Don Adams didn't just play a bumbling spy; he basically invented a dialect. If you've ever said "Missed it by that much" while parallel parking or held a shoe to your ear as a joke, you're living in a world built by Donald James Yarmy. Most people know him as Maxwell Smart, the high-strung agent of CONTROL, but the full scope of Don Adams movies and tv shows is a lot weirder and more prolific than just one sitcom.
He was a Marine who survived the Battle of Guadalcanal. He was a stand-up comic who changed his last name to "Adams" just so he’d be called sooner during alphabetical auditions. That’s the kind of practical, slightly cynical grit that fueled his comedy. He wasn't just some guy reading lines; he was a creator, a director, and one of the sharpest technical minds in 1960s television.
The Maxwell Smart Era and the Spy Spoof Peak
When Get Smart debuted in 1965, the world was obsessed with James Bond. Mel Brooks and Buck Henry wanted to tear that obsession apart. Don Adams was the perfect weapon for it. He took the "clipped" vocal style he’d developed in his stand-up acts—originally a parody of actor William Powell—and turned it into the voice of a generation.
Most people don't realize that Maxwell Smart wasn't actually his first time playing that character. He’d been doing a prototype version named Byron Glick on The Bill Dana Show from 1963 to 1965. Glick was a bumbling hotel detective, and if you watch those old clips, the DNA of Agent 86 is unmistakable.
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Get Smart ran for five seasons and 138 episodes. It won Adams three consecutive Emmys for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1967, 1968, 1969). That’s a massive feat. It’s a record that only a few, like Carroll O'Connor and Kelsey Grammer, have ever touched. But the show was also a bit of a golden cage.
Life After Control: The Struggle With Typecasting
By 1970, the spy craze was dying. Adams was ready to move on, but Hollywood wasn't ready to let him. He tried to pivot to a "buddy cop" format with The Partners (1971), playing Detective Lennie Crooke. It only lasted one season. Honestly, it’s a shame because the chemistry was there, but the audience just saw Maxwell Smart in a different suit.
Then came the movies.
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If you want to see a fascinating mess, look up The Nude Bomb (1980). It was a theatrical attempt to bring Maxwell Smart back to the big screen. The plot? A villain has a bomb that destroys clothing. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds. Adams reprised the role, but the movie lacked the sharp wit of the original series writers like Brooks or Henry. It flopped. Hard.
He tried again with Get Smart, Again! (1989), a TV movie that actually felt much closer to the original spirit. It led to a short-lived 1995 revival on FOX where Max was now the Chief and his son, played by Andy Dick, was the bumbling agent. It didn't stick. Some things are just meant for their specific decade.
The Secret Success of His Second Career: Voice Acting
While his face was tied to the 60s, his voice ruled the 80s and 90s. This is the part of Don Adams movies and tv shows that usually catches people off guard.
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- Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963–1966): Even before Get Smart, he was the voice of a fast-talking penguin.
- Inspector Gadget (1983–1986): This is his biggest legacy for anyone born after 1975. The "Go-Go-Gadget" catchphrase is arguably as famous as anything from the 60s. He brought that same deadpan, oblivious confidence to Gadget that he gave to Max.
- Gadget Boy & Heather: He voiced a younger version of the character in the late 90s.
- Principal Hickey in Pepper Ann: He had a recurring role in this Disney cult classic right up until the early 2000s.
The Expert Director and Commercial King
Adams wasn't just a face. He directed several episodes of Get Smart and became a heavy hitter in the world of TV commercials. He even won a Clio Award in 1971 for directing a Skittle Pool commercial. He was known for being a perfectionist on set—sometimes to a fault—but that precision is why his physical comedy worked so well.
Don Adams Filmography Highlights
| Title | Role | Format |
|---|---|---|
| The Bill Dana Show | Byron Glick | TV Series |
| Get Smart | Maxwell Smart | TV Series |
| Tennessee Tuxedo | Tennessee Tuxedo | Animation |
| The Partners | Det. Lennie Crooke | TV Series |
| Don Adams' Screen Test | Host | Game Show |
| The Nude Bomb | Maxwell Smart | Feature Film |
| Inspector Gadget | Inspector Gadget | Animation |
| Check It Out! | Howard Bannister | TV Series |
| Get Smart (1995) | The Chief | TV Series |
The Man Behind the Shoe Phone
In his personal life, Adams was complicated. He was married three times and had seven children. He was an avid gambler, often spending his weekends at the racetrack. There’s a story that he actually turned down a higher salary for Get Smart in exchange for a one-third ownership stake in the show. That was a genius move. It meant he lived comfortably off residuals for decades, even when the new roles dried up.
He died in 2005 at the age of 82. His legacy isn't just a list of credits; it's a specific brand of American satire that proved you could be the hero and the joke at the exact same time.
Next Steps for the Don Adams Fan:
To truly understand his range beyond the gadgets, track down the 1980s Canadian sitcom Check It Out!. It stars Adams as a supermarket manager and shows off his ability to carry a traditional multi-cam sitcom without relying on the Agent 86 tropes. If you're a fan of animation, compare the vocal cadence of Tennessee Tuxedo to Inspector Gadget to see how he subtly shifted his "know-it-all" persona across three different decades.