has won more than 100 local, state and national awards for his journalism, which has also appeared in Rolling Stone, New York Magazine and the New York Post. Corey is a New York native whose hobbies include playing guitar, trying to be a better husband, and arguing with strangers on Facebook. Contact Corey at corey@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corey-levitan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tommy Smothers: Las Vegas Loses Another Icon in 2023 - Casino.org","description":"Tommy Smothers, the elder half of the legendary Smothers Brothers comedy duo, died Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. following a battle with lung","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tommy Smothers: Las Vegas Loses Another Icon in 2023 - Casino.org","og_description":"Tommy Smothers, the elder half of the legendary Smothers Brothers comedy duo, died Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. following a battle with lung","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2023-12-27T21:18:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-12-28T16:28:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1023,"height":781,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/tommy-smothers-2010-john-burgess-santa-rosa-press-democrat.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Corey Levitan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Corey Levitan","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/","name":"Tommy Smothers: Las Vegas Loses Another Icon in 2023 - Casino.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/tommy-smothers-2010-john-burgess-santa-rosa-press-democrat.jpg","datePublished":"2023-12-27T21:18:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-28T16:28:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/281fd7b5480c9afb75e84ffb75039f09"},"description":"Tommy Smothers, the elder half of the legendary Smothers Brothers comedy duo, died Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. following a battle with lung","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/tommy-smothers-2010-john-burgess-santa-rosa-press-democrat.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/tommy-smothers-2010-john-burgess-santa-rosa-press-democrat.jpg","width":1023,"height":781},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tommy-smothers-las-vegas-loses-another-icon-in-2023\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Las Vegas","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Tommy Smothers: Las Vegas Loses Another Icon in 2023"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/281fd7b5480c9afb75e84ffb75039f09","name":"Corey Levitan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-3-3-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-3-3-96x96.png","caption":"Corey Levitan"},"description":"Corey Levitan joined Casino.org in 2022 after a long career covering Las Vegas. He currently covers gaming news on the US West Coast, including Las Vegas. Corey spent six years covering the Vegas Strip for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he also wrote the most popular humor column in the city\u2019s history. (For \u201cFear and Loafing,\u201d he tried out 176 Vegas jobs, including poker player, blackjack dealer and Follie Bergere dancer.) Corey has won more than 100 local, state and national awards for his journalism, which has also appeared in Rolling Stone, New York Magazine and the New York Post. Corey is a New York native whose hobbies include playing guitar, trying to be a better husband, and arguing with strangers on Facebook. Contact Corey at corey@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corey-levitan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304822"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304822"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304884,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304822\/revisions\/304884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}