Don Adams Don Adams ( April 13 , 1923 – 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 situation comedy " 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 & Mike " ( 1993 – 1999 ) , and two follow up films , " Spike & Mike Movie " and " Spike and Mike : Got Hostaged " . Early life . Adams was born Donald James Yarmy in Manhattan , New York , son of William Yarmy , and his wife , Consuelo ( Dieter ) . Adams and his brother Richard ( who later became prominent as actor 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 . Dropping out of New York City ' s DeWitt Clinton High School , Adams worked as a theater usher . During World War II , he joined the United States Marine Corps , at the age of 16 , by lying about his age . Adams participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Pacific Theater of Operations . His combat service was short - lived ; he was shot and contracted blackwater fever , a serious complication of malaria , known for a 90 % rate of fatality . He was evacuated and then hospitalized for more than a year at a Navy hospital in Wellington , New Zealand . After his recovery , he served as a Marine drill instructor in the United States . Following his discharge , Adams held a series of jobs . During a Canadian television interview , he said that he had falsified college credentials and an engineering background to be hired as an engineer designing underground sewers . His lack of training was not discovered for six months . He later worked as a comic , taking the stage name of Adams after marrying singer Adelaide ( Dell ) Efantis , who performed as Adelaide Adams . They had four daughters , and Adams also worked as a commercial artist and restaurant cashier to help support his family . When they divorced , he kept Adams as his stage name because acting auditions were often held in alphabetical order . Career . " The Bill Dana Show " . Adams ' work on television 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 addition to appearing on numerous comedy , variety , and dramatic series , Adams had a role on the NBC sitcom " The Bill Dana Show " ( 1963 – 1965 ) , as a bumbling hotel detective named Byron Glick — a character Adams created that was the precursor to the role he would play as " Maxwell Smart " on " Get Smart " . ( The hotel manager was played by Jonathan Harris who later did a guest role on " Get Smart " in 1970 . ) " Get Smart " . Creators Mel Brooks and Buck Henry , prompted by producers Dan Melnick and David Susskind , wrote " Get Smart " as the comedic answer to the successful 1960s spy television dramas 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 : the James Bond and Pink Panther ( Inspector Clouseau ) movies . " Get Smart " had been written for Tom Poston , to be piloted on CBS ; when CBS turned it down , the show was picked up by NBC , which 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 , where she had a great chemistry with Adams throughout the show ' s run , despite a 10 - year age difference . Although the two were married " on screen " , they were never married to each other . Adams gave the character a clipped , unique speaking style . 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 catch - phrases ( some of which were in his act prior to the show ) , including " Sorry about that , Chief " , , " Ahh . . . the old [ noun ] in the [ noun ] trick . That ' s the [ number ] th time this [ month / week ] . " ( Sometimes the description of the trick was simply , " Ahh . . . the old [ noun ] trick . " ) , and " Missed it by ' that much . ' " These helped make the series a hit in over 100 countries . In addition to acting , Adams also produced and directed several episodes of the show . Off the set , he occasionally feuded with Jay Sandrich , who served as writer . He was nominated for Emmy s four seasons in a row , between 1966 and 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 went out of fashion . " Get Smart " was canceled in 1970 , after 138 episodes . Typecasting . Adams was happy about the show ' s cancellation , since he wanted to move on to other projects . His efforts after " Get Smart " were less successful , including the comedy series " The Partners " ( 1971 – 1972 ) , a game show called " Don Adams ' Screen Test " ( 1975 – 1976 ) and three attempts to revive the " Get Smart " series in the 1980s . Even his movie , " The Nude Bomb " , was a box - office failure . Adams had been typecast as Maxwell Smart and was unable to escape the image , though he did have success as the voice of Inspector Gadget . He earned most of his income from his work on stage and in nightclubs . As Adams had chosen a low salary combined with a one - third ownership stake in " Get Smart " during the show ' s production , he received a regular income for many years due to the show ' s popularity in reruns . " Don Adams ' Screen Test " . " Don Adams ' Screen Test " was a syndicated game show which lasted 26 episodes during the 1975 – 1976 season . The show was done 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 . Such moments as the bar scene from " The Lost Weekend " , the duel scene from " The Prisoner of Zenda " or the beach scene from " From Here to Eternity " were used , with Adams directing and a celebrity guest playing the other lead in the scene . Hokey effects , bad timing , forgotten lines , prop failures and the celebrity ' s " ad libs " were maximized for comic effect as the audience watched " bloopers " and " outtakes " as they happened . At the end of the program , the final , serious , fully edited version of the " screen test " of each of the two contestants would be played , with audience reaction determining the winner , who would receive a trip to Hollywood and a real screen test for a motion picture . Voice - over and later work . Adams was the voice of the title character in " Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales " ( 1963 – 1966 ) , but he was more famous as the voice of " Inspector Gadget " in the initial run of that television series ( 1983 – 1986 ) and the Christmas special , as well as in later reprises ; he even voiced himself in animated form for a guest shot in an episode of Hanna - Barbera ' s " The New Scooby - Doo Movies " , " The Exterminator , " which first aired on CBS October 6 , 1973 . Starting in 1982 , Adams resurrected the Maxwell Smart character for a series of television commercials for Savemart , a retail chain that sold audio and video equipment . He attempted a situation - comedy comeback in Canada with " Check it Out ! " in 1985 ; the show ran for three years in Canada , but it was not successful in the United States . The show also starred Gordon Clapp , an unknown star at the time , who developed a rapport with Adams . In an A & E Biography , Adams said that he made more money working on the series , better than on " Get Smart " . He reprised his Maxwell Smart role on " Get Smart " for Fox in 1995 , which co - starred Barbara Feldon and rising star Andy Dick as Max ' s & 99 ' s only son . Unlike the original version , this show did not appeal to younger viewers and it was canceled after only seven episodes . He later went on to voice the character of Principal Hickley in the late - 1990s / early - 2000s Disney cartoon , " Pepper Ann " . In 2003 , Adams joined a " Get Smart " tribute at the Museum of Television and Radio . Also appearing at the convention were surviving stars of " Get Smart " : Barbara Feldon , Bernie Kopell and Dick Gautier . Adams stated in interviews that his famous " clippy " voice characterization was an exaggeration of the speaking style of actor William Powell . Occasionally , he also enjoyed doing a more explicit impersonation of Ronald Colman . Adams was the voice of Brain the Dog in the end credits for the film version of " Inspector Gadget " in 1999 . Personal life . Adams was married to Adelaide Efantis Adams , Dorothy Bracken Adams , and Judy Luciano . His brother , Richard Paul Yarmy , also known as Dick Yarmy ( February 14 , 1932 – May 5 , 1992 ) , was an actor . His sister , Gloria ( Yarmy ) Burton , was a writer . Adams was an avid gambler ; according to his longtime friend Bill Dana , " He could be very devoted to his family if you reminded him about it , [ but ] Don ' s whole life was focused around gambling . " Death . Adams died on September 25 , 2005 at Cedars - Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles , California . He suffered from lymphoma and a lung infection . Before he died , he joked about not wanting a mournful funeral , preferring , he said , to have his friends get together " and bring me back to life . " This was a line he said to Agent 99 in season 2 , disc 2 , 1966 . Among his eulogists were his decades - long friends Barbara Feldon , Don Rickles , James Caan , and Bill Dana , and his son - in - law , actor Jim Beaver ( widower of Adams ' s actress - daughter Cecily Adams ) . Although Adams had expressed a desire to be buried with military rites at Arlington National Cemetery , he was instead interred in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood , California . His non - military funeral mass was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills . Adams was survived by three of his four daughters from his first marriage , two children from his second marriage , and a daughter from his third marriage . He was also survived by five grandchildren and three great - grandchildren .