Donald James Yarmy (April 13, 1923 – September 25, 2005)

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✪ Donald James Yarmy, known professionally by his stage name as Don Adams, was an American actor whose career spanned over five decades on television. He was best known for his role as bumbling Maxwell Smart (Secret Agent 86) in the television situation comedy Get Smart (1965–1970, 1995), which he also occasionally directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his performance in the series (1967–1969). Adams also provided character voiceovers for the animated series Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963–1966) and Inspector Gadget (1983–1986) as well as several revivals and spinoffs of the latter in the 1990s.

Adams was born Donald James Yarmy on April 13, 1923, in Manhattan, New York. The son of William Yarmy and his wife, Consuelo (née Deiter) Yarmy. His father was of Hungarian Jewish descent and worked as a restaurant manager. His mother was Irish American. Donald and his brother Dick Yarmy were each raised in the religion of one parent: Don in the Catholic faith of their mother and Dick in the Jewish faith of their father. The brothers had one elder sister, Gloria Ella Yarmy (later Gloria Burton), a writer who wrote an episode of Get Smart. Yarmy dropped out of New York City’s DeWitt Clinton High School, & worked as a theater usher. He later remarked that he had “little use for school.”

Yarmy enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on April 21, 1942, and completed his basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, in June 1942. Pvt Yarmy next served with Company B, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment at Marine Base New River, North Carolina, from June to September 1942, followed by service with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment in the Pacific Theater from September 1942 to October 1943. In May 1942, Yarmy’s unit was transported to Samoa for further training. During this time he participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal from December 1942 to April 1943.

USMC Private First Class Don Yarmy in 1942

Contrary to popular urban legend, Yarmy was not wounded in combat, but did however contract blackwater fever; an extremely serious complication of malaria, known at that time to have a 90% rate of fatality. He was subsequently evacuated to Wellington, New Zealand, and then to the U.S. Naval Hospital, on Mare Island, California, where he remained to recover from April to May 1943. PFC Yarmy then transferred to the U.S. Naval Hospital at St. Albans, Long Island, New York, where he was treated from May to December 1943.

At the time of his enlistment in the U.S. Marines, he listed “none” on the section of the form asking about religion. During his difficult recovery from blackwater fever, he returned to his Catholic faith as he prayed to survive.

After his recovery, Yarmy’s next assignment was as a Marine Guard at the Guard Company, Marine Barracks, at the Navy Yard in New York City from December 1943 to May 1944; followed by service as a Marine Guard at the Marine Barracks, Naval Ammunition Depot in Earle, New Jersey, from May to June 1944. He then returned to the Marine Barracks at the Navy Yard in New York City, where he served from July to August 1944, followed by service as a Marine Guard with the Marine Detachment, U.S. Naval Disciplinary Barracks at Hart’s Island, New York, from August 1944 until his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps on December 12, 1945.

After his recovery, Yarmy also served as a Marine Drill Instructor holding the rank of corporal. He was an expert marksman and was noted for his competence.

After his discharge in 1945, Yarmy moved to Florida and began working as a comic in a strip club, doing impersonations of celebrities; but was eventually fired because he refused to do “blue” material. In 1947, he married Adelaide Constance Efantis (1924–2016), nicknamed “Dell,” a singer who performed as Adelaide Adams. He decided to take her name because performers were called up for auditions in alphabetical order. During this time, Adams also worked as a commercial artist and restaurant cashier to help support his wife and three daughters.

Adams’ television career began in 1954 when he won on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts with a stand-up comedy act written by boyhood friend Bill Dana. In the late 1950s, he made eleven appearances on The Steve Allen Show, where Dana was part of the writing team. During the 1961–63 television seasons, he became a regular on NBC’s The Perry Como Show as part of The Kraft Music Hall Players and frequently on the Jimmy Dean Show. He also had a role on the NBC sitcom The Bill Dana Show (1963–65) as a bumbling hotel detective named Byron Glick.

Creators Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, prompted by producers Daniel Melnick and David Susskind, wrote Get Smart as comedic alternative to the successful 1960s spy television dramas of the time such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Avengers, I Spy and others. They were asked to write a spoof that combined elements from two of the most popular film series at the time: James Bond and The Pink Panther.

Get Smart was written as a vehicle for Tom Poston, to be piloted on ABC; when ABC turned it down, NBC picked up the show and cast Adams in the role because he was already under contract. When Get Smart debuted in 1965, it was an immediate hit. Barbara Feldon co-starred as Max’s young and attractive partner (later wife) Agent 99. They had great chemistry throughout the show’s run, despite a 10-year age difference and they became best friends during and after.

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Adams gave his Get Smart character a clipped speaking style borrowed from actor William Powell. Feldon said, “Part of the pop fervor for Agent 86 was because Don did such an extreme portrayal of the character that it made it easy to imitate.” Adams created many popular catchphrases (some of which were in his act before the show), including “Sorry about that, Chief, Would you believe …?, Ahh … the old —– in the —– trick. That’s the —–th time this [month/week].” And of course, “Missed it by that much.”

Adams also produced and directed 13 episodes of the show. He was nominated for Emmys four seasons in a row, from 1966 to 1969, for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series. He won the award three times. The show moved to CBS for its final season, with ratings declining, as spy series began to go out of fashion. Get Smart was canceled in 1970 after 138 episodes.

Adams’ efforts after Get Smart were less successful, including the comedy series The Partners (1971–72), a game show called Don Adams’ Screen Test (1975–76) and two attempts to revive the Get Smart series: Get Smart, Again! in 1989, and Get Smart in 1995. His movie The Nude Bomb (1980) was also unsuccessful at the box office. Unfortunately, Adams was typecast as Maxwell Smart and unable to escape the image: although he enjoyed success as the voice of the titular protagonist in the series Inspector Gadget, a character that was heavily inspired by Maxwell Smart.

Adams earned most of his income from his work on stage and in nightclubs. Because Adams originally chose a lower salary in exchange for a one-third ownership in future residuals on Get Smart during the show’s production, he received a regular income for many years due to the show’s popularity in reruns & syndication.

Don Adams’ Screen Test was a syndicated game show which lasted 26 episodes during the 1975–76 season. The show was filmed in two 15-minute segments, in each of which a randomly selected audience member would “act” to re-create a scene from a Hollywood movie as accurately as possible.

Adams would resurrect his Maxwell Smart character for a series of television commercials for Savemart, a retail chain that sold audio and video equipment. He also did a series of audio/radio commercials in the 1980s for Chief Auto Parts, a retail automobile parts establishment which was later sold to AutoZone.

Adams attempted a situation-comedy comeback in Canada with Check it Out! in 1985. Set in a supermarket, the show ran for three years but was not successful in the United States. 

In 1995, Adams reprised his Maxwell Smart role one last time on Get Smart for Fox .It co-starred Barbara Feldon and rising star Andy Dick as Max and 99’s son. Unlike the original version, this show did not appeal to younger viewers and it was canceled after just seven episodes. One of Adams’s last public appearances was at the Get Smart Gathering on November 7, 2003, at a North Hollywood restaurant, in which fans of the show joined the cast and some of the creative talent of the series.

Adam’s last roles were the voices of Brain the Dog in the end credits for the 1999 film version of Inspector Gadget and Principal Hickey in the Disney animated series Pepper Ann (1997–2001).

Adams divorced Adelaide in 1960 and married Dorothy Bracken, an actress. He left Bracken in 1977 to marry actress Judy Luciano with whom he had one child. That marriage also ended in divorce. He had seven children: Carolyn, Christine, Cathy, Cecily, Stacey, Sean and Beige.

A compulsive gambler, according to his longtime friend Bill Dana, Adams “could be very devoted to his family if you reminded him about it, but Don’s whole life was focused around gambling.”

Adams died on September 25, 2005, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He suffered from lymphoma and a lung infection. His health had declined after the death of his daughter Cecily from lung cancer in 2003.Before his death, Adams joked about not wanting a mournful funeral; preferring instead, he said, to have his friends get together “and bring me back to life.”

His funeral Mass was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. He is interred in Hollywood Forever Cemetery. ✪