Overview
- Family representatives confirmed Chambers died in Los Angeles after a brief illness; he was 97 and his passing was announced by relatives to major entertainment outlets.
- Chambers wrote, produced or executive produced more than 1,000 hours of television across six decades and received 11 personal Emmy nominations while his productions accumulated roughly 51 Emmy nominations.
- He co‑ran The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour with writing partner Saul Ilson and spent the program’s run fighting network censorship to bring topical, counterculture satire to a wide audience.
- Chambers worked broadly in the variety and special format, writing for The Merv Griffin Show and producing specials for Frank Sinatra, Donna Summer and others, and he executive produced the 1997 game show Click, an early hosting job for Ryan Seacrest.
- He is survived by his wife Veronica, daughters Alison and Kathryn, son Christopher and five grandchildren, and the family has provided an email for memorial details as colleagues and historians note his influence on later comedy and variety formats.