Don Adams

Don Adams (born on April 13, 1923 and died on September 25, 2005) was an American actor,comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) in the television comedy show Get Smart(1965–1970, 1995), which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart (1967–1969). He provided the voices for the animated series Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963–1966) and Inspector Gadget (1983–1986) as their title characters. He voiced Sid Pickles in all episodes of Spike and Mike (1993–1999), and two follow up films,Spike and Mike Movie/Spike and Mike: Got Hostaged.

Animated TV Shows

 * Disney's Pepper Ann - Principal Hickey
 * A Field Trip Starring Inspector Gadget - Inspector Gadget/Gadget Boy
 * Gadget Boy & Heather - Gadget Boy/Bad Gadget Boy
 * Gadget Boy's Adventures In History - Gadget Boy
 * Inspector Gadget - Inspector Gadget/Robo Gadget
 * UnderDog - Tennessee Tuxedo
 * Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales - Tennessee Tuxedo

Movies

 * Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadget - Inspector Gadget ("The Capeman Cometh", "Prince of the Gypsies" and "Gadget's Gadgets")
 * Inspector Gadget (1999 film) - voice of Brain
 * The Amazing Adventures of Inspector Gadget - Insppector Gadget (voice)
 * Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas - Inspector Gadget (voice)

Knowable Roles

 * Inspector Gadget (voiced in 1983 - 1998)
 * Robo Gadget (voiced in 1983 - 1986)
 * Gadget Boy (voiced in 1995 - 1998)
 * Bad Gadget Boy (voiced in 1995)
 * Tennessee Tuxedo (voiced in 1963 - 1965)
 * Principal Hickey (voiced in 1997 - 2003) note: this was Don Adams final voice over project before his death in 2005
 * Maxwell Smart (peformanced in 1963 - 1999)

Trivia

 * In 1999 he started to play Maxwell Smart once again, this time in a successful series of Canadian TV commercials for the "Buck-a-Call" long-distance service.
 * Claims he changed his last name from Yarmy to Adams because he was tired of having to go last at auditions, which, he said (inaccurately), usually went in alphabetical order. In reality, he took his stage name from his first wife, singer Adelaide Adams, with whom he shared a bill on the nightclub circuit.
 * 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.
 * His clipped Maxwell Smart voice came from a much exaggerated takeoff on Willams Powell's "The Thin Man." He used to get laughs using the exact same voice years earlier on the stand-up circuit in different character set pieces - a baseball umpire, a football coach, a defense attorney.
 * As the inept Agent 86 on "Get Smart" (1965) Adams used to have a script assistant read his part to him once or twice just before a scene, instead of learning his lines.
 * Uninterested in doing the James Bond spoof "Get Smart" (1963) series at first, he got on board after learning that Mel Brooks and Buck Henry were involved with the pilot script.Tom Poston was the first name being considered for the role, but Adams, under contract to NBC at the time, was promoted for the job by the network.
 * Won three Emmys for bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart in"Get Smart"(1965) and the show itself won two awards for "Best Comedy," but he was severely typecast after this and never did find another proper showcase to display his comic range.
 * His Agent 86 catchphrase, "Would you believe...?", became the slogan for commercials for the White Castle hamburger chain in 1992, in which he also acted.
 * His two best known roles -- Maxwell Smart and Inspector Gadget -- were both James Bond parodies."Get Smart"  (1965) parodied the secret agent stories, while Inspector Gadget featured the unseen villain The Claw, who is shown as an arm stroking his cat, an obvious reference to Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
 * His succsessor for voicing Inspector Gagdet is Maurice LaMarche, in which both have been working on the original series and first split off series for years.
 * His successor for voicing Gadget Boy is Avan Jogia from Nickeledeon's Victorious
 * Remained good friends with Barbara Feldon during and after "Get Smart" (1963).
 * Was only 2 inches shorter than ex-"Get Smart" co-star, Barbara Feldon In order for make it appear that Adams was taller than her, he'd either stand on a small platform or Feldon would stoop down.
 * According to former "Get Smart", co-star Barbara Feldon, She said that Don Adams had an amazing memory that allowed him to take an unusual approach to filming.
 * Disney made a tribute to Don Adams by making the live action Inspector Gadget film, in which they made him voice Brain for the end credits.
 * Disney's Pepper Ann marked Don Adams final voice over project before his death in 2005.
 * His Successor for Maxwell Smart is Steve Carwell.