While pouring over the gazillion RSS feeds I subscribe to I came across a sad story. One of my favourite actors, Don Adams, has passed away at the age of 82. Most of you will recall him from his outstanding work on the superb sit-com Get Smart. For those of you too young to remember the show, watch for it in syndication or get the DVD - it really is brilliant.

Adams played a character named Maxwell Smart aka Agent 86 who worked as an operative for a top secret government agency called Control. Their job was to protect the world from the villainous group known as Kaos.

The writing was excellent and the sight gags priceless. The entire thing was a James Bond spoof. The show also featured some far out gadgets which are now common place, most notably the pre-cellphone shoephone.

Although he will be most remembered for Get Smart, how many of you can recall his other show? No I’m not referring to Inspector Gadget, the cartoon in which he supplied his voice. I’m talking about Don Adams’ Screen Test. Popular back in the mid-70s, the game show featured contestants who would re-enact classic scenes from movies. Of course the one who did it best would win. It was pretty good.

Adams was born 13 April 1923 in NYC as Donald James Yarmy. He dropped out of school in 1941 to join the Marines. He survived both a wound and the dreaded blackwater fever in Guadalcanal. Upon his return stateside, he became a drill instructor. (you’d never know it from his television persona) After the war was over he did standup comedy in various clubs at night and worked as a commercial artist by day. It was during his standup career that he acquired the surname Adams, taking it from his first wife. He also wrote quite a bit of poetry. It wasn’t long before he found himself being featured on the Ed Sullivan show as well as several other late-night programs which eventually led to Get Smart.

He was married and divorced three times and had seven children, six of whom are still alive. Get Smart was not just a great TV show, it has become an institution. It has made a huge impact not only on pop culture but society in general. Many of Adams’ one-liners have become integrated into modern language, probably the most popular being “Would you believe…”

So long Don.