Maxine Sneed: Tommy Chong’s First Wife and Family
Maxine Sneed is the former wife of comedian and musician Tommy Chong and the mother of actresses Rae Dawn Chong and Robbi Chong. She also had a documented publishing career under the name Maxine Chong-Morrow.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Maxine Sneed |
| Also documented as | Maxine Chong-Morrow; Maxine Morrow née Sneed |
| Best known for | Former marriage to Tommy Chong |
| Former husband | Tommy Chong |
| Marriage | 1960 to 1970 |
| Children | Rae Dawn Chong and Robbi Chong |
| Career | Publishing and production work |
| Documented publication | Black Radio Exclusive |
| Public profile | Limited compared with her former husband and daughters |
The available record about Sneed is much thinner than the public biographies of Tommy Chong or their daughters. That makes it important to separate documented facts from details that have simply been repeated across celebrity websites.
Who Is Maxine Sneed?
Maxine Sneed became publicly known largely through her marriage to Tommy Chong, the Canadian-born comedian, actor and musician who later became one-half of the comedy duo Cheech & Chong. The couple married in Canada in 1960 and later divorced in 1970. Tommy Chong has also discussed Sneed in interviews when describing his early music career and his connection to drummer Floyd Sneed.
Sneed, however, was not simply a figure connected to Chong’s entertainment career. Archival issues of Black Radio Exclusive from the 1980s list a Maxine Chong-Morrow as Production Director, providing direct evidence of professional work in music publishing and production. The same name appears in multiple issues, including 1987, 1988 and 1989 editions.
That archival evidence also helps explain why online biographies sometimes describe Sneed as an editor or publishing professional. It supports a career in magazine production, although the surviving records do not justify stronger claims that she was the publication’s editor-in-chief.
Maxine Sneed and Tommy Chong
Sneed married Tommy Chong during an important early period in his life. Chong was already involved in music, but the worldwide fame associated with Cheech & Chong came later.
An interview with Chong published by BeatRoute Media recalls his early band years and specifically identifies Floyd Sneed as his brother-in-law through his marriage to Maxine. The relationship connected Sneed’s family with Chong’s developing music career.
Encyclopedia.com lists the marriage as beginning in 1960 and ending in divorce in 1970. Tommy Chong’s biographical records likewise identify Maxine as his first wife and Rae Dawn and Robbi as the two children from that marriage.
Why Did Maxine Sneed and Tommy Chong Divorce?
The marriage ended in divorce in 1970, but the exact private circumstances are not well documented in authoritative public sources.
Some entertainment biographies have attributed the breakup to infidelity and other relationship problems. Those explanations are frequently repeated online, but they are not sufficiently supported by strong primary documentation to present as established facts. The verifiable point is that the marriage ended in divorce in 1970.
That distinction matters because much of the online material about Sneed is built from recycled biographical claims rather than interviews, archival records or contemporary reporting.
Maxine Sneed’s Career in Publishing
One of the most useful pieces of evidence about Sneed’s professional life comes from the pages of Black Radio Exclusive, a publication covering Black radio, music and the broader entertainment industry.
A January 22, 1988 issue lists Maxine Chong-Morrow as Production Director. Earlier issues from 1987 show the same position, and a 1989 issue again carries her name in the production section.
This is more specific than the vague description found in many modern celebrity biographies. It establishes that a person using the name Maxine Chong-Morrow held a production role at Black Radio Exclusive during the 1980s.
Other sources commonly refer to Sneed as an editor associated with the publication, but the archival issues reviewed here do not consistently identify her as editor. A careful biography should therefore describe her as having a documented production and publishing role rather than assigning a more senior editorial title without evidence.
Her Family Connection to Floyd Sneed
Maxine Sneed was the sister of drummer Floyd Sneed, who became widely known as a member of Three Dog Night.
Floyd’s obituary, published by the Los Angeles Times in 2023, identifies his surviving sister as Maxine Morrow, née Sneed. The obituary also records that Maxine gave Floyd his first drum set in the early 1960s.
That detail creates an interesting link between the Sneed family and Tommy Chong’s early musical career. Chong has recalled that Floyd was his brother-in-law and played in his early band before later joining Three Dog Night.
The surname Morrow is particularly useful when researching Sneed because it connects the public figure known as Maxine Sneed with later family records.
Maxine Sneed’s Children
Maxine Sneed and Tommy Chong had two daughters: Rae Dawn Chong and Robbi Chong.
Rae Dawn Chong was born in 1961 and went on to establish a long acting career. Robbi Chong, born in 1965, also entered entertainment as an actress and model. Biographical records for both women identify Maxine Sneed as their mother.
The daughters ultimately developed public careers that made the Chong family name much more visible. Rae Dawn became known for films including The Color Purple and Commando, while Robbi worked in modeling and acting.
Their careers are one reason searches for Maxine Sneed continue. Readers often encounter her name while researching the family backgrounds of either daughter or Tommy Chong.
What Is Known About Maxine Sneed Today?
Sneed has remained much less visible publicly than her former husband and daughters. There is no similarly detailed public archive covering her later personal life, and widely circulated claims about her exact birth year, education, finances or current residence are not firmly established by the strongest sources reviewed.
One more recent record does provide a useful update: Sneed is credited as herself in the documentary Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie. IMDb lists her among the documentary’s cast rather than as archive footage.
That credit shows that her story was included in the documentary’s retrospective on Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin. It does not, by itself, establish details about her current residence, daily life or other private circumstances.
Maxine Sneed’s Legacy
Maxine Sneed’s public biography is unusual because the most recognizable part of her story comes from her family, while one of the clearest records of her own working life comes from an industry publication.
Her marriage to Tommy Chong lasted a decade, and their daughters later built careers in entertainment. Her brother Floyd Sneed became a successful professional drummer. Meanwhile, archival issues of Black Radio Exclusive place Maxine Chong-Morrow in a production role within the Black music and radio press of the 1980s.
For that reason, the most accurate picture of Maxine Sneed is not simply that she was Tommy Chong’s first wife. The available evidence also places her within publishing and music-industry circles, even though much of her personal history remains undocumented publicly.
FAQs
Who is Maxine Sneed?
Maxine Sneed is Tommy Chong’s former wife and the mother of Rae Dawn Chong and Robbi Chong. Archival Black Radio Exclusive issues also document professional work under the name Maxine Chong-Morrow.
Was Maxine Sneed married to Tommy Chong?
Yes. Tommy Chong married Maxine Sneed in 1960, and the couple divorced in 1970.
Who are Maxine Sneed’s children?
Maxine Sneed and Tommy Chong had two daughters, Rae Dawn Chong and Robbi Chong.
What did Maxine Sneed do for a living?
Archival issues of Black Radio Exclusive identify Maxine Chong-Morrow as Production Director during the 1980s. Modern biographies also commonly describe Sneed as an editor, but the surviving magazine records more specifically document production work.
Is Maxine Sneed still in the public eye?
Only to a limited extent. She is credited as herself in the documentary Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie, but detailed information about her later personal life remains limited in reliable public sources.
Source list
- Sources & References: Encyclopedia.com: Chong, Tommy 1938- (Thomas Chong), Access Date: September 17, 2026
- Sources & References: BeatRoute Media: Tommy Chong: A Higher State Of Consciousness, Access Date: September 17, 2026
- Sources & References: Los Angeles Times via Legacy.com: Floyd Sneed Obituary (1942 – 2023), Access Date: September 17, 2026
- Sources & References: World Radio History: Black Radio Exclusive, January 22, 1988, Access Date: September 17, 2026
- Sources & References: World Radio History: Black Radio Exclusive, November 17, 1989, Access Date: September 17, 2026
- Sources & References: IMDb: Maxine Sneed – Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie, Access Date: September 17, 2026
- Sources & References: IMDb: Rae Dawn Chong – Biography, Access Date: September 17, 2026
- Sources & References: IMDb: Robbi Chong – Biography, Access Date: September 17, 2026
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