Dick Smothers

Richard Remick Smothers was born on November 20, 1938, in New York City, the son of Ruth Smothers, née Remick, and Thomas B. Smothers, an Army officer who died as a Japanese prisoner of war in April 1945. His middle name derives from his mother's maiden name. After the family relocated to Southern California, Smothers attended Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga and later graduated from Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach. He went on to study at San Jose State University, then known as San Jose State College, where he competed as a distance runner on the track team under coach Lloyd "Bud" Winter.

Smothers is an actor, comedian, composer, and musician, widely recognized as one half of the folk-comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, formed with his older brother Tom in the late 1950s. The pair appeared on numerous television programs before launching two series of their own: The Smothers Brothers Show, a sitcom that ran from 1965 to 1966, and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, a variety program that debuted in 1967 and was cancelled by CBS on April 4, 1969. Following a lawsuit stemming from that cancellation, the brothers were awarded $776,300. Although Dick frequently supported Tom in addressing controversial material on the show, he was described by Tom in 2006 as more conservative politically and pragmatic in outlook. In December 2009, both brothers made a guest appearance on a twenty-first-season episode of The Simpsons, which also featured Cooper, Peyton, and Eli Manning.

In 1977, the same year he appeared on Broadway in I Love My Wife, Smothers also made two appearances as a panelist on the daytime television game show Match Game. In 1993, he provided a voice in the animated Christmas film Precious Moments: Timmy's Special Delivery. Two years later, he appeared without his brother in Martin Scorsese's 1995 film Casino, taking on a serious dramatic role as a corrupt Nevada State Senator whose character and dialogue were drawn in part from the career of former United States Senator Harry Reid, who had once chaired the Nevada Gaming Commission.

Outside of entertainment, Smothers pursued amateur auto racing in both road racing and drag racing. He founded the Smothers Brothers racing team, which competed across three championship seasons between 1968 and 1971, with Smothers specializing in endurance racing and competing at the Sebring and Le Mans events.

Smothers is the father of six children: Dick Jr., Andrew, Steven, Sarah, Susan, and Remick. He and his then-wife Denby divorced in 2006 following a domestic dispute in 2004 and subsequent legal proceedings. In February 2010, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and that October he disclosed a diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus. He and his brother announced their retirement from touring in May 2010, though in December 2022 they revealed plans for a 2023 tour, which was ultimately cancelled after Tom Smothers disclosed a stage 2 lung cancer diagnosis in July 2023. Tom died on December 26, 2023, at the age of 86. In September 2022, Dick Smothers married Marie Navarolli Kropp, and as of 2022 he resides in upstate New York.