Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design, the 80-year-old Chicago retailer that turned three brothers into celebrity pitchmen, is embroiled in a legal family feud.

Tim Smithe, 62, the former chief marketing officer and co-owner who appeared with his two brothers in countless TV commercials, is suing the company for allegedly squeezing him out of the family-owned business nearly a decade ago in an undervalued buyout.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges Walter E. Smithe III, the president and controlling shareholder of the Itasca-based company started in 1945 by their grandfather, “fraudulently induced” Tim to sign away his $14 million equity stake for a $1.8 million payout.

“My brother coerced me out to make room for his four daughters,” Tim told the Tribune.

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