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IMDbPro

Don Adams(1923-2005)

  • Actor
  • Director
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Don Adams c. 1970
Inspector Gadget
Play trailer0:44
Inspector Gadget (1983–1986)
4 Videos
56 Photos
Don Adams was born in New York, to a father of Hungarian Jewish descent, and a mother of German and Irish ancestry. He had a sister, Gloria, and a brother, Dick Yarmy. He served in the U.S. Marines in World War II and contracted malaria during the fighting on Guadalcanal island. After the war he began a career as a stand-up comic. He married singer Adelaide Adams and adopted her last name as his stage surname. He had seven children altogether, (four with his first wife, two with his second, one with his third): Caroline Adams, Christine, Catherine, Cecily Adams, Stacey Adams, Sean, Beige. His television career began when he won the Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour (1948) talent contest. His most famous role, of course, is as bumbling, incompetent, clueless yet endearing secret agent Maxwell Smart in the classic sitcom/spy spoof Get Smart (1965), although he also had a career as a television director and a Broadway and theatrical dramatic actor.
BornApril 13, 1923
DiedSeptember 25, 2005(82)
BornApril 13, 1923
DiedSeptember 25, 2005(82)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Won 3 Primetime Emmys
    • 4 wins & 7 nominations total

Photos56

Goldie Hawn and Don Adams in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967)
Don Adams in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967)
Don Adams in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967)
Don Adams in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967)
Bob Hope, Don Adams, and Mike Connors in Joys! (1976)
Don Adams
Carol Burnett and Don Adams in The Carol Burnett Show (1967)
Don Adams in Get Smart (1965)
Hugh Hefner and Don Adams in Playboy After Dark (1969)
Florence Henderson, Don Adams, Gabe Kaplan, Hal Linden, and Karen Valentine
Don Adams and Edward Platt in Get Smart (1965)
Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, and Edward Platt in Get Smart (1965)

Known for:

Get Smart (1965)
Get Smart
8.2
TV Series
  • Maxwell Smart
  • King Charles of Coronia
  • Floyd Darrow
The Nude Bomb (1980)
The Nude Bomb
5.1
  • Maxwell Smart
  • 1980
Matthew Broderick and Rupert Everett in Inspector Gadget (1999)
Inspector Gadget
4.2
  • Brain(voice)
  • 1999
Hans Conried in The Partners (1971)
The Partners
7.2
TV Series
  • Det. Lennie Crooke

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Pepper Ann (1997)
    Pepper Ann
    • Principal Hickey
    • Principal Herbert Hickey
    • TV Series
    • 1997–2000
  • Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets (1999)
    Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets
    • Inspector Gadget (segments "The Capeman Cometh"
    • "Prince of the Gypsies"
    • "Gadget's Gadgets") (voice)
    • Video
    • 1999
  • Matthew Broderick and Rupert Everett in Inspector Gadget (1999)
    Inspector Gadget
    • Brain (voice)
    • 1999
  • Gadget Boy's Adventures in History (1997)
    Gadget Boy's Adventures in History
    • Gadget Boy (voice)
    • TV Series
    • 1997
  • Mitch Mullany in Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher (1996)
    Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher
    • Principal
    • TV Series
    • 1997
  • Field Trip Starring Inspector Gadget (1996)
    Field Trip Starring Inspector Gadget
    • Inspector Gadget (voice)
    • TV Series
    • 1996
  • Gadget Boy and Heather (1995)
    Gadget Boy and Heather
    • Gadget Boy (voice)
    • TV Series
    • 1995
  • Get Smart (1995)
    Get Smart
    • Chief Maxwell Smart
    • TV Series
    • 1995
  • Dinah Manoff, Kristy McNichol, David Leisure, Richard Mulligan, and Park Overall in Empty Nest (1988)
    Empty Nest
    • Don Adams
    • TV Series
    • 1994
  • Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas (1992)
    Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas
    • Inspector Gadget (voice)
    • TV Movie
    • 1992
  • Get Smart, Again! (1989)
    Get Smart, Again!
    • Maxwell Smart
    • TV Movie
    • 1989
  • Don Adams in Check It Out (1985)
    Check It Out
    • Howard Bannister
    • TV Series
    • 1985–1988
  • Paul Reubens, Frankie Avalon, Bob Denver, Annette Funicello, Don Adams, and Stevie Ray Vaughan in Back to the Beach (1987)
    Back to the Beach
    • Harbor Master
    • 1987
  • The Amazing Adventures of Inspector Gadget (1986)
    The Amazing Adventures of Inspector Gadget
    • Inspector Gadget (voice)
    • Video
    • 1986
  • Inspector Gadget (1983)
    Inspector Gadget
    • Gadget
    • Robo Gadget (voice)
    • TV Series
    • 1983–1985

Director

  • Hans Conried in The Partners (1971)
    The Partners
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 1971
  • Get Smart (1965)
    Get Smart
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 1967–1970

Writer

  • Rickles
    • Writer
    • TV Movie
    • 1975
  • Don Adams' Screen Test (1975)
    Don Adams' Screen Test
    • writer
    • TV Series
    • 1975
  • Hans Conried in The Partners (1971)
    The Partners
    • creator
    • written by
    • TV Series
    • 1971–1972
  • The Don Adams Special: Hooray for Hollywood
    • Writer
    • TV Movie
    • 1970
  • Get Smart (1965)
    Get Smart
    • written by
    • TV Series
    • 1968–1969

Videos4

MeTV Promo Trailer
Trailer 0:31
MeTV Promo Trailer
The Nude Bomb
Trailer 1:49
The Nude Bomb
Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales: The Complete Collection
Trailer 1:06
Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales: The Complete Collection
Inspector Gadget
Trailer 0:44
Inspector Gadget

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative name
    • Mr. X - X
  • Height
    • 5′ 7¾″ (1.72 m)
  • Born
    • April 13, 1923
    • Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
  • Died
    • September 25, 2005
    • Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, California, USA(lung infection)
  • Spouses
      Judy LucianoJune 10, 1977 - 1990 (divorced, 1 child)
  • Children
      Cecily Adams
  • Parents
      William Yarmy
  • Relatives
      Dick Yarmy(Sibling)
  • Other works
    TV/radio commercials: GTE Calling Services.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Print Biography
    • 3 Articles
    • 2 Pictorials

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Instead of taking a large paycheck per episode ($12,500 per week) of Get Smart (1965), Adams decided to take a smaller salary and 33% share. It paid off in spades--the show has been running in syndication for decades.
  • Quotes
    [interview with Robert DeRossi, 10/27/65] I don't want to change the thinking of the world. My purpose is to make people laugh . . . It would be hypocritical if I said I don't want recognition, but I've never wanted it terribly. I think I'm being honest when I say I'd rather turn my talents, whatever they are, to writing and directing.
  • Trademarks
      His "Maxwell Smart" catchphrases "Would you believe...?", "Sorry About that, Chief.", "And...loving it." and "Missed it by THAT much."
  • Salaries
      Inspector Gadget
      (1983)
      $3,500 /episode

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