Dick Smothers, Jr.

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Dick Smothers, Jr. (born 1964), the son of famed comedian Dick Smothers of Smothers Brothers, is an adult movie actor who, according to a 2003 Reuters article, aims to become "the Orson Welles of porn." Dick Smothers, fils claims to be an "exhibitionist" with "an incredibly overactive libido." He made his porn film debut in 2003 starring in "Bad Influence," playing the lead in a pornographic homage to "The Graduate."

One of six children born to Dick Smothers and his first wife, Dick Smothers Jr., also has become an online entrepreneur. He is the proprietor of an adult entertainment Web-site and a Web-based game show.

In a 2003 telephone interview with Reuters, Dick Smothers, Jr. claimed that he was interested in the acting aspect of being in blue movies, but also admitted he enjoyed the sexual side of his chosen career. He announced his ambition was to become "a recognized, full-spectrum adult entertainer and entrepreneur."

Smothers, who left behind a career as a sales executive for an office products manufacturer, has gained some recognition for the quality of his work. He was nominated for a 2006 AVN Award (the "Oscars" of the adult entertainment industry, according to "Entertainment Weekly" magazine) for performing in a pornographic video. In addition to his entrepreneurial spirit, his creative ambitions are wider than being a highly respected performer in blue movies.

"What I really want to do is become the Orson Welles of porn," Smothers told Reuters, "not only performing in these films, but writing, directing and doing the music." Prior to embarking on porn, Smothers, Jr. was the lead singer/bass player in Kamikaze, a mid eighties hair metal band before playing in various projects under the moniker of "Electric" Dick Smothers.

Dick Smothers Sr., in a 2003 interview, recounted how he was shocked by his son's career change. "My first reaction was, 'What name are you going to use?' ... He says he's going to use his name, and I said, 'Wait a minute. That's my name. I had it first.' "

While a devout Christian, Smothers, Sr. has always been a champion of free expression, a position reinforced by the trauma of having his and his brother's highly successful CBS series cancelled in the late 1960s for being too politically liberal. While uncomfortable with his son's career choice, Smothers pere refuses to condemn him. In fact, he is sympathetic to the pressures undergirding Smothers film career choice.

"You look at someone who's been working hard at trying to make it for 21 years or so," Smothers Sr. said. "This is the first acknowledgment of him being viable."

On his part, Dick Jr. said he will focus on the "couples-oriented" genre that occasionally crosses over to cable television in a bowdlerized form. In a move evocative of his father's strict moral standards, the son has added strict controls to his Web site to prevent them from being penetrated by minors.

Dick Jr, is currently retired from the porn business and lives in the Santa Cruz, CA area where he works for Orkin as an exterminator.