Get Smart star dies at 82

Don Adams, the comedian who starred in Sixties spy spoof Get Smart, has died at the age of 82.

The comic, who was also the voice of Inspector Gadget, had lymphoma and a lung infection.

Born Donald James Yarmy in New York on April 13, 1923, Adams served as a Marine in the Second World War, but contracted blackwater fever and was hospitalised for a year.

After his discharge hung around the beaches of  Florida, where he teamed with a friend to do impersonations of movie stars in strip bars alongside such variety acts as a woman who had birds tear off her clothes.

Adams – who claimed he changed his surname because he was tired of having to wait around at auditions, which were  usually in alphabetical order – was fired after refusing to use 'blue’ material.

His break came in 1965, via appearances on such TV variety shows as The Steve Allen Show, when he landed the role of bumbling Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, a character created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry.

Alongside Agent 99 (whose original name of Agent 69 was dropped for being too suggestive), he fought the forces of KAOS for five years, plus one movie, 1980’s The Nude Bomb, and a short-lived revival in 1995. He also directed some episodes.

However Adams found it hard to escape the show's typecasting, with Inspector Gadget his only other major role.

Thrice married and thrice divorced, he died on Sunday leaving six of his seven children. His daughter Cecily Adams, an actress and casting director, died in 2004.

Published: 27 Sep 2005