I was 10 when I fell in love with Tommy Smothers, who succumbed to cancer on Tuesday at 86. He was my first television hero. He was funny, he was gentle, he was quietly outrageous. And for a pre-teen kid in the 1960s, he was everything I thought a grown-up should be.
Let me back up for a second to note that I was raised in a houseful of liberals bordering on radicals. My parents and siblings were all proudly antiwar when it came to Vietnam. My older sister was the kind who went to love-ins and hung with the hippies, possibly because she was a hippie herself. My mother would bake pot brownies that my sister took to the love-in. Me? I was too young to do much more than get taken along for the ride, but it was made abundantly clear that if I wanted to be a Richmond, I...
Let me back up for a second to note that I was raised in a houseful of liberals bordering on radicals. My parents and siblings were all proudly antiwar when it came to Vietnam. My older sister was the kind who went to love-ins and hung with the hippies, possibly because she was a hippie herself. My mother would bake pot brownies that my sister took to the love-in. Me? I was too young to do much more than get taken along for the ride, but it was made abundantly clear that if I wanted to be a Richmond, I...
- 12/28/2023
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
Tom Smothers, who with his younger brother Dick changed the face of comedy with their musical humor and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, died Tuesday in Santa Rosa, California, following a cancer battle. The news was announced by the National Comedy Center, on behalf of Smothers’ family. He was 86.
Tom and Dick Smothers started out as folk musicians in the early ’60s, and soon discovered that, while they were not good enough to be professional musicians, the act worked if they mixed in comedy.
Dick Smothers said in a statement, “Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. 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.
Tom and Dick Smothers started out as folk musicians in the early ’60s, and soon discovered that, while they were not good enough to be professional musicians, the act worked if they mixed in comedy.
Dick Smothers said in a statement, “Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. 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.
- 12/27/2023
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
The drummer of folk legends Buffalo Springfield Dewey Martin has died in his apartment at the age of 68. Martin, whose real name was Walter Milton Dwayne Midkiff, is thought to have died of natural causes on January 31 and was discovered by a roommate the next day, the La Times reports. Monkees drummer and friend Micky Dolenz said: "It's a great loss. We never worked together, we just hung...
- 2/6/2009
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.