LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Don Adams, the wry-voiced comedian who starred as the fumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart in the 1960s TV spoof of James Bond movies, "Get Smart," has died. He was 82.
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The spy gadgets [of the show], which aped those of the Bond movies, were a popular feature, especially the pre-cell-phone telephone in a shoe.
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Adams, who had been under contract to NBC, was lukewarm about doing a spy spoof. When he learned that Mel Brooks and Buck Henry had written the pilot script, he accepted immediately.

"Get Smart" debuted on NBC in September 1965 and scored No. 12 among the season's most-watched series and No. 22 in its second season.

"Get Smart" twice won the Emmy for best comedy series with three Emmys for Adams as comedy actor.
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In a 1959 interview Adams said he never cared about being funny as a kid: "Sometimes I wonder how I got into comedy at all. I did movie star impressions as a kid in high school. Somehow they just got out of hand."
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Adams, who married and divorced three times and had seven children, served as the voice for the popular cartoon series, "Inspector Gadget," as well as cartoon character Tennessee Tuxedo. In 1980, he appeared as Maxwell Smart in a feature movie, "The Nude Bomb," about a madman whose bomb destroyed people's clothing.

As a kid, I remember watching endless reruns of the "Get Smart" show. For me, one of the best parts was the very beginning sequence, as he walked through all the different doors and into the phone booth. I remember being utterly fascinated by how each door opened in a different way, including the (implied) trap door in the booth!

Strange, the little things that stick in a child's mind . . .

Don Adams of 'Get Smart' dead - Sep 26, 2005