Don Adams Of 'Get Smart' Dies

Don Adams, the wry-voiced comedian who starred as bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart in the 1960s TV spoof of James Bond movies, "Get Smart," has died. He was 82.

Adams' friend and former agent, Bruce Tufeld, says the actor died of a lung infection Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He had broken his hip a year ago, says Tufeld, and had been in poor health ever since.

While his career spanned over 40 years, from appearances on the Ed Sullivan, Rosemary Clooney, and Merv Griffin shows, to the voice of cartoon characters Tennessee Tuxedo and Inspector Gadget, and guest roles on everything from "Playboy After Dark" to "The Love Boat," Maxwell Smart is the role for which he will be remembered.

"It was a special show that became a cult classic of sorts, and I made a lot of money for it," Adams once said in a 1995 interview. "But it also hindered me career-wise because I was typed. The character was so strong, particularly because of that distinctive voice, that nobody could picture me in any other type of role."

As big in its time as "Seinfeld," the "show about nothing," was in the 1990s, "Get Smart" allowed America to laugh about the world of spies that was the Cold War and the rapid pace of change in the 1960s, when it seemed that a new gadget was invented every day, sweeping away the familiar in favor of mysterious devices which might or might not work.

Spy gadgets inspired by and poking fun at the ones in the James Bond movies were a staple of "Get Smart," especially the shoe phone, Maxwell Smart's way out of many a tight spot — decades before cell phones burst onto the scene.

New roles for women and America's place in the world as defender of freedom were also major themes of the show, written by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry.

Adams as Agent 86 found himself constantly outpaced by brainy and beautiful Agent 99, portrayed by Barbara Feldon. And with World War II only twenty years in the past, it wasn't unusual for villains to have a distinct German accent.

As the inept Agent 86 of the super-secret federal agency CONTROL, Adams captivated TV viewers with his antics in combating the evil agents of KAOS. When his explanations failed to convince the villains or his boss, he tried another tack:

"Would you believe ... ?"

It became a national catchphrase.

Smart was prone to spilling things on the desk or person of his boss: the Chief (played by Edward Platt). Smart's apologetic "Sorry about that, chief" also entered the American lexicon.

So did many other lines from the show: "Missed it by that much!" "And loving it!" "The old _______ trick (e.g., the old spy camera in the tomato patch trick)!" and "I asked you not to tell me that!"

Then there was the "Cone of Silence" — still referred to even today by politicians, pundits and others frustrated at getting a lack of answers on any subject.

On "Get Smart," it was a huge plastic gizmo that would descend from the ceiling on command, supposedly to guarantee the secrecy of the conversation. It never worked and the men in the cone (women were not invited into the Cone of Silence), dutifully following orders, unwittingly shouted their secrets to the world while invariably being unable to hear each other.

Don Adams the man, says "Get Smart" co-star Barbara Feldon, was very different from Maxwell Smart the secret agent.

Adams was very intelligent, says Feldon, with an "amazing memory" that allowed him to take an unusual approach to filming.

Instead of learning his lines ahead of time he would have a script assistant read his part to him just once or twice. He invariably got it right but that, she recalls, didn't stop people from placing bets on it.

"He had this prodigious energy, so as an actor working with him it was like being plugged into an electric current," says Feldon. "He would start and a scene would just take off and you were there for the ride. It was great fun acting with him."

"He wrote poetry, he had an interest in history... He had that other side to him that does not come through Maxwell Smart," says Feldon. "Don in person was anything but bumbling."

"Get Smart," which ran from 1965 through 1970, twice won the Emmy for best comedy series with three Emmys for Adams as comedy actor.

The show lived on in syndication and as a cartoon series and in 1980, Adams appeared as Maxwell Smart in a feature film, "The Nude Bomb," about a madman whose bomb destroyed people's clothing. In 1995, Fox revived the series with Smart as chief and 99 as a congresswoman. It lasted seven episodes.

Adams was born Donald James Yarmy in New York City on April 13, 1923, Tufeld said, although some sources say 1926 or '27. The actor's father was a Hungarian Jew who ran a few small restaurants in the Bronx.

As a kid, Adams never cared about being funny. "Sometimes I wonder how I got into comedy at all," he mused, in a 1959 interview. "I did movie star impressions as a kid in high school. Somehow they just got out of hand."

In 1941, he dropped out of school to join the Marines. In Guadalcanal he survived the deadly blackwater fever and was returned to the States to become a drill instructor, acquiring the clipped delivery that served him well as a comedian.

After the war he worked in New York as a commercial artist by day, doing standup comedy in clubs at night, taking the surname of his first wife, Adelaide Adams. His following grew, and soon he was appearing on TV variety shows. Bill Dana, who had helped him develop comedy routines, cast him as his sidekick – the role that led to his big break.

Adams married and divorced three times and had seven children.