Late in 1941, he joined the United States Marine Corps. Yarmy reported to the First Training Battalion in New River, North Carolina, and then was assigned to I Company of the Third Battalion, Eighth Marines in San Diego.^[5]

In May 1942, Yarmy's unit was transported to Samoa for further training and then participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal in August 1942 in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Contrary to urban legend, he was not wounded in combat,^[6] but did contract blackwater fever, a serious complication of malaria, known for a 90% rate of fatality.^[5] Yarmy was evacuated and then hospitalized for more than a year at Silverstream Hospital, a US Navy hospital near Wellington, New Zealand.^[1][7][8] After his recovery, Yarmy served as a Marine Drill Instructor in the United States,^[9][10] holding the rank of corporal. He was an expert marksman and was noted for his competence.^[5]

After his discharge in 1945, Yarmy went to Florida and worked as a comic in a strip club, doing impersonations of celebrities, but he refused to do "blue" material and was fired. 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. Adams also worked as a commercial artist and restaurant cashier to help support his wife and three daughters.^[5]

Adams's 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 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 was a regular on NBC's The Perry Como Show as part of The Kraft Music Hall Players and frequently on the Jimmy Dean Show.^[11] He had a role on the NBC sitcom The Bill Dana Show (1963–65) as a bumbling hotel detective named Byron Glick.^[12]

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Creators Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, prompted by producers Daniel Melnick and David Susskind,^[1] 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: James Bond and The Pink Panther (Inspector Clouseau).

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.^[1] 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.

Adams gave the 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."^{[citation needed]} 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 [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'."

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 went out of fashion. Get Smart was canceled in 1970 after 138 episodes.

Adams's 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, see below) 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 unsuccessful at the box office. Adams had been typecast as Maxwell Smart and was unable to escape the image, although he had success as the voice of the titular protagonist in the series Inspector Gadget, a character that was heavily inspired by Maxwell Smart.^[4]

He earned most of his income from his work on stage and in nightclubs. As Adams had chosen a lower salary in exchange for 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.^[1]

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.

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.^[13]

Adams resurrected the Maxwell Smart character for a series of television commercials for Savemart, a retail chain that sold audio and video equipment.^[14] He also did a series of audio/radio commercials in the 1980s for Chief Auto Parts, a retail automobile parts establishment later sold to AutoZone.

He also appeared in the film Jimmy the Kid (1982) and played a cameo role as a harbormaster in Back to the Beach (1987).

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. The show also starred Gordon Clapp, an unknown actor at the time, who developed a rapport with Adams.

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.

Adams was the voice of the title character in Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963–66), with his bombastic catchphrase "Tennessee Tuxedo will not fail!" Later, he voiced himself in animated form for a guest shot in an episode of Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies, titled "The Exterminator". His most notable voiceover work was that of the title character in Inspector Gadget. He voiced the character in the original television series (1983–85) and a 1992 Christmas special, as well as in subsequent 1990s spinoffs Gadget Boy and Inspector Gadget's Field Trip. He retired from voicing Inspector Gadget in 1999.

His 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).

Barbara Feldon (born Barbara Anne Hall; March 12, 1933)^[1] is an American actress primarily known for her roles on television. Her most prominent role was that of Agent 99 in the 1965–1970 sitcom Get Smart which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Feldon was born Barbara Anne Hall in Butler, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.^[2][3] Feldon and her older sister Patricia were the daughters of Raymond Dorsey Hall^[4] and Juliet Harriet (née Stewart).^[5] She graduated from Bethel Park High School and trained at Pittsburgh Playhouse.^[6] In 1955, she graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Arts in drama. She was initiated into the Delta Xi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. In 1957, she won the grand prize on The $64,000 Question in the category of William Shakespeare.^[7][8]

Feldon studied acting at HB Studio.^[9] Following working as a model, Feldon's break came in the form of a popular and much-parodied television commercial for "Top Brass," a hair pomade for men by Revlon. Lounging languidly on an animal-print rug, she purred at the camera, addressing the male viewers who use it as "tigers."^[10]

This led to small roles in television series. In the 1960s, she made appearances on Twelve O'Clock High (season one episode "End of the Line"), Flipper (season one two-parter episode "The Lady and the Dolphin") and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (in "The Never-Never Affair", which aired spring 1965).^[11] In 1964, she appeared with Simon Oakland in the episode "Try to Find a Spy" of CBS's short-lived drama Mr. Broadway.^[11]

One substantial guest-starring role was opposite George C. Scott in the television drama East Side/West Side (season one). It was produced by Talent Associates which was also developing a TV comedy called Get Smart with two prominent writers, Mel Brooks and Buck Henry.^[12]

Feldon was cast in this new show as "Agent 99". She starred opposite comedian Don Adams, who portrayed Maxwell Smart, "Secret Agent 86".^[11] She played the role for the duration of the show's production from 1965 until 1970 and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1968 and 1969.^[13]

The character was unusual for the era, showing a capable woman succeeding in a stressful career.^[14] Feldon noted, "A lot of women said 99 was a role model for them because she was smart and always got the right answer." Feldon almost lost her role as 99 because the sponsor of Get Smart was a deodorant soap, and she had done a deodorant commercial for Revlon.^[15] Feldon was also noticeably taller than Adams, her male co-star, another rarity for the time.^[16]

Feldon made guest appearances five times on The Dean Martin Show from 1968 to 1972, singing and dancing and performing in comedy skits. She also appeared on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. After her starring TV role, she guest-starred in several 1970s television series, including The Carol Burnett Show (season 3, episode 17 (1970)), Thriller (season 1, episode 1 (1973)), The Name of the Game, McMillan & Wife and Lorne Greene's Griff.^[11]

Her TV movies include Getting Away from It All (1972) with Larry Hagman, Let's Switch! (1975) with Barbara Eden, Before and After (1979) with Patty Duke, and the cult-classic thriller A Vacation in Hell (1979) with Maureen McCormick and Priscilla Barnes.^[11] She voiced the character Patti Bear in the 1973 animated television special The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas.

Feldon's feature films included supporting roles in Fitzwilly (1967), Smile (1975), and No Deposit, No Return (1976).^[11] Her last film to date is 2006's Last Request, a comedy with T. R. Knight, Danny Aiello, and Joe Piscopo.

In 1978 she was Bob Eubanks's first co-host of the annual January 1 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. In 1982, Feldon appeared at Denver's Elitch Theatre in What I Did Last Summer.^[17]

Feldon reprised her role as "Agent 99" in the made-for-television film Get Smart, Again! (1989) and in a short-lived revival of Get Smart in 1995. She wrote and provided audio commentaries and introductions for the DVD release of the original Get Smart series in 2006, but did not take part in the 2008 film adaptation that starred Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart. Feldon guest-starred as a former TV spy star on a 1993 season one episode of Mad About You as Diane "Spy Girl" Caldwell.

Feldon played Lauren Hudson, Sam Malone's annual Valentine's Day love interest, in the 1991 Cheers episode "Sam Time Next Year".

Feldon's distinctive voice has been heard in numerous TV and radio commercials and film and TV documentaries. She has occasionally acted in off-Broadway plays but said she is "no longer interested in performing".

Feldon is an accomplished writer and is still actively writing. In 2015, she had two editorial pieces featured in Metropolitan Magazine. She wrote two books, Living Alone and Loving It, in 2003,^[18] and Getting Smarter: A Memoir in 2021.^[19]