Smothers is best known for being half of the musical comedy team The Smothers Brothers with his real life brother, Dick Smothers.
The brothers have appeared on numerous television shows since the mid 1960s, and even hosted two variety shows, The Smothers Brothers Show from 1965-1966, and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967.
Thomas Bolin "Tom"Smothers, III (born February 2, 1937) is an American comedian, composer and musician from New York, New York.
Smothers is widely quoted as saying: "The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen." He and others have implied that the brothers' oppositional politics lead to their show's demise.